Melamine, laminate and thermofoil doors are slick from the factory, so their cabinet painting starts with a bonding primer and finishes with hard sprayed enamel, and it holds on any door whose surface is still tight to the board.
Melamine is the standard cabinet in Kingston's condos, student rentals and 1970s to 1990s kitchens, and thermofoil replaced it in the late 1990s. Both fill the bungalows of Lakeland Acres and Hillendale and the apartments along Princess Street. The condo kitchen cabinet painting page covers the small-kitchen side of the same work.
Melamine and laminate are hard, glossy and sealed, so ordinary cabinet painting primer beads up on them and later lifts off in one sheet. The answer is a waterborne bonding primer built to grip exactly those surfaces. It goes on thin after a thorough degreasing and a scuff sand, needs three or four hours before the first topcoat, and takes three or four days to reach its full grip. After that, the enamel or 2K polyurethane over it is as durable as it is on wood.
Edges are the weak point on melamine. The factory edge banding is prone to chipping, and every chip shows white board underneath. We fill and sand chipped edges before primer and note any that are too far gone for filling.
Thermofoil is a vinyl skin pressed onto MDF with heat and glue, and the same heat from a dishwasher vent, a kettle or a stove lifts it again. Once the skin has lifted, no paint will glue it back, and the heat keeps working under the paint. There are two honest routes for a peeling door: heat the vinyl off until bare MDF shows, then prime and paint the board, or fit a new door and paint it to match. Cabinet refacing and door replacement prices the second option.
Thermofoil that is still tight everywhere takes cabinet painting well. Each door gets checked during the visit, usually by the dishwasher and over the range first, and the quote lists which doors are painted, stripped or replaced.
High-pressure laminate from the 1980s and 1990s, often almond or white with a wood-grain or oak-strip edge, is the same job as melamine. Laminate cabinet painting means bonding primer, thin sprayed coats, and attention to the edges. Ontario market guides put the bonding primer premium at roughly $150 to $400 on a whole kitchen, and the quote states it as its own line.
Landlords in the University District and Williamsville paint melamine kitchens between tenants because it costs far less than new cabinets and turns around in under two weeks. A hard sprayed enamel stands up to student use far better than the brushed latex that is often on these kitchens already, and stripping that latex is part of the prep when it is peeling.
If the doors are slick, glossy or wrapped, the visit that sorts out what can be painted is free. Send the form or call +1 (613) 706-5129 and tell us where the peeling is, if there is any. The Kingston Cabinet Painting home page covers wood kitchens and everything else we paint.
Whatever else in the house has doors and drawers gets prepped, primed and sprayed the same way.
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.
See Kitchen Cabinets
A pre-sale refresh is a painted kitchen scheduled around a listing date, in a neutral colour that photographs well, with the vanity and hardware handled in the same visit so the house is camera-ready in two to three weeks.
See Pre-Sale Refresh
Oak cabinet painting seals golden oak's tannin with a shellac primer, then fills the open grain or leaves it on show, and finishes doors and boxes in a sprayed modern colour so a 1990s kitchen looks built this year.
See Oak Cabinets
Cabinet spray painting runs the doors and drawer fronts through an off-site filtered booth and the boxes through sealed containment in the kitchen, the only cabinet painting method that produces a factory-smooth surface.
See Spray Painting
Two-tone work gives the island, or the whole lower run, a deep colour like navy, green or charcoal while the perimeter stays light, and an island by itself can be done as a small stand-alone job.
See Two-Tone and Islands
In a condo galley or L-shape the fronts leave for spraying and the boxes take a single contained day indoors. The unit stays usable, and cabinet painting works around the building's rules on elevators and parking.
See Condo Kitchens
Refinishing suits good hardwood that should stay on show: stripping or sanding removes the old finish, stain follows if the colour is changing, and the grain is sealed under a sprayed clear topcoat.
See Refinishing
When the boxes are sound but the doors are not, refacing fits a full set of new doors and drawer fronts, or replaces just the few past saving, and old and new get painted together so nothing looks different.
See Refacing and New Doors
A vanity is a small piece that lives in steam and splashes, so it gets the kitchen treatment of degreasing, priming and sprayed enamel, is finished inside two days, and is often booked with a kitchen.
See Bathroom Vanities
Hardware work covers filling the old handle holes, drilling fresh ones with a jig after the paint has cured, swapping slamming hinges for soft-close, and fitting knobs or pulls in brass, black or nickel.
See Hardware and Hinges
Pantries, laundry runs, mudroom lockers, bookcases, wall units and mantels are fixed in place, so their cabinet painting is done on site inside sealed containment, using the same products a kitchen gets.
See Pantries and Built-Ins
A colour consultation narrows the shortlist to two or three colours, sprays a full sample door in each, and checks them under the kitchen's real light so the finished result matches the choice.
See Colour ConsultationA visit to the house, a door count and a written quote, with no fee and nothing owed if the answer is no.
Tell us what you can about the kitchen, and we phone to arrange the visit. Sending the form takes nothing more than a name and a number. If talking is easier, the number to dial is +1 (613) 706-5129.
