Why cabinet painting is priced by the piece
Cabinets look like a small part of a kitchen, but painting them properly is one of the most labor-heavy jobs a painter does. Each door and drawer front has two faces and four edges, every box has face frames and end panels, and the finish has to stand up to hands, steam and cleaning for years. Most painters price this job by counting pieces rather than measuring area. Here's what moves that price. We don't list figures; a painter has to see the kitchen.
Counting the pieces
Before anyone visits, count:
- doors, noting which are flat slab and which are raised or recessed panel;
- drawer fronts;
- face frames and visible cabinet sides, including an island;
- open shelves, glass-front doors and decorative pieces such as valances;
- whether the cabinet interiors are being painted too, which most people skip.
Panel doors take longer than slab doors. Glass-front doors need careful masking. Interiors add a lot of time for little visual change.
Cleaning comes first
Kitchen cabinets carry a film of cooking grease, especially near the stove and above the range hood. Paint won't stick to it. Proper preparation includes a degreaser, rinsing, then scuff-sanding or a liquid deglosser so the primer can grip. Skipping this step is the most common reason painted cabinets chip early.
Repairs and the grain question
Dents, gouges and loose veneer edges need filling and sanding. Oak and other open-grain woods show their grain through paint; if you want a smooth, furniture-like finish, the grain has to be filled first, which adds a whole extra step. Ask whether grain filling is included, or whether the grain will show.
Primer and enamel
A bonding or stain-blocking primer usually goes on first, especially over glossy factory finishes or tannin-rich woods. The topcoat is a hard-wearing enamel, often a water-based alkyd hybrid or a two-part product, in satin or semi-gloss. These cost more than wall paint and take longer to cure. Our paint sheens guide explains why sheen matters on surfaces you touch every day.
Spray in a shop, or brush in place?
How the painter applies the finish is one of the biggest price factors:
- Removing doors and drawers to spray them elsewhere gives the smoothest finish but requires transport, a clean spray area and space to dry.
- Spraying the boxes in place means masking the whole kitchen, counters and appliances.
- Brushing and rolling in place needs less setup but leaves more texture and takes longer per piece.
Ask which method the painter uses and how long the kitchen will be out of use.
Drying and curing space
Enamels have a minimum temperature for drying and for curing, and doors have to lie flat or hang without touching. NOAA's normals for the Oxnard station average 1.7 days a year with a high of 90°F or more and 0.0 nights at or below 32°F, with an annual mean high of 69.8°F and mean low of 53.2°F. Those averages say nothing about a particular garage on a particular night, so ask where the doors will dry, and how the painter checks that the space stays within the product's range.
Hardware and reassembly
Hinges, pulls and knobs come off, get bagged and labeled, and go back on at the end. New hardware with different hole spacing means filling old holes and drilling new ones. Soft-close hinges, if you're adding them, may need adjustments to every door.
Older painted cabinets
Under EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, anyone paid to do work that disturbs paint in homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978 must hold RRP certification, firms included, even sole proprietorships, and their workers must be trained in lead-safe work practices. If your cabinets were painted in a home built before 1978, sanding them disturbs that paint. You can ask whether the firm holds RRP certification; that's the only credential ask on this page.
The proposal to look for
- How many doors, drawers and boxes, and which styles?
- What degreasing, sanding and grain filling is included?
- What primer and enamel, how many coats?
- Sprayed off-site, sprayed in place, or brushed?
- How long until you have your kitchen back, and how long before it can be used hard?
Our cabinet painting and refinishing page covers the job in depth.