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Mistakes Painting Kitchen Cabinets

Avoid Common Mistakes When Painting Kitchen Cabinets

Overview

Painting kitchen cabinets can significantly enhance your kitchen's appearance, but it's essential to avoid common mistakes that can ruin your efforts. Whether you decide to hire a professional or take on the project yourself, following these guidelines will ensure a professional, long-lasting finish.

Detailed Steps to Avoid Common Mistakes:

  1. Proper Environment:
    • Avoid Cold or Dirty Spaces: Kitchen cabinet painting cannot be done well in a cold or dirty garage. Use a spray painting shop and specialized equipment for cabinet refinishing.
  2. Remove and Label Items:
    • Logical Removal: Remove and label everything that can be logically removed from the kitchen itself but never remove the boxes from the walls.
  3. Sealing and Filling:
    • Proper Sealing: Properly seal crowns, corners, and wall openings.
    • Correct Order: Fill and caulk cracks in the correct order and let products cure between coats. Do not caulk or fill problematic or subjective cracks that can open up over time.
  4. Cleaning and Sanding:
    • Sanding Varnishes: Always sand varnishes off.
    • Avoid TSP: Do not use TSP as it is incompatible with certain degreasers and de-glossers.
    • Razor Knives: Use razor knives to meticulously clean corners and debris out of cracks where grease builds up over years. Sanding is essential.
  5. Priming and Painting:
    • Hand Rub Sanding Sealer: Hand rub sanding sealer into the oak grain to fill the open grain without completely closing it.
    • Non-Grain Raising Primers: Use non-grain-raising primers, undercoats, and topcoats with acrylic paint.
  6. Hardware and Assembly:
    • Label Everything: Label everything so your kitchen goes back together perfectly.
    • New Hardware: Remove and re-install new hardware.
  7. Professional Finish:
    • Match Spray Finishing: Kitchen cabinet painters should be able to hand paint details to match spray finishing for a professional look.
    • Protect Delivery: Protect and deliver freshly painted cabinets flawlessly.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

  1. Skipping Proper Cleaning:
    • Not thoroughly cleaning cabinets leads to poor paint adhesion. Remove all grease and grime.
  2. Improper Priming:
    • Using the wrong primer, such as not using shellac for open grain woods, can cause tannin bleed-through and uneven finishes.
  3. Ignoring Proper Sealing and Filling:
    • Do not caulk where it may lead to issues over time.
  4. Using Incompatible Products:
    • Avoid cleaners like TSP that are incompatible with your degreasers and de-glossers.
  5. Rushing the Process:
    • Not allowing enough curing time between coats can lead to poor finish quality.

Conclusion

By following these pointers and avoiding common mistakes, you can achieve a beautifully painted kitchen that stands the test of time. Happy painting!