Why cabinets are their own job
Cabinets get handled every day, splashed while cooking and wiped down over and over. A finish that's fine on a bedroom wall would chip at the edges of a cabinet door within weeks. Painting cabinets well means treating them like furniture: a careful sequence of cleaning, sanding, priming and building thin, hard coats, usually with the doors and drawer fronts taken off.
Cleaning and degreasing
Kitchen cabinets carry a film of grease and cleaning products, often heaviest near the stove and around the handles. Paint won't grip it. A good painter degreases every surface before any sanding, so the sanding doesn't push grease into the wood.
Sanding and primer
The existing finish is usually scuffed so primer can grip. Glossy factory finishes, laminates and some older coatings need a bonding primer made for slick surfaces. Wood grain, especially open-grained wood like oak, will show through paint unless it's filled first. Ask whether you want the grain to show and what the painter will do about it.
Spraying versus brushing
Many painters spray cabinet doors and drawer fronts for a smooth, even finish, often in a shop or a set-up area away from the kitchen. The cabinet boxes may be sprayed in place with the kitchen masked off, or brushed and rolled. Brushed finishes can look good too, but they show more texture. Ask where the spraying happens, how the kitchen is protected, and what finish texture to expect.
Doors, drawers and hardware
Doors and drawer fronts usually come off and get labeled so each one goes back where it came from. Hinges and pulls come off too. This is a good time to decide whether to keep the old hardware or replace it. New pulls with a different hole spacing mean filling the old holes before paint. Ask whether the price includes taking off and putting back the hardware and adjusting the doors.
Painting versus refinishing
Not every cabinet should be painted. Solid wood cabinets in good shape can sometimes be cleaned, lightly sanded and given a new clear coat or a new stain color instead. Restaining darker is easier than going lighter, which may mean stripping. Painting covers more problems but changes the look of the wood for good. Ask the painter which approach fits your cabinets and what each would involve.
What paint goes on
Cabinet finishes are usually harder coatings than wall paint: enamels, urethane-modified paints, or the coatings a cabinet shop would use. They take longer to dry and longer to cure. Ask what product the painter plans to use, how many coats, and why.
Cure time and living with it
The finish may feel dry the same day and still be soft for a while after. Doors that are rehung too soon can stick to the boxes, and early scrubbing can mark the finish. The paint label gives cure times. Ask when you can use the kitchen, when you can close the doors normally, and how to clean the cabinets for the first weeks.
Questions to ask
- Will you take off the doors, drawer fronts and hardware?
- How do you degrease and sand before priming?
- What primer and topcoat will you use, and how many coats?
- Will you spray or brush, and where?
- What will the grain look like when you're done?
- How long before we can use the kitchen normally?
- Would refinishing be a better fit for these cabinets than paint?