Refinishing your kitchen cabinets will bring a new life to your kitchen and your home in general. Kitchen cabinet painting is time-consuming but well worth it. Read on to receive honest and realistic information, so you know what to expect.
For a professional company whose job it is to paint kitchen cabinets, the average time it will take them to paint an average-sized kitchen will range between 4-5 days.
Most professional companies follow systems that allow them to be productive and efficient, delivering great results every time they work in your home.
What to expect every day of the kitchen refinishing process.
Day 1
- Estimate
- Set up.
- Masking surfaces.
- Lift protective plastic barrier.
- Wipe clean doors and drawers.
- Removing doors, drawers, and hardware.
- Placing hardware in a secure location.
- Light- sand cabinet boxes.
Day 2
- Transport doors and drawers to spraying booth.
- Apply two coats of primer to boxes.
- Apply two coats of primer to doors and drawers.
Day 3
- Apply two coats of finish paint to boxes.
- Apply two coats of paint to doors and drawers.
Day 4
- Bring doors back for installation.
- Re-install hardware.
- Clean up.
Estimate
The professional should be able to tell you at this time their precess and systems and how long they think the project should take.
Set-Up
We make sure all of the tools and materials that we need to do an excellent job are in an easy to access location during the setup stage. Normally we use the kitchen island or kitchen floor.
If the kitchen space is compromised for some reason, we will use the garage to set-up our tools, materials, and equipment. Although not very efficient, we will always adjust to the circumstances.
Masking Surfaces
By far, one of the most time-consuming steps during the kitchen refinishing process is masking all of the surfaces. This is more of a fact for the professional, not so much for a DIY homeowner who might not be spraying the cabinets.
Protecting your home will always be important to us. For this reason, we use builders paper to cover countertops and flooring. As well as plastic to cover kitchen cabinet openings and appliances.
Lift plastic barrier.
Since we use a spraying system on-site to give you that smooth, professional factory finish, the same system also creates some overspray. Because of this particular reason, we lift a plastic barrier to seal the kitchen from the rest of the house. Problem solved.
Wipe clean doors and drawers.
Before we can begin sanding, we need to remove all the grease and dirt from your kitchen cabinets. A simple warm soapy water does the trick.
Removing doors, drawers, and hardware.
Now, it is time to have some fun. We will begin by removing all the doors, drawers, and hardware.
For easy re-installation, immediately after we remove your kitchen doors and drawers, we mark them to save time during re-installation.
Placing hardware in a secure location.
If you have made the decision of using the same hardware, that is great and to ensure we do not lose any of the existing hardware, we continue to place all of the hardware inside one of the drawers or inside one of the cabinets.
If you always wanted to change your hardware, this is a great time to do so. We always remove and re-install the hardware as part of the refinishing process. Let us know if you are planning on using new hardware that needs to be installed before hanging any doors.
Light- sand cabinet boxes.
Creating a strong foundation is key to a long-lasting finish. To promote superb paint bonding, we light-sand the kitchen cabinet surfaces, just enough to remove the sheen and scuff the surfaces to allow the primer to seal the surface in preparation for the topcoat.
Transport doors and drawers to spraying booth.
We take all of the doors and drawers to our partners, spraying booth to paint in this step. Here in this step of the process, we light-sand the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers while in the shop.
Apply two coats of primer to boxes, doors and drawers
To guarantee the best results we use top of the line painting products, we also include primers design specifically for cabinetry. The primer we use is a lacquer based primer. Which we apply with a hvlp turbine.
With the combination of the self-leveling primer and applying the primer with the hvlp gun is what gives you the nice, beautiful factory finish.
One of the great benefits of the lacquer based primer its quick drying time, allowing you to apply many coats in a relatively short period of time. The bonding quality it’s exceptional, providing a great foundation for the topcoat.
Apply two coats of finish paint to boxes, doors, and drawers.
To guarantee the best results we use top of the line painting products, including topcoat paint designed specifically for cabinetry. The paint we use is a lacquer-based paint. Which we apply with a hvlp turbine.
With the combination of the self-leveling primer and applying the primer with the hvlp gun is what gives you the nice, beautiful factory finish.
One of the great benefits of the lacquer based primer its quick drying time, allowing you to apply many coats in a relatively short period of time. The bonding quality it’s exceptional, providing a great foundation for the topcoat.
Bring doors back for installation.
Before we bring the kitchen doors back from the shop to be re-install, we need to make sure the doors and drawers are completely dry enough to handle.
You could use your kitchen boxes within a few hours after they are finished. And begin using your cabinets as normal. Just keep in mind you might have to wait a few days to get your doors back.
Re-install hardware.
Finally, after we bring the doors back and are safe to handle, we begin re-installing the hardware. If you are planning on using new hardware, this would be the perfect time to do so. We will also install plastic bumpers to the “new” kitchen doors.
Touch -up
There are times where the doors get banged-up a little bit. For this reason, we carry a touch-up kit, matching the color of the cabinets. At times during the installation process, things happen, and touch ups are necessary.
Clean up
This is the final step in the process, but not the least important. During this step, we vacuum the dust and debris from the inside of the cabinets and drawers. We also remove all plastic, paper, and tape from appliances, flooring, and countertops.
Conclusion
Even though refinishing your kitchen cabinets is the least expensive way to update your kitchen and add value to your home, it is not an easy task. Before starting your project, make sure you hire a reputable company with a good track record and great reviews. Good luck and enjoy your new and awesome kitchen.
