Painting your kitchen cabinets can completely change the look and feel of your kitchen and will make you spend more time in it! Many feel that an expensive renovation is needed in order to get that feeling of new, but unfortunately the average price for a kitchen remodel usually costs is on average close to $25,000.00, 9-10k being on the lower end of that average cost! Painting your kitchen cabinets can be the best way to bring that impactful change to your kitchen that you’ve been looking for without breaking your budget! On top of that, a kitchen renovation project can take weeks and finding a trustworthy contractor is not easy. On average, a cabinet painting project can take an average of 2-3 days on a standard set of cabinets (timing depends on the size of your cabinets and the type of material that you choose to use for your project), saving you money and less intrusive compared to a full kitchen remodel. The price comparison is very significant and to make it even better, it leaves you with some extra cash to spend on other things around your kitchen!
In this blog we will talk about the differences between brushing and spraying, the best product for your cabinets, who is qualified to paint your cabinets, and what to look for in a company that paints cabinets.
Brushing vs Spraying, what’s the difference? What’s the best finish?
The biggest differences between brushing/rolling versus spraying is very subjective; there are many people that are indifferent, because they haven’t been exposed to different finishes. In our opinion, spraying is the best finish for cabinets because of the factory finish look that can be obtained with spraying that can’t be achieved by brushing/rolling, no matter how hard you try, and how skilled you are with the brush and roller.
To someone that isn’t a cabinet painter or refinisher, a cabinet painting project that has been rolled and brushed can look great, but once you compare that type of finish to a set of cabinets that have been sprayed, you will without a doubt, change your mind, and see that a spray finish gives you a smooth butter like finish.
Unfortunately, on a smooth surface like many cabinets, rollers leave a notable texture, and no matter how much some rollers claim that they can achieve a fine finish like spraying, that has yet to be seen.
In summary, if you’re looking for a professional finish for your cabinet, spraying is the way to go. If you don’t mind seeing some texture with your finish, brushing and rolling your cabinets can be a good option for you.
What are the best products for your cabinets?
Painting companies like Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, and PPG have stepped up their game, making sure to come out with products to accommodate the demand for cabinet painting, so what’s the best product for your kitchen cabinets? In our experience, it all depends on the make of your cabinets and your expectations.
Solvent-based finishes: These include lacquers, and oil finishes. Typically, these have been the go-to for cabinet painting, because these products dry fast, and harden well to protect cabinets. The downside to using these solvent-based products is that they are very dangerous to use in your house. Solvent-based products are harmful to your health if exposed to it, and it’s highly combustible. If not properly ventilated, sparks can cause an explosion, and unfortunately this has happened. Here is an example of this, lacquers are highly combustible, any electrical spark can lead to explosions.
Water-based Acrylic, latex, and enamel finishes: These regular paints are a safer option compared to solvent-based paints, but these products still need some sort of primer that can assure adhesion of the finishes, and for the most part an oil-based, or shellac primers are the go-to, because water- based latex primers aren’t the best. Products like Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Enamel cabinet paint. On the positive side, these regular cabinet paints do harden as well, if not better than the solvent-based products, with technology improving every year. Our go to product when using regular cabinet paint is Emerald Urethane Enamel by Sherwin Williams.
Water-based 2K polyurethane finishes: These products are also known as Italian Wood Coatings and offer the most superior coating for your cabinets. These products are a two-part component that consists of the paint and a hardener. The paint offers great protection from chemical and normal tear and wear, and the hardener offers additional protection for your cabinets.
Furthermore, 2K polyurethanes also have primers that are specifically made for cabinets, and, to make it even better, are water-based. This makes 2K polyurethanes not only outperform regular water-based cabinet paints, and solvent-based paints, but safer to use as well.
Who is best qualified to paint professional kitchen cabinets?
Finding a painting company to help you with your cabinets can be tough, and we understand that it can be stressful. If you’re looking for the highest quality finish, a company should have no problem giving you samples, giving you lots of information regarding their process, and the products that they know how to use.
It’s important to consider that the value that a professional cabinet finisher brings is more than the labor to complete your project. What makes a cabinet painting company valuable is their experience working with the products that they will be working with, their technical knowledge about those products, their systems and processes, their customer service, and their warranty that they offer.
What to look for from a painting company that are experts in painting kitchen cabinets?
If you’re on the hunt for a company to paint your cabinets, you should look for companies that can describe their process for painting your cabinets, feel comfortable to describe the products they will use, and most importantly, ask for your expectations! Unfortunately, we’ve seen many companies that offer their services based on their convenience of finishing their projects fast because of “drying technology”, or that they use the “best products”, but at the end of the day, the results are less than satisfactory because attention details go out the window when speed over quality is the priority.
Don’t let your cabinets look like this!!
Turn them into this!!!
