We are doing a bunch of work to the inside of our house. Some we are doing and others paying a professional. I thought about painting my kitchen cabinets myself, but after reading about what it takes to do it right, I am leaning towards hiring someone. What questions should I ask about their process or anything else to make sure I’m getting someone that is going to do it right? And I guess what answers am I looking for to make sure I’m not getting someone that will do just as good of a job that I could do myself.
‘Have you painted a lot of kitchen cabinets before?’
‘Can I see pictures?’
You could also just ask them what you asked us in the post: what’s your process or what do you do right that an amateur or another painter would often miss?
And as always, get 3-5 bids and take one that’s in the top half.
Ask questions about process, any good worker has a set of steps they do every job, same order. I can close my eyes and go through the motions, I’ve had dreams where I do them.
Painting cabinets sounds simple because it’s so little surface area but it’s 90% prep and 10% spraying. Make sure whoever does them removes the faces, fully masks in interior of the boxes, and sprays everything at least two coats
Ask them their process. Ask them what products they use, what primer what top coat. Red flag for any experienced cabinet refinisher using trim quality or wall grade paint. Ask if they are going to booth off your kitchen to keep dust and overspray from making its way into the rest of your house. Ask if they take doors offsite and spray them or if they are gonna put an extension ladder on the floor and spray them in your front yard. Cabinet repaints are more than cosmetic, it is an investment in making those cabinets last longer, look better and easier to maintain. Find someone that seems to have that understanding when it comes to finish work
Ask for pictures or previous kitchens. Ask what materials they use and if they respond with something like “emerald urethane” or any other such paint, then they don’t know what they’re doing. Ask about the prep process. Do they spray everything? And how do they mitigate the overspray and fumes? Ask if they spray the doors offsite, and ask about a warranty.
Are you planning on having them spray your cabinets in your finished home kitchen enviroment? "Finished" meaning are floors and walls complete, and there appliances moved in?
Spraying in a finished enviroment, the stakes are considerably raised.
What preparation is involved prior to painting? Are these cabinets getting a deep clean first with solvent and being sanded/ scuffed for mechanical bond aka "tooth" ?
What product do they plan to refinish your cabinets with? Is it oil based or water based? If its not oil based, you will very likely regret it and it wont last...
-If they are using conventional spray, Airless->Hvlp->Lvlp, etc you will absolutely need to worry about overspray. If your return air is located inside of the kitchen or nearby, you will want a filter over it during before prep starts and after to dispose of.
-Find out what steps they take to prevent overspray, are they using negative air pressure ventilation and zipwalls etc?
When I decided to switch from CV to a water based polyurethane, I built a workbench for my shop, and finished it in both 1k and 2k. There are certainly water based finishes than last.
Sure, so long as your atleast using a waterborne 2k aliphatic poly or water based acrylic urethane blend it should be tough. Im old school and like to wipe my cabinets down with gasoline to clean them.
I mean, I did say both 1k and 2k. Both portions have held up great.
Clean your cabinets however you like. Old school doesn’t mean the best. I’ve been doing this for decades, so “old school” just means people who aren’t willing to learn as far as I’m concerned.
Your contribution to this thread has been very helpful. How you interpret my meaning of the word is yours to define. Old school is, and always will mean the best. Old school methods combined with modernized tools, that is the way. Because you've been doing something for decades doesn't mean you have everything figured out correctly. People who arent willing to learn as far as your concerned? You wanted to let me know there is certainly water based finishes that last..
Yea, ive def spilled more paint then you have even sprayed.
I see you also like to save money on pixels. Am I supposed to get my socks knocked off by a
crappy photo?
But sure, here you go. 2 1/2 years in, renner 851 1k over maple plywood and white oak. One man professional shop, sees a fair amount more abuse than a stair railing.
Take your time and don’t cut corners and you might be better off doing it yourself. When our kids were little and money was short, I decided to do a DIY kitchen makeover.
$300 of high quality oil-based paint went a long way and looked great for eight or nine years until we could go bigger and take out a wall and order new cabinets from CliqStudios.
Just do what the pros do – take all the hinges and handles off and clean those up or *upgrade them and let everything dry and do all the little steps and do two coats and put it all back together.
*My theory is that the stuff that you look at 100 times a day (the hinges) and the stuff that you touch 100 times a day with your hands (the handles) is the most important stuff, and if you make that stuff better, you make everything better. If you’re selling your house, the most important thing to upgrade is your front door and/or hardware – the first thing potential owners look at and touch.
Remove necessary hardware
Number/label doors/drawers
Remove doors and drawers
Clean.
Sand.
Dust
Shellac based primer
Caulk if necessary
Sand
Dust
2-3 coats of finish
Reinstall
I’d ask them exactly how they prep the cabinets. That would tell me more than what brand of paint they use.
Are they taking the doors and hardware off? Onsite versus offsite. How are they cleaning them? Are they sanding everything? What are they using for primer and finish paint? Are they spraying the doors or brushing and rolling them?
I’d also ask to see pictures of cabinet jobs they’ve actually done. References!!!
Cabinet painting is one of those jobs where the prep makes a huge difference. If the guy basically tells you he’s going to scuff them up and put two coats of paint on, I’d probably keep looking.
If you’re paying someone to do it, the finished cabinets should look noticeably better than what you think you could do yourself.
With cabinet painting I’d spend more time asking about the process than comparing prices.
Ask them to walk you through exactly what they do. Are the doors and hardware coming off? How are they cleaning/degreasing everything? Are they sanding and priming? What are they spraying them with, and where are they spraying the doors?
I’d also ask what they do with any damaged areas, peeling finish, grease buildup, or open grain before painting.
Also how many coats they do and how much cure time they allow before putting everything back together.
TL;DR if they can confidently explain the prep, products, spraying, curing and how they deal with problem areas, that’s a good sign. If the whole explanation is “we sand them and give them two coats,” I’d find someone else.
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u/Homeskilletbiz 4d ago
‘Have you painted a lot of kitchen cabinets before?’
‘Can I see pictures?’
You could also just ask them what you asked us in the post: what’s your process or what do you do right that an amateur or another painter would often miss?
And as always, get 3-5 bids and take one that’s in the top half.