Painting vs refinishing, what is the difference?

Refinishing kitchen cabinets is to make the cabinets look new again.

  • Refinishing is a step prior to painting which takes longer than painting and generally requires a refinishing shop and extended knowledge in the painting and wood refinishing trade; 
  • Refinishing cabinets includes sanding the old finish down to clean wood, patching and repairing dents and cracks before painting begins; 

Painting kitchen cabinets

Painting kitchen cabinets is less involved than refinishing and can be done much quicker, but not necessarily cheaper

Many residential house painters include kitchen cabinet painting as part of their painting service. They set up an on-site spray booth so they can spray everything in the home.

Although we could paint everything on-site too, we know sanding and spray painting cabinets in a home has many drawbacks including health issues.

  • The dust from all the sanding and spray is very problematic;
  • The end result is a painted look vs new look.

Because of this, we offer superior workmanship doing the bulk of our refinishing in our shop and not in a the client home. 

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Painting vs refinishing, what is the difference?