My DD just bought a house, and the cabinets came from Lowe’s…I’m sure they were the cheapest in stock cabinets available. They are sort of a light oak color. We initially bought some deglosser and stain, hoping to make them darker, but were told that the deglosser will leave them “white” and unable to take a stain. Is she stuck with them, or can they be restained? If not, can they be painted? Right now, she’s just concerned about the cabinets in the bathrooms, because the kitchen will be totally renovated some day.
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Degloss them and spray on "toning laquer". They would have to be stripped to stain.
Yes,
If you want to paint them you can use the deglosser and prime them with in 30 minutes .
If you want to restain you will need to use stripper , let dry and sand . All the finish must be gone .
Dont pay any attention to the white over cast . The final sanding will get that off .
Tim
Thanks, MarkH and Mooney. It sounds like she has the option of either using a deglosser and repainting, or using a stripper and sanding and staining, if I am understanding correctly. Either way, should be an involved process, but might be worth it to get a better look in the bathrooms.
Not One More Day! Not One More Dime! Not One More Life! Not One More Lie!
End the Occupation of Iraq -- Bring the Troops Home Now!
And Take Care of Them When They Get Here!
No, the toning lacqure would work. It is a finish with color in it. But it might be tricky to apply and make it even.Another option would be to use a gel stain. You will need to lightly sand (or I suspect that the deglosser would work) to give it a little tooth to bit into.With the gel stain you can leave as little or as much as you want on the surface and you have sometime to rework it.Then after it dries you can then put a protectice finish (varnish) over it.Note that the stain will obscure the wood grain some amount. As will the toning lacquer, but not as much.
If she wants to paint, Sherwin Williams has a new "bonding Primer" that sticks to anything. Its made to take to PVC, and glass. Wipe/wash off cabs and go to it. Its latex water based as well.
-zen
hey...where you been hiding?If Blodgett says Tipi Tipi Tipi, it must be so!
Hey Andy,
Chemistry II,
major surgery that has had me down for 6 wks,
booked with work till at least june,
and second revision with archie for my shop/garage loft apartment barn thing.
zen
well glad to see you kickin'...hope all is well dude!If Blodgett says Tipi Tipi Tipi, it must be so!
and oh yeh...might even get up to Brunswick in July...if I do I'll give ya a shout.If Blodgett says Tipi Tipi Tipi, it must be so!
Hey Andy,
Whats in Brunswick.... ? Thats about 5 minutes away, my brother lives there.
zen
My twp good friends live there. Actually they built the house there a buncha yearssssss back and mainly run a school in Manhatten (The Fidel School) but get up there on holidays and in the summer and I come up to visit here and there. Actually they asked me to go up with them soon but I'm not sure if I'll be available. We'll see.Otherwise on July 4th probably...or who knows when before.
They let our friend live there for years now when they're not there. Maybe you know him being he's black and I doubt there's too many brothers around there. His name is Kendel and he works at a center for troubled kids nearby.207 729-#### is the start of their phone number if that helps the location...I forget the rest off the top of my head.edit edit:Its on LUNT RDEdited 2/27/2006 2:35 pm ET by andybuildz
Edited 2/27/2006 2:36 pm ET by andybuildz
No, the toning lacqure would work.
Thats tricky Bill.
Kitchen cabinets are normally greasy even if they are cleaned on a regular basis. One bit of grease or oil and its gonna milk and separate.
I normally strip if I coat over with laquer. That gets the grease and oil too. Still I wash down with acid cleaner and that half strips it anyway. If the finish is soft it will be wiped away cleaning it . Thats not suitable finish for recoating laquer.
Tim
What Matt and Bill Hartman said.
Tone and gel stain will obscure the grain somewhat but if dark is your objective then these two methods should be the easiest.
With the gel you can achieve an antique look if you so desire, leaving some of it in the crevasses, then you have to top coat that. Whereas with the toner your mixing it in with the finish so once you apply a coat or two your done.
Doug
Gee, now I'm really wondering what she should do. She would like the cabinets to be darker, particularly in her master bath, as all her bedroom furniture is dark, and this would fit in better than the blindingly gold "oak" finish they have now. We actually got some deglosser and some gel stain and were going to use it until we were told the deglosser would leave things white.
I know this is a stupid question, but the cabinets are in NC and I'm in TX...are the cheap Lowe's prefinished cabinets usually covered with some sort of veneer and/or plastic, particularly around the doors? I know the doors seem to be solid wood, but was wondering about the rest of the cabinets. I'm flying back up there in a few weeks, and the bathrooms will be the major project.
Also a good idea about the Sherwin Williams primer...do I understand correctly that we wouldn't even need a deglosser?
Edited to add that the cabinets were installed in the house when it was put up for sale, and the house was not occupied until they moved into it, so cleaning them is not really a problem. They've had very little use, so a quick wipe down should do it.
Not One More Day! Not One More Dime! Not One More Life! Not One More Lie!
End the Occupation of Iraq -- Bring the Troops Home Now!
And Take Care of Them When They Get Here!
Edited 2/23/2006 10:00 am by MadMom
I've stripped and refinished a lot of woodwork, and I can't imagine that doing cheap cabinets is at all worth it. Painting them, and you could even use faux graining or other paint treatments is the way to go I think. If you want a darker color, tint the primer gray, or even the base color.
MM
You asked about the wood for the cabinets. Usually the fronts are solid wood and the sides are some sort of cheap partical board with a thin woodgrain looking vinyl, unless of course they were higher end cabinets from lowes! And even then I'm not sure what the secondary wood/wood product would be.
You dont need to worry about the wood that you dont see when the doors are shut. Also the sides that may not be solid wood can easily be fitted with wood veneer or even 1/4" ply with the wood of your choice.
Some one mentioned refaceing the cabs, might be worth a look, may be the best solution.
Doug
You could reface cabinets. I can give more info if needed. I believe Home Cheapo sells some supplies.
PJ
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
Mom-
Several posters mentioned sanding but you'll want to be really careful if you do this. Most of those big box cabinets are made from a veneered particle board and the veneer is very thin. If you get too aggressive with the sanding, you'll sand thru the veneer and leave a spot that isn't going to look good no matter what you do.
If you must sand, start in an inconspicuous place.
I think the best advice was probably from the person who questioned whether it was worth it. She plans to eventually redo the master bath and the kitchen, so the only cabinets which might stay are in the guest bath, and that one isn't really too bad. It might be worth painting the ones in the master bath just to keep them from being such a glaring "color" but I don't see any sanding in my future, LOL.
Not One More Day! Not One More Dime! Not One More Life! Not One More Lie!
End the Occupation of Iraq -- Bring the Troops Home Now!
And Take Care of Them When They Get Here!
My daughter and SIL have the same situation. They bought a little place in Dec. and it has some really ratty kitchen cabs - some kind of fake knotty pine veneer on particle board - lol.
Since I design and built cabinets, etc. for a living, I told them that I would do theirs for whatever the materials cost. They're all for it (of course) but have some other stuff they want to do first. She's always been an impatient kid and she told me the other day that they were gonna paint them for now. I gave her the standard lecture about sanding cheapo cabinets but she's going for it anyway.
Gawd, I love it when I can say..........TOLD YA!!! - lol