A finish job, not a wall job
Painting kitchen cabinets has more in common with furniture finishing than with painting a room. The surfaces are handled every day, wiped constantly and banged by pots, so the finish has to bond hard and cure fully. That's why cabinet painting is priced differently from wall painting, and why the range between bids is wide. Here, without figures, is what moves it.
Counting the pieces
Painters usually start by counting doors, drawer fronts and cabinet boxes, then look at the details:
- Door style. Flat slab doors are quickest. Raised-panel and shaker doors have inside corners and profiles that need more sanding and careful spraying.
- Both sides or one. Most jobs include door backs; some owners skip them. Decide up front.
- Interiors. Insides of boxes and shelves are rarely painted, but open shelving and glass-front doors may be.
- Extras. Crown molding, light rail, end panels, an island, a pantry or a range hood surround add to the count.
Preparation is most of the cost
Cabinet paint fails when prep is skimped. A proper sequence:
- remove doors, drawers and hardware, and label every piece;
- degrease every surface, because kitchen grease prevents adhesion;
- scuff-sand the old finish so primer can grip;
- fill dents, gouges and, if you want a smooth look on oak, the open grain;
- apply a bonding primer made for slick surfaces.
Grain filling on oak is a big variable. Without it, oak grain shows through the paint as texture. With it, the finish looks smooth, but it adds a day or more of filling and sanding.
Spray, brush or roll
Sprayed finishes look smoothest and are standard for doors. Spraying in the kitchen means masking counters, appliances, floors and walls, which takes time. Brushing and fine rolling avoid overspray but leave more texture. Ask which method each part gets.
Shop or on-site
Some painters take doors and drawer fronts to a shop to spray them in a controlled space and paint only the boxes in your kitchen. Others do everything on site. The shop route can mean a cleaner finish and less disruption at home, with the kitchen open but doorless for a stretch. On-site work keeps all pieces at the house but needs more masking and a place to lay doors flat to dry.
Moisture, drying and cure
In an average year at Eugene/Mahlon Sweet Field, NOAA counts about 2 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 118 hours above 67°F. NOAA's climate normals for the Eugene Mahlon Sweet Airport station give normal annual precipitation of 40.83 inches, with about 89.8 days a year getting at least a tenth of an inch.
For cabinet work, the rain-day count is the one to plan around. Doors are often sprayed in a garage or shop, and on wet days damp air slows drying between coats. Painters handle this with heat, dehumidifiers and longer gaps between coats, which can stretch the schedule. Ask how they control drying conditions and how long each coat sits.
Cure time matters more than dry time. A cabinet finish can be dry to the touch in hours but take much longer to reach full hardness. Rehanging doors too early can leave hinge marks and stuck edges. Ask when doors go back up and how gently to treat them for the first weeks.
Products
Cabinet-grade enamels, including waterborne alkyds and urethane-modified acrylics, level smoothly and cure harder than wall paint. They cost more per can and need more time between coats. Our sheen guide explains why satin and semi-gloss are common choices.
Oregon's contractor definition
Oregon law defines a contractor as anyone who, for compensation, undertakes to alter, repair, add to or improve a building or other improvement attached to real estate for another, and the Construction Contractors Board issues the license and residential endorsements. That's the law's wording; the fact card links to the statute and the board's licensing page.
Comparing bids
Line up the piece count, the prep steps, grain filling, primer and topcoat products, the method, where the doors are finished and how long the kitchen will be out of use. Then read our cabinet painting and refinishing page and the pricing guide.