Cabinets are priced by the piece
A kitchen's walls might take a painter a day. Its cabinets can take a week. Every door and drawer front has two faces and four edges, the boxes have face frames and end panels, and the finish has to stand up to hands, steam and cleaning in a way no wall does. That's why cabinet painting is priced by the number of pieces and the steps each one goes through, not by the size of the room.
The town's setting
The project was planned by I. B. Perrine under Senator Joseph M. Carey's reclamation law of 1894, which let private irrigation companies build state-supervised projects, and the towns of the region, Twin Falls among them, grew up to serve the farmland Milner Dam and its canals made possible. That's the Idaho State Historical Society's account of how the town began. NOAA's engineering weather data has no station for Twin Falls, so this guide uses no weather figures.
Count the doors and drawers
The single biggest driver is the count. A small kitchen with a dozen doors and a few drawers is a different job from a large one with an island, a pantry and tall cabinets. Open shelves, glass-front doors with muntins and decorative panels add time. Ask the painter to state the count they priced.
Cabinet material
Solid wood and wood veneer take paint well once prepared. Laminate and thermofoil need a special bonding primer and sometimes can't be painted reliably at all. A painter should identify the material before pricing.
Cleaning and degreasing
Kitchen cabinets carry years of cooking grease, especially near the stove and on handles. Paint won't stick to it. Every surface is degreased first, which takes longer than most people expect.
Sanding and primer
Glossy factory finishes are scuffed so primer can grip. Dents and gouges are filled. On oak and other open-grain woods, some people want the grain filled for a smooth look, which adds steps. A bonding primer goes on next. These steps are where cabinet jobs differ most between proposals. Our surface preparation guide covers primers and fillers.
Spray, brush or roll
Doors and drawer fronts are often taken off and sprayed in a work area for a smooth, factory-like finish, while the boxes are brushed or sprayed in place with the kitchen masked off. Spraying gives a finer finish but needs a workshop or a sealed space and lots of masking. Brushing and rolling cost less to set up but leave a different look. Ask which method each painter uses and to see a sample.
Hardware and interiors
Hinges and handles come off and go back on. New hardware may need new holes, and filling old ones adds work. Painting the inside of cabinets, or the shelves, is a separate decision; most jobs paint only the outsides and the edges that show.
Drying and cure
Cabinet finishes may dry quickly but take much longer to cure hard. Doors are often kept off for a while or rehung carefully. Your kitchen will be partly out of use; ask how long.
Older paint
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 have old paint on them in a house built before 1978, sanding them disturbs paint, and lead-safe containment adds time and cost.
Comparing proposals
- Door and drawer count, plus the boxes and end panels.
- Cleaning, sanding, filling and primer steps.
- Finish product and number of coats.
- Spray or brush, and where doors will be painted.
Our cabinet painting and refinishing page explains the process in detail.