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painting kitchen cabinets

traini | Posted in Construction Techniques on February 27, 2010 11:03am

A clients kitchen cabinets -dated solid maple with a clear factory finish

would like to change hardware and paint white.

It is a busy family house and would like to avoid spraying

sand

clean with tsp

prime  best primer??

finished coat best paint ??

I would use a compination brush and foam 4″ roller.

would also like to paint ceramic

suggestions??

george

 

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  1. DanH | Feb 28, 2010 10:08am | #1

    Another option to consider is getting the cabinets refaced -- laminate/veneer on the face frames and new doors.  We had our kitchen done this way and it turned out very, very nice.

    For painting I'd probably scrub everything well with Spic and Span first, then TSP.  Sand down rough spots and then use a "liquid sandpaper" product.  Prime with alkyd (consult a good paint store for the best primer) then paint (foam roller) with an acrylic enamel.

    Obviously, remove the doors before you start and handle them separately -- in the garage or wherever.

    Before you start consider what you're going to paint and what not.  Eg, will the backs of the doors be painted?  You don't want splatters/streaks of paint in areas you don't intent do paint, so take appropriate precautions.

  2. OnkelUdo | Feb 28, 2010 11:37pm | #2

    I did this, except painting the ceramic, on my house in Oklahoma that is now a rent house.  Two comments:

    If it is an old house without a "real" vent for the stove, be prepared to scrub with TSP and a white scrubbing pad, then use liquid sandpaper or laquer thinner and prime at least two coats with a stain blocking primer.  You would not believe the grease build up you can have.  We used Kilz applied with little trim rollers then back brushed.  We followed up with a latex semi-gloss kitchen and bath paint.  This lasted well over ten years.

    Consider painting the face frame and doors a contrasting color.  This is actually a very effective look that has a second benefit...your colors do not have to match.  If you are not a pro at painting there are a number of small sins you can commit that will make the color every so slightly different when you are painting the doors in the garage and the face frames in place.

    Finally, mark all the doors and drawers as to a location, do not lose the map and do not let your wife remove the masking tape label from any of the doors even if she is "just trying to help"!

    Onkel Udo

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