A cabinet job is really a refinishing job
Painting kitchen cabinets looks like a small project: a few boxes, some doors. In practice it's closer to furniture refinishing. The surfaces are handled every day, splashed, wiped and bumped, and they're coated with whatever finish the factory or a past owner chose. A finish that holds up there needs careful cleaning, proper sanding, a primer that bonds to the old coating and a hard enamel on top, followed by patient curing. Most of the price sits in those steps, not in the paint.
Here is what a painter weighs when quoting cabinets in a Springfield, Missouri kitchen.
Counting the pieces
Cabinet quotes usually start from a count, not a measurement:
- how many doors and drawer fronts, and how many have raised panels or detailed profiles;
- the cabinet boxes, face frames and any end panels;
- extras such as open shelving, a pantry, an island or crown molding along the top;
- whether the insides of the boxes or the backs of the doors are included.
Each door has two faces and four edges. A raised-panel door has grooves that collect paint and need more brush work. Ask that the proposal states the count, so you can see whether two bids describe the same job.
Cleaning and sanding
Kitchen cabinets carry cooking grease, especially near the range and above the sink. Paint won't hold on grease. A thorough degreasing, a rinse, then a scuff-sand to dull the old finish are standard. Dents and gouges get filled and sanded. Some finishes, such as slick factory coatings or old varnish, need a bonding primer. Our cabinet painting and refinishing page explains the whole sequence.
Spray, brush or both
Many painters take the doors and drawer fronts away to spray them flat in a controlled space, then brush and roll the boxes in place. That costs more in handling and time but gives a smoother finish. Others brush and roll everything on site. Neither is wrong, but they produce different results. Ask which method is in the bid, and whether doors leave the house.
If doors are sprayed on site, the kitchen needs masking: counters, appliances, floors, walls and the openings to the rest of the house. That setup time is part of the cost.
Drying and curing: where humidity shows up
In an average year at Springfield, NOAA counts about 578 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 1,855 hours above 67°F. Those figures come from NOAA's engineering weather data for Springfield.
Cabinet enamels need time between coats and longer still to cure hard. Damp, warm air slows water-based products as they release their water, and it can leave doors tacky enough to stick to their frames if they're rehung too soon. Painters plan for that with air movement, conditioned space and longer gaps before reassembly. When you compare bids, ask:
- how long between coats, and how long before doors go back on;
- whether the kitchen can be used during the job, and how;
- what the product label says about full cure before heavy cleaning.
A bid that promises a quick turnaround may be cutting the drying time. Our paint sheens and finishes guide covers which enamels resist wear.
Water for cleanup
City Utilities treats McDaniel Lake water at its Fulbright plant and Fellows Lake water at the Blackman plant; Fellows and McDaniel share a watershed and together hold about 11.5 billion gallons. That's the utility's description of its system. On a cabinet job, the practical point is simpler: brush and sprayer cleanup water from water-based products belongs in a sink connected to the sewer, not a storm drain or the yard, and solvent-based waste goes to proper disposal. Ask how the crew handles it.
Older finishes and lead
EPA runs the RRP program in states it has not authorized, and the list of states running their own EPA-authorized programs printed on this page does not include Missouri. The companion EPA rule printed here covers paid work that disturbs paint in homes built before 1978, and sanding old cabinet coats is that kind of work. Ask how dust will be contained and cleaned up before anyone starts sanding.
What drives the total
- The number and style of doors and drawers.
- The condition of the old finish and how much repair it needs.
- Spray or brush, and where the spraying happens.
- The primer and enamel chosen.
- New hardware, hinge adjustment or filling old hardware holes.
- Drying time, and how long your kitchen is out of use.
See the pricing guide for how painters build a quote overall.