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Have someone wanting to paint over kitchen cabinets as they do not like the dark finished that was applied some 20 years ago. The cabinets look to be Ash with a medium dark finish. If painting is done, what prep work should occur before actually applying the paint?
Also, as an alternative, does anyone have an opinion whether or not it would be cost effective to refinish with a lighter stain as opposed to painting? The doors are made up of 4-flat panels with decorative stiles and rails so there would likely be a fair amount of sanding to remove the old stain just from the doors.
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McCormick: Either way the cabinets must be cleaned, and the original finish determined. Could the "dark" be aged varnish, stain, shellac, or lacquer? Before you could refinish, determine the nature of what's on there... and you could test the "restain" option as well, prior to opting for painting.
*McCormick, My wife wanted to do the same with our cabinets(24 yr. finish). I sanded everything down to remove most of the old finish,then applied two coats of primer. Pain in the a@#, but after painting they turned out better than I had hoped for. Good Luck.
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if you want to paint them, it doesn't matter what's on there now. wipe all surfaces with rags soaked in paint thinner or naptha. scuff up the surface lightly with 180 or 220 paper. wipe again with rag soaked in thinner. apply oil-base primer, and paint over that--sprayed on if possible.
it would cost more to go with a lighter stain than what's on there now because all surfaces would first have to be stripped completely--much more work and prep time than painting.
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The pseudo-shellac primers, Bullseye and Zinssner, have done well for me over difficult surfaces. Just scuff and spray/brush.
Restaining "cost effective"? Depends whether you're paying for labor! I have the same situation, a kitchen's worth of perfectly decent 30 y.o. oak & plywood cabinets that some nitwit had stained "Antique Olive" (according to the stamp on the back). I.e., dark green, very ugly. It takes little sanding to remove the stain, but there's them crevices to deal with. They're in the basement until I get some bright ideas how to proceed.
*I agree with Bullet here, paint surface prep need not be bomb-proof if you use and oil-based enamel. Our ugly dark stained cabinets were painted with Benjamin Moore Satin-Impervo 5 years ago with minimal prep and beautiful results. Impervo's once spectacular handling characteristics have fallen prey to VOC compliance but, a little thinner and a little Penetrol might get you back to the good old days.Joe
*I would re-face them.. Preping cabinets is a bummer. First they should be washed with a non butyl cleaning detergent. Then sanded with 180 or 220 grit. Then paint with a high grade of paint designed for cabinets using a very good brush. Or if sprayed I use an automotive primer & after sanding I spray an automotive enamel.. I charge $150 a lineal foot. Refacing is a little more but looks nicer. L. Siders
*Bullet I hope you never paint ober an ole laquer surface. The difference in hardness of the surface will cause the paint to peel off. there are some surfaces that are just incompatable. It will just take one time of going back and redoing an entire set of cabinets to change your mind.I often find it cheaper to make new doors. These will cover 90% of the cabinet. I outsourse my doors. I can get a 4 sq. ft. Mdf door primed for 21.00. Wood rawfor about 24.00. Look at how much labor it would cost to prep the old doors. And the possibility of bleed through if you paint over stainde woodRick Tuk
*The May 1998 FHB (Issue 115) had a good article by Mark Dixson and Bob Heidt about how they go about painting kitchen cabinets. They prefer latex paint with 100% acrylic binders to oil based. They use an HVLP sprayer and figure they can do 25 doors and 10 drawers in about 60 hours. They figure in fixing dents and dings. They use one primer coat and 3 finish coats (over a darker stain or paint). The finish coats are gloss. They mark the doors on the least visible edge or under the hinge. Hang the doors from a suspended piece of conduit in the garage and spray them. Recommended paints are from Ben Moore, Pittsburg, Sherwin Williams and Zinsser. Sanding is done with an orbital sander going from 100 grit to 220. The cabinet face frames are brush painted, sanded between coats. The article is very complete--I have the issue. Thor
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i agree and disagree:
new doors is the way to fly (especially at the prices you're getting) if the client is willing to foot the extra $, but you still have to put a finish on them, so there's no savings there.
i don't agree with your analysis of paint over lacquer. i would never put lacquer over paint, but i have painted over lacquer and gotten great results. oil base primer will grab onto lacquer just fine, as long as it's been scuffed up and is free of wax and silicone contaminants.
sounds like you had a bad experience, and i'd bet my beloved hound dog that the problem was with a contaminated surface.
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Have someone wanting to paint over kitchen cabinets as they do not like the dark finished that was applied some 20 years ago. The cabinets look to be Ash with a medium dark finish. If painting is done, what prep work should occur before actually applying the paint?
Also, as an alternative, does anyone have an opinion whether or not it would be cost effective to refinish with a lighter stain as opposed to painting? The doors are made up of 4-flat panels with decorative stiles and rails so there would likely be a fair amount of sanding to remove the old stain just from the doors.