Kitchen Cabinet Painting and Staining
Serving Toronto and the GTA Since 1991
Kitchen Cabinets in Toronto can be one of the most luxurious and modern features of your home and kitchens. They are also amongst the more expensive household fixtures to replace if you are unhappy with the appearance of them. This is why homeowners look to us to paint or stain them depending on their preference. The cost of this project is significantly cheaper than replacing them. Also, this is a very time consuming and intricate process that requires a lot more expertise than just wall painting. Hence, its not surprising we at Home Painters receive a lot of requests to paint or stain them.
Painting them can be tricky since you are painting on top of wood that has urethanes and lacquers that aren’t always conducive for the adhesion of paint. Kitchen Cabinets painting in Toronto have had big trend changes which makes this process in very high demand. There are numerous ways to painting these cabinets. You can spray them, or you can brush and roll them. Spraying is a much more complicated process too difficult for the average do it yourself project. But brushing and rolling kitchen cabinets is a more economic and practical way to paint them. Here is a breakdown of how to do it that will beautify them for years to come:
1) First remove all the kitchen cabinet doors and hardware from them.
2) Next clean any stains, oils, or any heavy grime from the cabinet surfaces.
3) Then you need to rough up the smooth surfaces of the kitchen cabinets. You can rough up all the surfaces using a very high grit sandpaper (fine sandpaper). Be careful not to use sandpaper that is too coarse, as you will scratch the surfaces. You want to just rough up the surfaces enough so the primer and paint has a good base for them to stick to.
4) Prime all kitchen cabinet surfaces with an oil based primer. There are many low odour oil based primers on the market today. Kilz has a good one, but any low odour oil based interior primer will do. The priming and the painting part require a skilled painter.
If the primer isn’t applied properly this will potentially ruin the finish of the kitchen cabinets. When applying the primer be careful not to put it on too thick as it will show lap marks and drip. At the same time, if its applied too thin then you will also get streaks which aren’t desirable either. Besides paint brushes, using sponge rollers are also desirable when applying the primer and paint depending on the surfaces as well. The proper application of the oil primer is essential in the minimizing of brush strokes and streakiness, for an ideal smooth finish.
5) Apply the paint to the kitchen cabinets. Usually 2 coats are desirable but sometimes depending on the colour and application, you can get away with one. When in doubt put to thinner coats rather than 1 blobby thick coat. Again, the key to getting a smooth ideal finish is the application. A combination of sponge rollers and brush applications are the way to achieve this. Allow at least 24 hours in between coats and much more if it is humidity in the air.
6) Which paint finish to use on your kitchen cabinets? This is more of a preference but keep in mind that these kitchen cabinets need to withstand a lot of wear and tear, so choose wisely. Most commonly we use a latex satin finish or a low luster finish. Sometimes you can also use a latex semi gloss finish as well. Oil paint can also be used and is a bit more durable, but they are generally very toxic smelling, difficult to use, and hard to clean up. The latex paints today are quite strong as well. Latex is generally more environmentally friendly, easy to use and cleanup. Hence, most common are the latex paints with a satin or low luster finish.
7) Once the paint has been dry after 48 hours, you can start to put the hardware and doors back on the kitchen cabinets base. Keep in mind, if there is humidity in the air, it can take as long as a week or longer for the paint to totally dry and cure. So when in doubt, its better to wait longer, than risk damaging or chipping them when putting them back together too soon.
Once you have completed this process, you will have beautiful, new, up to date kitchen cabinets for years to come. For a free consultation, feel free to call us at 416.494.9095 OR email is at brianyoung@homepainterstoronto.com.
Note: There is another option on kitchen cabinet painting. If you want to minimize the possibility of any brush or streaks, paint spraying the kitchen cabinets can also be an option. This is more costly and time consuming however, since we need to take the cabinet doors off site where we can spray them safely in controlled environment. Feel free to call or email us as well for a free consultation.
Kitchen Cabinetry Painting and Staining – Before and After Gallery
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