Kitchen Cabinets - Painting?
My kitchen cabinets are very solid and a nice looking design I think, but they are probably 20 years old. I don't know exactly what these are "painted" with, but it looks like it's some sort of baked on enamel or something. It definitely wasn't brush painted. Anyone have experience with these? what will I need to do to paint them as far as getting them prepped?
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- Here is a step by step plan for painting kitchen cabinets. Use oil based paint for a durable finish. Painting cabinetry correctly requires patience and attention to details. What You Need: High-quality acrylic paint made for woodwork Scrapers Sanding block Wood putty Screwdrivers Paintbrush Roller Masking or painter's tape Drop cloths Wooden support blocks Instructions: 1. Decide which parts of each cabinet you will paint. Usually, you need to paint only the stiles (the framing pieces), the drawer faces, and one side of the doors. You may also want to paint the back side of the doors and the insides of the cabinets. (Plan to cover the bottoms of shelves and drawers with shelf paper.) 2. Remove doors and drawers from stiles. 3. Fill, sand, and prime. Examine surfaces carefully for cracks and holes; paint will not cover these imperfections. Scrape and sand down high spots and fill scratch marks and cavities with wood putty. Sand filler smooth. Prime old enamel surfaces with an alkyd-based primer. 4. Paint doors and drawer faces. Set the drawers on drop cloths. Support them with blocks of wood so no painted surface comes in contact with the drop cloths. Paint large areas with a roller and use a brush to touch up hard-to-get-to areas. 5. Paint the stiles. Cover the countertop and other surfaces with masking or painter's tape as needed. Paint the framing pieces with long, smooth strokes. Begin at the least accessible points and work outward. Paint the inner surfaces, then work toward the outer surfaces. 6 Allow paint plenty of time to dry before handling and reassembling cabinets. When done, you'll have a surface that is almost as washable as laminate. If changing hardware you may need to fill the old holes with wood filler and sand before begining the painting process. Hope this helps
- They do bake the paint on cabinets to expedite drying and to harden the surface. To prepare your cabinets, there's a chemical prep you can get at the hardware store or your home builder's supply. You can steel wool or sand them with superfine grit sand paper. 1. Remove doors and all hardware. 2. Wash surfaces with soapy water, but don't soak up the edges or soak them in water to clean them. 3. Dry them thoroughly. Move them around to make sure there's no hidden water in crevices. 4. Fine grit sanding or fine steel wool. Don't rub too hard. 5. You can spray paint, or brush paint. If you use spray cans, don't go back and forth rapidly. Use even, slow, but not too slow strokes. Read the instructions in the can. 6. If you mess up, it doesn't matter. Let it dry for a day or two, then light sand it and paint it again. Tip: The better your paint, the easier it will be to paint cabinets, and better your final job will be. It won't take that much paint, and spending a few extra bucks will be worth it. Talk to your paint expert at your retailer about the best paint. If it's your first time, I wouldn't try anything fancy. Just keep it simple and straight forward.