Cabinets are the fussiest paint job in the house
Painting kitchen cabinets looks like a weekend project and prices like a much bigger one. The surfaces are small, but there are a lot of them, each with two faces and four edges, and they take more handling than any wall. They also get more wear than anything else you paint, so the prep and the product have to be right. Here is what a painter weighs when pricing the job. No figures are quoted; a painter needs to see your kitchen first.
Counting doors, drawers and boxes
Cabinet painting is usually priced by the piece rather than by area:
- Doors, front and back, and the edges.
- Drawer fronts, which are smaller but just as fiddly.
- Cabinet boxes and face frames, painted in place.
- End panels, toe kicks, crown molding and open shelves.
- Interiors, if you want them done, which many people don't.
A kitchen with a lot of small doors and drawers costs more than one with a few large ones, even if the wall area is the same.
Cleaning and degreasing
Kitchen cabinets collect cooking grease, especially near the stove and on the doors people touch most. Paint won't stick to it. Every surface needs degreasing and rinsing before sanding. That's a large share of the labor, and it's where shortcuts show up first as peeling around handles.
Logan City says its water hardness is 12 to 14 grains per gallon, or 255 ppm, and that it adds no fluoride; fluoride occurs naturally in the water at 140 to 200 ppb.
With that hardness, a rinse that is left to dry on a surface can leave a faint mineral film. Painters generally rinse well and wipe each piece dry before scuffing, so the primer bonds to the cabinet rather than to residue. Ask how the painter plans to clean and rinse.
The existing finish
What the cabinets are made of and what's on them changes the work:
- Stained and lacquered wood needs scuffing and a bonding primer.
- Previously painted cabinets may need old, failing paint removed first.
- Laminate or thermofoil needs a primer made for slick surfaces, and peeling thermofoil may not be worth painting.
- Open-grain woods such as oak show their grain through paint unless the grain is filled, which adds time.
Repairs and changes
Chipped edges, loose veneer, worn spots near the sink and hinge holes that no longer fit all add repair time. If you plan to change hardware, filling old holes and drilling new ones is extra. Mention it up front.
Spraying or brushing
Many painters remove doors and drawers and spray them in a workshop or a protected area, then brush or spray the boxes in place. Spraying gives a smoother finish but takes masking and setup. Brushing and rolling with a self-leveling enamel is slower on each piece but needs less setup. Ask which method is quoted and why.
Primer and topcoat
Cabinet coatings are a step up from wall paint: bonding primers, then a hard-wearing enamel, often a waterborne alkyd or urethane-modified product. Better products cost more but resist chips and scuffs. Our cabinet painting and refinishing page explains the options, and paint sheens and finishes covers satin versus semi-gloss.
Cure time and living without a kitchen
Cabinet paint dries in hours but cures over a much longer period, and doors can stick or mark if they're rehung too soon. The job may leave your kitchen partly out of use for a while. Ask how long the doors will be away and when you can use the cabinets normally.
Lead rules on older kitchens
EPA runs the RRP program in states it has not authorized; Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin run their own EPA-authorized programs.
Utah is one of the states running its own program. If the cabinets carry old layers of paint, sanding them disturbs those layers; ask how the painter will contain and clean up the dust.
What to look for in a proposal
- the number of doors, drawers and boxes, and whether interiors are included;
- cleaning, degreasing and repair steps;
- primer and topcoat by product;
- spray or brush, and where the doors will be finished;
- how long the kitchen will be out of use.
The pricing guide explains how these factors combine.