# Painting kitchen cabinet doors.



## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

We have a project for this summer and that is to paint our kitchen cabinet. We want to start with the doors first but would like what kind of paint we should use. We have an air compressor and a gun sprayer. Any pointer is appreciated. Thanks.


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## jm423 (Sep 18, 2011)

Just a suggestion--take a door/drawer off, take to a paint specialty store or reputable building supply store (as opposed to a big-box--L, HD, etc---if you can even find someone to ask in one of those they won't know anything worthwhile and will probably get PO'd you bothered them). My preference is Sherwin-Williams--they have good material, know what they are doing, and are close enough to be handy. Will normally walk you through the whole process from start to finish (no pun intended), help you with the list of tools, materials and supplies you need, etc. God luck!


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## GT11 (Jan 1, 2013)

I use Sherwin Williams from the Sherwin Williams store. It will cost you more but worth it. 

I have painted with an air sprayer before but it makes a mess. You also have to thin the paint which isn't ideal. When I spray, I use an airless now. It would be worth renting an airless to do it. With the airless, you don't thin and can finish in one coat if you have the doors laying down and two coats on the cabinets. Search in the diy forum for my kitchen remodel and whisky bar build to see the cabinets I painted. 

You could also use the smooth surface rollers but spraying gives the best finish.


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## sleepersilverado (Jun 27, 2011)

More than likely they currently have oil based paint on them. So you can not use latex unless you sand and prime them with an oil based primer. 

I just found out about Acrylic Alkyd paint. It is water based, goes on like oil, hardens like oil, but will not yellow like oil. I called bear and they said it can be put on over oil with no issues. 

Airless would be best but a foam roller gives good results.


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

Thanks all. Has anyone used Harbor Freight Krause & Becker airless sprayer? How good is it? It has several good reviews!


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## trout250 (Aug 24, 2005)

clean and sand them good before you do anything, make the painting part easier. I prefer oil based paint to water on wood work i can get a smoother finish. Like earlier post go to a sherwin williams or regular painters store for materials and info not a box store. If they are a stained finish now prime first and let dry, sand and finish.
good luck


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## cubera (Mar 9, 2005)

Rather than sanding consider using a liquid de-glosser.
Lots easier than sanding and can get to places sanding can't.


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## BrandonH (Oct 15, 2006)

cubera said:


> Rather than sanding consider using a liquid de-glosser.
> Lots easier than sanding and can get to places sanding can't.


I used this for the first time last month refinishing my banister. Worked great and doesn't make the mess sanding does. I didn't paint though...went with gel stain and a couple top coats of polyacrylic. I'm thinking about doing my cabinets the same way.


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

^^^ Where can I buy it? Which brand is good? Thanks. BTW, I bought Harbor Freight Krause & Becker airless sprayer today after watching several video on YouTube.


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## cva34 (Dec 22, 2008)

*Cabinet Job*

I went through this about 10y ago..What I did was was remove all doors started out stripping doors ..Decides to Just make new ones on my table saw..I just duplicated each door..My doors were simple with the 3/8 cut out on 2 sides...Then to the frameing in kitchen ..Tried all kinds of stripper most were unbreathable in house..or did not work..Ended up with (Citrus Strip )Looks like a orange smothie..Works great and was ok indoors smells like oranges..Got Stain and Polyurathane frm SW and rest is history..Look like new to this day


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## hoosierplugger (May 24, 2004)

I painted our oak builder grade cabinets last summer. Sprayed the paint with a pretty inexpensive hvlp gun, they came out great.

The biggest part of the job was prep. I filled all the oak grain with quick set joint compound and sanded before priming. It worked really well, but I probably had 120 hours just in prep time. 

I also bought peel and stick birch veneer to cover the face frames. That worked well as well.


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## sferg (May 26, 2004)

I painted about new 17 cabinet doors for my buddy's bayhouse. I used an low pressure automotive spray gun gravity feed and oilbase paint, his color choice. I primed all the doors and then used steel wool to sand them down. I always stirred the paint good and after a little experimentation with thinning the paint, found the right mix. I used japanese dryer to speed the drying process because it was during the winter. After each coat I scuffed the doors with steel wool. After all were painted one coat, they were preped and a second coat applied. I could have done the actual cabinets but they were not removed. If your painting old cabinets and doors, you should use a deglosser like PAESO then prime them then paint them. The spray gun was one I bought from TSC and It did a great job. I did put an inline moisture or water seperator on the air hose.


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## captMike (Jan 30, 2006)

#1 to do before you start is wipe all surfaces down with powered TSP and water, sand, prime, paint. TSP will remove all oil, etc and leave surface clean and ready to work with. About 1 heaping tea spoon to 3/4 gal of water, powered works lots better than liquid. Shearwin Williams makes a water based to apply over oil primer that dries hard as oil but faster, I use a HVLP that has hot (warm air) and this stuff works great, can't remember the name of it, I think they now make under another name. Have used it on the coast to paint doors, etc and rolled it on with pencil rollers and it will dry in 30 min. I always thin it to 7 seconds to spray with HVLP.


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## bassguitarman (Nov 29, 2005)

Back when I was considering doing it myself I thought this article was interesting:

https://www.evolutionofstyleblog.com/how-to-paint-your-kitchen-cabinets-like/

Eventually I bit the bullet and hired it done.


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## Swampmamma (Feb 14, 2007)

Just picked out a color for my mom's kitchen cabinets in her home remodel. It's Sherwin Williams and the color is tin lizzie. One of my favorite cabinet colors! If you like greys you should check it out.


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## Matt Olson (8 mo ago)

I will hired a contractor for kitchen cabinet painting but after few weeks the paints lashes down and now i want to try to paint by myself can anyone suggest me a good paint and the Whitby painting contractors. Thanks


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