If you are ready to give your kitchen a refresh, pack a punch with updated kitchen cabinets. A brand new look in your kitchen is a hallmark of elegance and sophistication. You can achieve this by either buying new cabinets for your kitchen or repainting the old ones. If you have taken your time to inquire how much new kitchen cabinets cost, then you know that replacement is expensive. Cabinets account for nearly 40% of a kitchens total cost. New ready-to-assemble kitchen cabinets range anywhere from $1,600 to $6,000 while the other side of the spectrum gives you an option of spending much less. Your home reflects who you are and what you like. Giving your kitchen a refresh starts with the cabinets since they occupy the most space in the room.
You can purchase high-quality paints from your local store and refurbish your kitchen cabinets. However, painting kitchen cabinets is not a walk in the park. To achieve excellent results that send the right message, you must hire pros who know how to boost the looks of your kitchen. The process requires extensive knowledge and experience. Depending on the size and amount of cabinets, this project will typically take 4-5 full days. This is definitely a project where the preparation work is vital to getting a beautiful finished project. If you have doubts or just don’t have the time investment it will take, this might not be the best project to do yourself. If you decide to do so, be prepared for the challenge. So, how do painting experts manage to pull off great looks and make it look so easy?
Preparation
Successful paint jobs rely on diligent prep work. As earlier pointed out, cabinet painting takes several days. While prepping for the work, ensure you set up a room where you can do your cooking without getting in the way of the painting process. Cabinet transformation is a multi-stage process which lets you paint melamine, wood, and laminate cabinets. Painting kitchen cabinets with laminate surfaces can be tricky because they require special bonding primer. Professional painters ensure that they first test your desired paint in an inconspicuous area of the laminate surface to be sure that it bonds perfectly to the material. Drawers and flat-front doors are easily painted. However, woodwork with routed profiles, raised panels and other architectural details require more time to prepare and paint.
Removal of Doors and Hardware
The first step of cabinet painting is emptying the contents. Drawers, doors, and hardware such as hinges and knobs are then removed. Special note is made so that cabinet doors and drawers go back into the right spot.
Clean Surfaces
Paints don’t stick to greasy materials. It is for this reason that cleaning the cabinets with grease-cutting solutions is important. A kitchen scrub sponge or a cloth is used to wipe the cabinet surfaces, the cabinet doors, and drawers to get rid of any oil. After this, they are rinsed with clean water and wiped with a clean rag to dry them. Holes and dents are then filled by use of a wood filler.
Sanding
For the paint to perfectly stick to the surface, sanding is done by medium grit sandpaper (sanding sponge or 120-grit sandpaper) after placing painter’s tape on the walls along the cabinets’ edges. Coarse 100-grit sandpaper is used to remove bumps or smoother rough surfaces. This is a significant step, and painters are extra careful to avoid going overboard while sanding. The sanding dust is then vacuumed from all surfaces after which a tack cloth is used to wipe off any dust before painting. Some people prefer the wood grain showing while others don’t. At your request, painters fill open grain on wood surfaces before painting. The grain pores can be filled with spackling, by sanding between coats till the pores are filled or by applying several coats of high-build primer.
Applying Primer Sealer
For the first coat, a fast-drying primer is used to speed up the painting process. Primer sealers reduce the need to deglaze or sand old finishes before the finish paint is applied. A primer sealer provides a perfect base for water-based paints. Laying off is then done. Laying off is the process of using a brush or a dry roller to go over surfaces for the removal of build-ups in light manner.
Applying the paint
This stage involves painting the face frames’ opening and the inside edges, the sides of the outer cabinet and finally the front of the face frame. Keenly following these steps allows painters to detect and correct smudges or drips on visible areas. It also allows them to work faster in less critical areas. The next step is painting drawer fronts and cabinet drawers, along with separate moldings or wood pieces. If these parts have routed or raised features, the paint is carefully flowed into corners and crevices without accumulation in the spots. The paint is applied in thin, light coats covering all the areas. Thin coats dry quickly, and they leave fewer noticeable brushstrokes.
Painters are keen not to overwork the brush because it might create air bubbles that leave pits and bumps when the finish dries. The paint is then left to dry for a few hours before lightly resanding the surfaces in preparation for the second coat. Two coats of high-quality paint are enough to do the job. However, a third coat can be applied for protection purposes given the fact that kitchen cabinets are exposed to day-to-day use and cooking heat. An alternative to painting by brush is to spray paint the cabinets. This will give you a polished factory finish.
If you are looking forward to repainting your kitchen cabinets, consider hiring experienced professionals who will perfectly do a thorough paint job which will last through the coming years. C.E.T. Painting has the best painters who double-check for defects before moving on to the next painting stage to ensure that you get your desired results. For bookings and consultations, visit our website or call us on (914) 615-1415.