Has anyone painted bathroom or kitchen cabinets?

SAC69 · 11-20-2009, 12:02 PM

My home came with stained oak cabinetry in the bathrooms and kitchen but it's now a dated look and SWMBO and I have talked about painting it however I'd like to avoid brush marks but don't have a sprayer. Will a spray can product (Krylon) be acceptable? If so, do I prep the cabinets with a TSP wash, fine sandpaper scuff, spray primer and then the color? I'd expirement on one of the bathrooms first. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

pretzel · 11-20-2009, 12:23 PM

I would not use can spray (if you do this I would put on thin coats) a HVLP is the best way to apply the paint. As far as prepping you can use a deglosser and wipe down with thinner but the best was would to sand the cabinets (sand in the same direction as the grain) then wipe down with thinner. Before painting you need to put a primer on the cabinets.

AMR66 · 11-20-2009, 02:45 PM

You will not get enough paint on the cabinets if you spray them with a spray can. You would need 6 coats! It best just to sand lightly with 320 grit paper, use a good quality semi gloss paint and a good quality 4" SMOOTH ROLLER. Any areas that the roller can't get to paint with a brush first.

guruatbol · 11-20-2009, 03:02 PM

Here is how we did it when I worked in the cabinet field.

#1- lightly sand the surfaces to be painted with 200 - 250 grit sand paper.
#2- get the oil based KILZ in white
#3- Thin it down 20% with thinner
#4- prime the cabinets with the KILZ
#5- After the primer is dry use an oil based paint and thin it at least 10% and paint your cabinets twice.

Use oil based paint as the water based paints and varnishes will not hold up to the water in a kitchen or bath. I know it is a pain, but you are a detail oriented person and work in a clean area, so you should have no problems. If you have any questions, send me a message and I can call you and explain it better.

You are probably thinking why thin the paint? You want to thin it so that when it drys the brush strokes will go away. If the cabinets are not in the house I like to spray them, but yours are installed, so the best is brushes and thin paint to allow the brush strokes to pull out and leave a smooth sprayed on look.

Mel

mustang1969 · 11-20-2009, 10:20 PM

Exactly what Mel said will work great. I have also had great results using a small 4" foam roller. Cabinets come out as if they were sprayed. Scott

SAC69 · 11-20-2009, 11:52 PM

Thanks for the tips everyone, I'll try this before year's end.

68fastwilliams · 11-21-2009, 12:34 AM

+1 on what Mel said.

Also as others have said, the small foam rollers are your best friend.

Check out this thread:

Our kitchen project is 99% done.

We just remodeled our kitchen this summer and saved a ton by using cabinets reclaimed from my parents house. They were nice quality but were a pickled oak look and were not our taste.

So we decided to paint them and we could not be happier with the result. Also touch up is a breeze. We have three small boys and bumps and scrapes are inevitable, just pull out the paint and hit it again and it's good as new.

guruatbol · 11-21-2009, 02:18 AM

Oh, I forgot, do not skimp on brushes! Use only the best quality! they will last the entire job, and not shed in your work and will leave smaller brush marks and therefore stretch out better.

If you use water based paints even though I advised against it, use only KILZ and thin them out with distilled water. this way your color will be consistant.

I really advise against water based paint

Oil based paint is a pain, but really worth it. Also just like your car, prep is everything.

We took four months on the base boards in the basements. It really shows. I can see the upstairs base and window trim is going to be a bugger. The prep will likely take more time than the under hood of the 65.

Mel

SAC69 · 11-22-2009, 10:59 PM

When painting, I'll remove the doors and drawers from the cabinet section. Now, I assume I should paint both sides of the doors? Regarding the drawers, do I just paint the face and sides of the face panel but not the back or the drawer section? I don't want the drawers to "look screwy" but I'm not able to remove the drawer face panel from the drawer "U" section. Thanks for any tips.

guruatbol · 11-23-2009, 03:21 AM

I would use blue tape and tape off the drawer box and then paint the entire face. Get some stick on felt bumpers for when you are done. This will keep the action of opening and closing the drawers from messing up the paint on the inside. Just like your car, you will make sure you prep the areas to be painted well. If the paint doesn't have a good surface to bond to it will peal.

Removing the doors is good. I don't know what style hinges you have, but you will want to mark them so you don't have to adjust doors later. If they are euro type, then just leave them on the cabinet and tape them off to keep paint off them. If they are any other type remove them from the door and tape them off, when you put the door back on keep all the screws snug and open and close the doors to see how they close. When you get the door just right tighten the screws. Make sure to put bumpers on the doors too. After you do all this work, I am certain you will want to keep it nice as long as possible.

Make sure to take pics before and after, we want to see!

Mel

chordcabinet · 12-04-2009, 02:27 AM

Thanks for tips and advices on Painted Bathroom or Kitchen Cabinets and i will go through it.