Fronts leave for a booth; boxes are coated where they stand, behind containment. What returns looks factory finished, wears a new colour, and costs a fraction of replacement. Kitchen cabinet painting is how a tired kitchen gets there.
Over half of Kingston's houses were built before 1981, and the kitchens in Bayridge, Henderson Place, Calvin Park and Amherstview still carry the oak, maple and melamine they were built with. Painting those cabinets is the most common job we do, and the oak cabinet painting page covers the biggest group of them.
Kitchen Cabinet Painting Starts With Degreasing, Not Paint
Kitchen grease is the reason painted cabinets peel, so day one of any kitchen cabinet painting job goes to cleaning. Each door and front comes down, gets a numbered label and a photo of its spot, and gets a solvent wash that lifts the wax and cooking film that soap and water leave behind. The boxes get the same treatment in place.
Then everything is sanded to about 220 grit, dents and any old handle holes get filled, and gaps are caulked. The primer is chosen by material: shellac for oak and other tannin woods, a bonding primer for melamine, thermofoil and laminate, and a standard cabinet primer for maple, poplar and MDF. Wall paint and wall primer do not belong on any of it.
One Thick Brushed Coat Never Cures As Hard As Several Thin Sprayed Ones
In the booth, the doors and fronts receive a few thin coats of waterborne alkyd enamel, or of 2K polyurethane, each one lightly sanded before the next. Thin coats level out, dry evenly and cure into a hard film. A brushed coat goes on thick, stays soft for weeks, and chips first at the corners and at the handles.
Boxes get sprayed in the kitchen inside sealed plastic, with the counters, floors and appliances masked. Cabinet painting in a kitchen that is still being lived in takes containment seriously, and the plastic is off by the evening the boxes are finished.
The Quote For A Kitchen Cabinet Painting Job Lists Everything
A written quote from us names the number of doors, drawer fronts and boxes, the material, the prep including any grain fill or stripping, which primer and which topcoat family, how many coats, the colour, any hardware work, and the price. Two quotes that list those things can be compared. A single number for painting the kitchen cannot.
For 2026, Ontario market figures put most whole kitchens somewhere from $2,500 to $5,500. A small kitchen may start near $1,500, a large or two-tone kitchen goes from $6,000 to $9,000 or more, and a single door runs about $130 to $250. Those figures describe the market. The quote we write is the number for the kitchen in front of us.
Kitchen Cabinet Painting Takes Seven To Twelve Days On Site And Off
A typical Kingston kitchen needs us in the house for two or three days and keeps the doors at the booth for five to seven, so the whole thing spans seven to twelve days. The kitchen keeps working. Sink, stove and fridge stay put and the open boxes hold the dishes. From the first phone call, including the visit and the quote, plan on two to three weeks. Cabinet spray painting explains why the booth time is not wasted time.
Dry time and cure time are different things. Touch-dry comes in hours and the doors can be hung within a day, but a waterborne enamel takes about a week to reach normal use and up to thirty days to reach full hardness. A 2K polyurethane is cured in about a day. With either product, gentle hands and nothing abrasive are the rule for the week after kitchen cabinet painting.
Old Holes Are Filled Before Cabinet Painting, Not After
Switching from a single-hole knob to a bar pull, or from a three-inch pull to a five-inch one, leaves old holes in every door. Those get packed with two-part wood filler, sanded flush and primed before the doors head to the booth, so the filled hole disappears under the paint. Filling after painting always shows.
New holes are drilled through a jig after the finish has cured, so each pull lands at an identical height and spacing on every door and drawer. Drilling gets its own line in the cabinet painting quote, and Ontario market guides put it at around $12 a hole, with hardware supply on top. The quote lists both lines.
Built-In Cabinet Painting Happens In The Room, Behind Plastic
A bookcase or a wall unit is fixed to the wall, so it gets its finish in place. The room is cleared or covered, the floor, walls, windows and doorways are masked with plastic and tape, and a fan exhausts the room through a window. The piece gets degreased and sanded, then a primer suited to its material, and then the same thin sprayed passes a kitchen door gets, with sanding between. The plastic comes down once the final coat has flashed, usually the same day, and by the next morning the room is in use again. Cabinet spray painting explains the on-site setup.
Get A Written Kitchen Cabinet Painting Quote In Kingston
If the kitchen is sound and the colour is the problem, cabinet painting is the answer, and the visit that prices it is free. Book the visit or phone +1 (613) 706-5129 and give a rough count of doors. The Kingston Cabinet Painting home page covers the other cabinets in the house, from vanities to built-ins.
Kitchen Cabinet Painting Questions
How long does kitchen cabinet painting take?
Plan on two or three days in the house and five to seven days of booth time for the doors, so seven to twelve days in all. From the first call, including the visit and quote, expect two to three weeks. The sink and stove keep working.
What primer goes on my kitchen cabinets?
The primer is chosen by material. Shellac goes on oak and other tannin woods, a bonding primer goes on melamine, thermofoil and laminate, and a standard cabinet primer goes on maple, poplar and MDF. Wall paint never goes on cabinets.
Are the boxes sprayed in my kitchen?
Yes. Doors and drawer fronts go to the booth, but the boxes stay on the wall and are sprayed in place inside sealed plastic, with counters, floors and appliances masked. The plastic comes off the evening the boxes are finished.