Cabinet Painting Questions From Kingston Homeowners

The door and drawer count sets most of it, then the material, because oak needs grain fill and melamine needs a bonding primer. A second colour, a deep colour that needs an extra coat, hardware drilling and any door replacement each add a line. Across Ontario most kitchens come in somewhere from $2,500 to $5,500, and the only figure that applies is the one written down after the free visit.

Not unless they are asked for, because the inside of a box is rarely seen and it adds a good deal of labour. Open shelves, the backs of glass-front uppers and any exposed island end get painted as a matter of course. Interiors are quoted as their own line when wanted.

Paint when the doors are in good shape and only the colour or finish is wrong; reface when the doors cannot be saved but the boxes can. Refacing runs $3,000 to $10,000 in Ontario market ranges, painting sits below that, and replacement starts around $15,000. The visit sorts out which applies.

One of two products, waterborne alkyd enamel or 2K polyurethane, chosen by the job and laid over whichever primer the material needs. Both are made for cabinets and doors, and neither is a wall paint. The quote names which one and why.

Yes, and more easily. Maple has tight grain and little tannin, so it needs no grain fill and no shellac primer, only a standard cabinet primer and thin sprayed coats. Most late-1990s and 2000s kitchens in Kingston are maple and paint cleanly.

Any alkyd-based white warms slightly over years in direct sun, and a south-facing kitchen shows it most. A satin finish in a 2K polyurethane holds white best, and we recommend both for a sunlit room. A warm white hides the change better than a stark one.

It is better, and the extra cost pays for the setup. A sprayed door has no brush marks, a thinner and harder film, and a finish that lasts many years longer. Brushed cabinet painting fails first at the corners and the handles, usually within a couple of years.

Usually, yes. Peeling latex is stripped or sanded back to a sound layer, the surface is degreased and primed properly, and the new finish goes on over that. If the old paint is in a house built before 1980 it is tested before any sanding.

Not on a cabinet painting job done right. Chipping at the pulls and on the cutlery drawer means grease was left under the paint, primer was skipped, the film went on thick from a brush, or the doors were used before the paint cured. Thin sprayed coats of hard enamel on the correct primer, given a week to cure, hold up for years.

No. The booth is heated and climate-controlled, and the on-site spraying happens indoors behind containment with the room ventilated. Winter is a busy season for cabinet painting in Kingston because nobody is outside.

Doors can be hung and used gently within a day. Waterborne enamel can take normal use after roughly a week and reaches full hardness after roughly a month, while a 2K polyurethane is cured in about a day. No abrasive pads or strong cleaners for the first month either way.

Doors are usually gone for five to seven days, and the boxes are sprayed over one or two of those days. The sink and stove keep working, and the boxes act as open shelving. From first call to finished job, plan on two to three weeks.

Yes. The work is insured, and proof of it is available before the job starts, which condo boards often ask for.