Howdy Folks: It's hard to believe but the kitchen remodel is now 20 years old and the cabinet finish is showing its age. I'm looking to either refinish them myself or hire a company to do it. The cabinets were built with 3/4" plywood frames and rock maple doors and facings. No particleboard as that is banned in my house. Structurally they are in great shape, it's just that the glaze finish on them is wearing badly in multiple spots and it looks like cr@p. I have every sander and spray gun under the sun and am toying with the idea of doing this myself. The amount of prep work looks to be insane as the glaze has to be stripped and sanded, otherwise the new topcoat would just be sitting over weak, lame glaze. Any input would be welcome. Thanks!
We did this about 6 years ago. We painted solid white over cheap cabinets that were here when we bought the house 15 years ago. It has held up fairly well but not indestructible by any means. Doors are oak and yes they at least needed sanding to scuff up the factory semi gloss clear finish, followed by minimum 3 coats. Sorry, no pics.
I refinished ours (very similar construction, just all solid wood, no plywood) about 20 years ago, and it has held up pretty well...really only one spot where I notice any wear. They were finished with shellac before, I stripped that and sprayed with a tinted polyurethane, which didn't turn out too well, way too dark! I couldn't even stand the thought of stripping them again, and didn't want paint, but that's exactly what I ended up doing...painted over it with an etching (for glossy surface) primer, painted with a custom color in flat sheen, the top coated that with a gloss water based clear poly. Even all these years later I don't have it in me to do again...when its time I'll have someone come in to refinish, or replace...but they don't build them like this anymore, so I doubt I'd replace them.
I was planning on doing this myself in 2-3 months, but (luckily?) for me the cabinets are starting to fall apart and a total replacement at this point makes more sense. Mine are about 25 years old and were cheap to begin with. I do have an actual granite countertop which I plan to reuse. If I was going to reuse what I have, I would try bringing all the cabinet doors outside into a makeshift booth, prepping them and using my paint sprayer as opposed to a brush.
We painted ours a few years ago. The paint store had special paint for cabinets that flattens out. The brush strokes just disappear.
Our kitchen cabinets are 45 years old and the finish is missing wherever there is lots of handling. The frames and doors are solid so I was thinking of stripping and re-staining the cabinets doors. I really don't like the look of painted cabinets and the rest of the room was designed with wood finished cabinets as the center piece. I plan on taking off the doors, stripping the finish and then repaint the inside of the cabinets as they were done that way originally. It is a big job but to replace them will cost more than I want to pay at this time.
Interesting. I have been doing research on kitchen cabinet coatings and things have come a long, long way as there are some serious products out there. That's the good news. The bad news is that it doesn't matter if the new coating is like tank armor. I first have to get the tragic glaze off as to provide a quality substrate. Eeek! We received a quote of $7500.00 from a cabinet refinishing company to completely strip and recoat the cabinets. My wife and I are starting to lean towards this. The company will take all doors and drawer fronts with them back to their shop, strip and recoat in a spray booth and then strip and recoat the frames. The thought of stripping, sanding and recoating all of the cabinets is starting to seem like a very daunting project which I don't have the time or energy to undertake. Yes, this is a first-world problem.
The ones at our former house were like a blond finish. It wasn't peeling or flaking. We just got tired of it. It has a very early 1960's look. It may have been from 1958. Anyway I wiped every thing with liquid sandpaper, primed with smart prime and top coated with a Benjamin Moore product. Think it was Ben Moore Advance interior. I apply all of it with a four inch foam roller. It still looked good 6 years later when we sold the house. It was a lot of work. But that never stops me, I just do it. Partial beaus I'm cheap (thrifty?) and hate spending money I don't have to. Probably I'm just a cheap bastard. I failed at finding photos, maybe later I can find some. Good Luck with your project
Part of the problem too is that it seems like any paint type product from the past that actually worked well has either been discontinued, or "updated" to be more environmentally friendly, which usually means that it does not work as well. or hold up as well as it used to.
Benjamin Moore Insul-X Cabinet Coat is supposedly top notch and there is a dealer only 10 minutes away. I may (emphasis added) pick up a quart and try refinishing a few cabinet doors to see what the whole job would entail.
