The 1-1/4-in. Or you can use acrylic urethane paint as the final coat too. When youre done painting, pick up the door by the screw and one hook and hang both hooks on a sturdy clothes hanger. Paint the back first, leaving the edges unpainted so youll have a spot to put your fingers when you turn the door over. To ensure that the pressure-sensitive adhesive on the veneer and the construction adhesive for the end panels bond well, the face frames and end panels must be clean and scuffed up slightly. For these reasons, we recommend you opt for using high-quality brushes instead. Paint stores usually offer the widest selection and the best advice. Latex paints have been improving steadily, leading some pros to give up oil-based paints entirely. You can use acrylic urethane primer and cover it with your choice of paint. You can apply several coats of a high-build primer, sanding between coats until the pores are filled. Squeeze carpenter's glue onto the plywood panel and apply it to the exposed end of the cabinet bank. The best method is to use a microfiber rag with water-but remember to wring out almost all of the water, as residual water will leave spots. 1. If its not bubbling, begin applying the first coat using a high-quality paint brush or roller. Shake it out frequently and re-form the bundle to use it again. This will help the primer and paint adhere to the surface. Acrylic urethane has many properties that make it a perfect primer for cabinets. Prepare for hanging the doors by marking the center of the top hinge on the face frame stiles. Whats the Best Sanitizer for Your Hot Tub, Bromine or Chlorine? Dont skimp on this. Repeat Steps 11 and 12 to paint the backs of the cabinet doors, if desired. Start by making a sketch of each wall of cabinets showing the doors and drawers. It sets in about 5 minutes, so mix only small batches. Speaking of protection, always remember to wear gloves and proper respiratory protection, and open windows and turn on your bathroom exhaust fan while youre working. Youll also likely need to rent the spray equipment, which drives up your costs, and youll have to mask off all the areas in the kitchen that could accidentally get sprayed, including countertops, cabinet interiors, and appliances, which is a time-consuming process. With a little practice and a good sprayer, you can achieve factory-finish quality by spraying your doors. Painting your bathroom vanity is not a difficult project, nor one that requires a lot of physical strength or skills with tools, but there are lots of things DIYers must do and think through before they pick up a paint brush. For refinishing kitchen cabinets, Shipwash says, "The key is to do it slow, and do it right.Refinishing cabinets is not a difficult job, but it does require some tedious work in order to get a great finish." Be sure to mark each drawer front and door with a marker to prevent mixing up the doors. square scraps of plywood. Caulk will always stick better to a primed surface than to bare wood. Laying doors flat will help with the leveling of the enamel and give you a smooth finish. Start by applying veneer to the outermost stiles in a run of cabinets. When painting over laminate cabinets, the first thing you have to do is choose a quality paint. Resurfacing With Laminates Laminate is a great choice for an easy fix to brighten up the look of your kitchen cabinets. give that vanity a beautiful and durable new look, Oil-based paint or mildew-proof acrylic paint, Beyond White: 15 Alternative Hues to Color Your Bath. Shop smarter with our expert recommendations for tools, gear and money-saving deals on cant miss DIY and home products. I recommend applying a second top coat for added protection and an even shine. Clean up any dusty remains with a handheld vacuum and a damp cloth. It works best for boxy, simple cabinet designs. Safety goggles Respirator Trisodium phosphate powder 5-gallon bucket Sponge 220-grit sandpaper 120- to 150-grit sandpaper (optional) Shellac primer or oil-based primer Vacuum cleaner Tack cloth. Cover the brush and roller with plastic bags to prevent them from hardening while you wait for the first coat to dry. For a streak-free finish on flat laminate cabinet surfaces, opt instead for a roller, sprayer, or a paint pad. brads to hold it in place. Instead of committing to the expense of replacing rundown kitchen cabinets, consider the more cost-effective solution of repainting them. Then he reduced the top and bottom overlay of the drawers to 3/4 in. Remove knobs, pulls, and other visible cabinet hardware before painting laminate cabinets. Refacing cabinets is a great way to give your kitchen a new look with a minimum of mess and inconvenience. Secure the panel with 2d finish nails. If the cabinets are heavily stained, use a stain-blocking primer, which dries quickly and seals knots and other surface defects that might bleed through the topcoats. Youll find mini roller frames and sleeves at home centers and paint stores. If you dont press too hard, you can still realign it. Allow each coat to dry fully before applying the next, then let the top coat dry completely. You should sand cabinets before beginning your how to paint kitchen cabinet project to give the new paint a good surface to grip. The right type of paint will leave a chip-resistant finish thats easy to clean with a damp cloth or sponge. Follow the wood grain:If youre painting frame-and-panel cabinet doors, follow the direction of the wood grain with your finishing brushstrokes. (The hole in a caulk tubes tip should be no bigger than the tip of a sharp pencil.). Careful surface preparation, meticulous technique, and the right products are key to professional-quality results. Cover all the end panels before starting on the face frame veneer. You can order the plywood cut to rough size from some online suppliers, or figure out how many 4 x 8-ft. sheets of 1/4- in. For professional-looking results, we recommend at least one pass with 220-grit sandpaper. Tape rosin paper over the countertops and flooring, and, to protect the rest of the house from dust and fumes, tape plastic sheeting over the backsplash, windows, fixed appliances, and interior doorways. According to Angi and HomeAdvisor, the average cost to refinish . Back out the hinge screws from the cabinet frame and remove the doors. Before you begin, first test the paints bonding capabilities. Rinse with cool, clean water. Maybe you don't want just a new paint colour, but new cabinet doors. Expect to spend about $90 per sheet for the veneer. Latex paint should be applied with a synthetic bristle brush, which doesnt absorb water; oil-based paint should be applied with a natural-bristle brush. Start by making a quick sketch or two showing all the doors and drawers as you learn how to paint kitchen cabinets. And if you already have a well-stocked toolbox, then it will set you back even less. Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. As soon as it sets, remove the excess with a sharp paint scraper. However, never caulk the panels on cabinet doorstheyre actually called floating panels and need to move with seasonal temperature and humidity fluctuations. RELATED: Buyers Guide: The Best Cabinet Hardware. Properly cleaned, it will give you decades of service. Painting laminate surfaces also requires a few extra steps and careful preparation. As you go along, wipe up any paint that ends up on adjacent dry surfaces to eliminate the chance of lap marks. Vacuum sanding dust from the cabinet using the dust-brush attachment. Start by laying down floor protection, and then cover countertops so they can double as a work surface. Then transfer these measurements to the back of the drawer front, align the drawer and attach it with four screws. Depending on the hinge, you can choose a different overlay if you like. To use it, you set the depth and width of the cut. Priming is fairly straightforward: apply as uniformly as possible, and be super thorough. Start by cleaning all of the face frames and end panels with a rag dampened in denatured alcohol. Working Time: 15 to 30 hours Total Time: One week Skill Level: Intermediate Estimated Cost: $200 to $400. To ensure a smooth paint job and good adhesion, its critical that you remove all the sanding dust from the doors, drawer fronts and cabinet frames. Skip to collection list Skip to video grid. Cabinet refacing is essentially a replacement of the cabinet "skins"removing the doors and drawer fronts and applying a new veneer over the existing surface of the body ("carcass") of the cabinets. By submitting your email, you agree to our, Pro Tips for Cleaning Up After a Paint Project, How to Remove Different Types of Wallpaper, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. How Much Does It Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets? Also, remove or modify the drawer fronts. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer) as we strive to provide site experiences for browsers that support new web standards and security practices. 1. We do this easily with a special tool called a laminate slitter. This finish is made up of layered colors and spattered dark paint. To prime the cabinet, pour a small amount of shellac or oil-based primer into a paint tray. Introduction Tired of your kitchen cabinets? To paint cabinets with chalk paint, prepare the cabinets as directed in Steps 1 through 5. If you have inset or lip doors, you can convert them to overlay doors for your refacing project just by using the correct overlay cup hinge. How Much Will Painting My Cabinets Cost? )SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: http://bi. Lay drop cloths on the floor around the bathroom cabinets to protect it from sanding dust and paint. Line up the mark with the paper cutter blade and cut the strip to length. Crackling glaze, which is available at paint stores, can, with very little effort, give your cabinets a weathered look. For this project Ill be demonstrating brush and roller application. On most new cabinets, the drawer front is a separate piece and can be taken off by removing the screws from inside the drawer. Here is an overview of how you can refinish your cabinets with paint or stain to get a . Add corresponding hooks to the top edges of upper cabinet doors and the bottoms of lower doors and drawers, where the holes left behind wont be visible. The wood should end up feeling glass-smooth. Allow extra material, though. Materials 3. If your cabinets have a lot of curves and molded edges, filling with spackling is more difficult. He. Laminate doesnt play well with all primers and paints, only those specially formulated to adhere to its picky surface. screws through 3-in. Then measure the openings and write down the measurementswidth first, then height (Figure A). On average, one sheet will cover face frames for about 15 doors. Cut out the notch. Make sure you've masked off areas in the kitchen you don't want to get paint on. In fact, the cost of painting should be no more than about $200, plus a weekend or two of your time. When painting a bathroom cabinet, there are lots of decisions to be made regarding the appropriate primers, paints, and tools to use. Double-check all your measurements and calculations before you place the order. When choosing paint, note that semi-gloss and high-gloss finishes repel moisture more effectively than flat and eggshell finishes, and darker shades hide dirt better than lighter colors. This is called the overlay distance and is determined by the hinges you install. Replace the drawer pulls (or add new ones) and reinstall each drawer. After sanding, getting rid of dust and priming the cabinets, its a good idea to check everything with a bright light to spot and fill any remaining holes or dents. If a coating flakes off, youll need to do some extra sanding. Take one final walk-through to look for touch-ups; if youre satisfied, then you can go ahead and remove the plastic, paper, and tape from countertops, appliances, and floor, and consider your job well done! But other fillers will also work. 5. Screw eye hooks into one end of a 24, where doors will be painted, and at the other end, screw hooks into both 2x4s to hang painted doors from. Using 100- to 120-grit sandpaper, lightly sand the primer so it better adheres to the paint. Open the windows for ventilation and put on safety gear. Because they dry quickly and clean up with water, latex paints are more user-friendly than oil-based paints. Ahead, learn how to determine if your cabinets are laminate or real wood, and discover out how much you can expect to spend on this project. Simply dip the tip of a paintbrush in a color lighter than the cabinets and dab the excess onto a cloth until the brush is almost dry, then lightly graze the surface of the detail trim, corners, and seams. Yes, you can successfully paint both solid wood or engineered wood, no matter whether the bathroom cabinets are unfinished, sealed, or previously painted. Span a pair of 2x4s at eye level between two ladders. brush like the one shown here is just about perfect. Renovating a kitchen is one of the most expensive remodeling projects that you can take on, and replacing the cabinets can account for nearly 40 percent of that cost. Real wood will usually be rough, while laminate cabinets will have a very smooth finish. Double the overlay distance and add this to the opening size to get the size of the door or drawer. This step could save you from a case of peeling paint down the road, and the need to redo hours of work. Before you paint laminate cabinets, use trisodium phosphate to wipe away grime. To paint the bathroom cabinet, pour a small amount of oil-based paint or mold- and mildew-proof latex paint into a paint tray. If these are the issues youre dealing with, youd actually be better off replacing your kitchen cabinets. Invest in a good, 3- to 4-inch-wide square brush, whose straight ends will make short work of large, flat panels, as well as an angled brush in the 2- or 3-inch-wide range, which will help you get paint into the corners of doors with molding and can coat door frames in one pass. Get the latest This Old House news, trusted tips, tricks, and DIY Smarts projects from our expertsstraight to your inbox. Learn more. Refinishing involves removing the existing stain or paint; making repairs; sanding; then adding new stain, paint, or varnish. Sponsored By: The Home DepotA portion of this piece was created in partnership with The Home Depot, the largest home improvement retailer in the United States. piece of particleboard or plywood and glue it to the edge of the remaining piece. Do You Want Different Cabinets? Painting over a dark finish with a light color is tougher and could require three coats. To use a tack cloth, completely unfold it and loosely bunch it up. Rinse the cabinets with water and allow them to dry completely. Complete Refinish. Use a tack cloth to remove the sanding dust before moving on. Now that you have a perfectly primed surface, its time for the top coat. Read the instructions for the correct proportion of conditioner to paint. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer) as we strive to provide site experiences for browsers that support new web standards and security practices. Next, remove the doors by unscrewing the hinges from the face frame. We sometimes encounter a face frame stile at the end of cabinets thats rounded or beveled. If youve noticed the cost of new appliances, countertops, and cabinets, its no surprise that renovating a kitchen is one of the most expensive remodeling projects. If your cabinets have a factory finish, sand lightly with 120-grit sandpaper or a sanding sponge. If it hardens completely, sand it smooth. Do keep in mind that while painting kitchen cabinets isnt a difficult task, it is important to use the right primer and paint along with the proper techniques to achieve good and long-lasting results. Sand any profiled surfaces with a medium-grit sanding sponge. Regardless of what type of doors you currently have, in most cases, you can replace them with overlay doors that use modern, fully adjustable cup hinges. Start by emptying the cabinets, clearing off the counters, and removing any freestanding appliances. Pigmented shellac in a spray can (BIN is one brand) is perfect for spot-priming areas you may have missed or areas you have patched and sanded. Let dry completely before moving on. Yes, some people would say I go a little crazy with prep, but from experience I know that its not wasted time. The vertical stiles should receive the last brush strokes running from top to bottom. Sign up for the Stuff We Love newsletter. Start the door installation by mounting the cup hinges in the doors. Start by coating the back sides of the doors and lay them flat. Towel-dry the cabinets well, and then allow all pieces to air-dry completely. Even the highest-quality paint job cant revive cheap cabinets that have grown frail with age. Repeat Steps 9 and 10 to prime the backs of the cabinet doors, if you are painting them. A shellac primer also gives you more flexibility, because you can use either an oil-based or water-based paint over it. Rub the surface of the cabinet facings, rinse it and . And by doing the work yourself, youll also save at least $1,000 in labor for a small kitchen, and a lot more if your kitchen is large. But theres more to the job than buying a gallon of your favorite color. Next, tackle flat areas of the door and drawer fronts. Its tempting to caulk these, but youll have to abstaintrust me on this one. You can also run your hands over the surface of the cabinets. If the cabinet hinges are visible and removable, take the doors off the cabinets and paint them over a workbench or sawhorse. Paint brushes tend to leave brush strokes in their wake. 6. strip from a 24 x 24-in. An easy way to protect your countertops, backsplash and floor is to cover them with inexpensive rosin or brown builders paper. Start by vacuuming everything using a soft bristle brush attachment. Also, measure from the drawer bottom to the face frame drawer rail. We recommend our users to update the browser. Give standard kitchen cabinets a unique, custom look by refacing them. The best place for this mark is behind the hinge location. Bathrooms are typically fairly small spaces, and fumes from paint, primer, and trisodium phosphate can become bothersome quickly if the room is not well ventilated. For the best results, build a simple veneer-ripping jig. Attach the bottom hinge the same way. Then replace the old doors and drawer fronts with new ones. (The screws that secure each pull or knob are usually located on the back of the door or drawer face.) Finally, clean the surfaces again with denatured alcohol to remove the dust. or a 1/4-in. After the paint has dried, put on a wipe-on polyurethane varnish with a cotton cloth. We Recommend How to Pick Kitchen Cabinet Frames How to Build a Hidden Trash Can Cabinet Refinishing Kitchen Cabinet Ideas Old Kitchen Cabinets Give your bathroom cabinets an additional coat of paint or two over the base as needed to achieve the desired depth of color. lip (Figure B). Once dry, you can flip the doors over and coat the fronts. With this method, you can loosen the screws and move the drawer front slightly to align it perfectly. Prime and paint. You could even paint over plastic laminate cabinets with acrylic urethane. Retrieve the hinge screws (or clips) to reattach the door hinges to the cabinet. Clamp the jig to the table saw fence and youre ready to cut veneer strips. (Make sure to smooth out any drips on edges before they dry.) RELATED: The Pros and Cons of Cleaning With TSP. This will prevent shedding of fibers and a flawed finish. Want to speed up the project? Youll also need denatured alcohol, rags, medium-grit sanding sponge, construction adhesive, 3/4-in. If you do use a latex paint, make sure its a 100 percent acrylic formulation, which offers greater durability and adhesion than vinyl acrylic paints. Oak is a good example. RELATED: Beyond White: 15 Alternative Hues to Color Your Bath. By Manasa Reddigari and Tony Carrick | Updated Apr 26, 2023 10:32 AM. Apply second coat and let dry for about 2 hours. This will leave a finish nearly devoid of brush marks. The primer is also needed for the overlying slick of paint to adhere well to the surface and cut down on chips and cracks. Line up the center of the hinge with your mark and drill a pilot hole. First, the technician strips off the old finish and sands the tub to create a smooth surface. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. After donning work gloves, safety goggles, and a respirator, dilute one-quarter cup of trisodium phosphate (TSP) in one gallon of warm water in a 5-gallon bucket. At Rockler.com, youll find doors and 2 x 8-ft. sheets of veneer with pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) on the back. Assuming that everything is still in fine shape and good working order, lets examine some of the questions youll need to address before you start repainting your kitchen cabinets. Instead of replacing them, consider cabinet refacing. Tip: To speed up the drying time for doors, you can twist two screw hooks into holes drilled in an inconspicuous door edge (the lower edge for bottom cabinets, the upper edge for top cabinets). When youre sanding a smooth finish to provide a better surface for paint, use a green abrasive pad to sand the molded profiles. Lay a drop cloth over floors and other surfaces you want to protect. Finish the project by installing cove molding along the top of the wall veneer kitchen cabinets and covering the toe-kick with a thin strip of plywood finished matching the rest of the wood. Cut a 3-in. Wipe down the sanded areas with a water-dampened cloth, then make a final pass over the cabinet with a tack cloth. For great tips on installing door hardware, see how to install cabinet hardware. 1 / 20 Family Handyman Protect Countertops With Rosin Paper Painting cabinets is a messy job, and the last thing you want is paint all over your countertops as you learn how to paint kitchen cabinets. The face frames on most modern cabinets overhang the end panel slightly. I use only hand tools when installing doors and drawers; drills tend to strip out delicate screws. A sprayed-on finish is the smoothest option, but theres a learning curve for doing it properly. Copyright 2023 This Old House Ventures, LLC. The tool is intended to cut strips of plastic laminate, but it works great for veneer, too. Then sand again with 120-grit to get rid of any sanding marks. Measure and make a list of the veneer strips youll need to cover the face frames. Thoroughly wipe down all cabinet boxes (frames and all) with TSP mixed into warm water. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. Family Handyman Reader Projects: Indoor Spaces, Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Before the deglosser evaporates, quickly wipe away the residue with another clean, deglosser-dampened rag. Pull out the drawer as far as possible (it will naturally stop rolling forward when the wheels reach the end of the drawer rail). Seal the paint with a water-based polycrylic protective finish. Foam sleeves will leave the smoothest finish, but they dont hold much paint, so youll be reloading frequently. Removing the cabinet doors will help you achieve a cleaner, more uniform paint finish. Just apply the glaze over a dry base coat, brushing in only one direction (thick for large cracks, thin for fine cracks), and let it dry. These kitchen cabinet refacing instructions from Cabinet Doors Depot show you how to reface your kitchen cabinets yourself and save thousands of dollars. Thoroughly scuff the surfaces of the cabinet with 120-grit sandpaperenough to get a dusting, but not so much that you tear through the paper-thin laminate surface. Because most stained cabinets are protected with a coating of lacquer or varnish, youll first need to remove that with a liquid deglosser. Once the spackle is dry (about 60 minutes), sand again with 220-grit paper, vacuum, and wipe with a tack cloth. Water-based paint has come a long way, and some top-quality acrylic alkyd hybrids rival oil-based paint. Brush or roll on the first coat of paint and let dry. This eliminates a potential adhesion problem between the old finish and the new paint. The veneer is thick enough to span them without a problem. Patience is key when painting laminate cabinets, as this is a time-consuming project that typically requires multiple days to complete. Once the primer is dry I like to repeat the SVT process: lightly scuff-sand to promote adhesion and remove any minor flaws left on the cabinets, and vacuum and tack-rag again before caulking any cracks. If you dont want to go to this extreme, at least filter any leftover paint. Set the doors and hinges aside where they wont get splashed with paint. The filler shrinks a bit, so overfill the holes slightly. Wipe it gently over the surface to pick up dust. Squeeze a thin bead of latex caulk into any open seams. Attach new drawer fronts to your existing drawers. To shine up your cabinets, paint a high-gloss clear acrylic varnish over your final coat. There are two types of drawers. Get free, no-commitment estimates from pro painters near you. In most situations, however, stain-blockers shouldnt be necessary, and an oil-based or 100 percent acrylic latex primer will work just fine. The wood cabinets were in great shape, but the dark finish was outdated, and made the space feel small and dreary. plywood to buy from the lumberyard. We didnt bother to fill small screw holes or other small imperfections. We paint our Cherry Cabinets white and show you the Before and After in this Striking Kitchen Makeover! Laying doors flat will help with the leveling of the enamel and give you a smooth finish. While it may be tempting to rush throughor even skipthe preparation process, if you truly want your finish to look good and last a long time, prep is the most important step. Reinstall the cabinet doors and drawers as you removed them, then reattach the door and drawer hardware. Roll on the paint. If needed, you can always give them a polish. Then cover the numbers with masking tape to protect them while youre painting. To avoid a dried ridge of paint along the door edge, smooth out any paint thats lapped over onto the adjoining surface with a paintbrush or small sponge brush of your painted kitchen cabinets. For tough grease, use TSP (trisodium phosphate) and water; the TSP actually emulsifies the grease and removes it much more efficiently than soap alone. Then apply these strips and press them down. So the first critical step in preparing how to paint kitchen cabinets is to clean them with a grease-cutting solution. Then tighten the supplied screws to anchor the hinge. The traditional painters method is to use tack cloths. Open bathroom windows and turn on the exhaust fan because TSP can cause respiratory irritation. Vacuum all the surfaces, and wipe them with a tack cloth. If you dont mind a few barely visible dimples on the back of your doors, you can paint both sides of a door at once using standoffs. The Wood Whisperer Once all the cabinet pieces are clean, rinse them thoroughly with water and let them dry. There are many missteps that can ruin a laminate cabinet painting project, including failing to remove the hardware before painting to using the wrong primer. With a knife, test an inconspicuous area of the cabinet to determine whether it is coated with a sealant. The methods for preparing and painting laminate cabinets are also different than they are for wood. From this list, figure out how many 24 x 96-in. And the techniques you employ, and the products you use, can make or break your outcome. Another rustic style is the distressed look, which doesnt require a special paint. Use the dimensions you calculated in the last step to mark the back of the drawer front. You have to measure carefully at inside corners and between doors to make sure theres enough room. Then drag paintbrush bristles lightly over the surface to even out the coat and eliminate roller marks. (Now, you get to see if your door labeling system was effective!) Then carefully align the veneer and press it lightly to the surface of the face frame. A paper cutter is a perfect tool for cutting the veneer to length. Hang the new doors with easy-to-adjust, easy-to-install. Pro Tip: Dampen your brush. We found that we can replace most existing corner cabinet doors with a scissors-hinged doorthat is, a pair of doors hinged together and hung from one pair of hinges (see below). Lightly sand the cabinets using 120-grit, After youre done sanding, remove dust using a. You dont need to mark for the lower hinge. Paint the back. Watch Ron's easy to follow instructions on how to refinish a cabinetIf the kitchen is the most-used room in the house, then you can probably say that the kitchen cabinet is the most-used thing in that room. To create a strong bond between the paint and your cabinet, roughen up the slick laminate with the help of a gritty companion: sandpaper. If the face frame overhangs the existing end panel, add a filler to create a flush surface. With a screwdriver, remove the hardware from the doors and drawers. Bottom line: Either oil or latex will provide a good finish. Both shellac and oil-based primers are generally more effective than latex primer in defending bathroom cabinets against moisture. Is your kitchen looking a little worse for wear? Experiment on the inside of doors to see which sleeve works best with your paint. You might be surprised what a good scrubbing can do. Inspect the cabinet doors for damage and make any necessary repairs. If you want a pair of doors to cover one opening, add two times the overlay to the opening size as usual. Lightly sand the outside of the cabinets as well as the doors and drawer fronts, using 220-grit sandpaper.