Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets

Parent Cafe
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<p>OK, so I’m going to go strolling through cyber-space for all the how-to posts, but I’m looking for people with real experience in…refinishing kitchen cabinets.</p>

<p>We’re buying a 50-yr-old house down the street from us and play to do some mostly cosmetic upgrades to it and rent it for a few years until we decide whether to sell it, raze it (and build 2 houses in its place-----that’s the pattern in our neighborhood hidden back in the woods.</p>

<p>Anyway, as we’re going to try to keep expenses down, I’m trying to think of something creative (yet cheapish) to do with the hideous kitchen cabinets. They’re probably the originals, made of pine (I assume) and covered with 50 years of kitchen grease and a few coats of yellowing varnish. We’re thinking that if we remove the doors and the hardware (pulls and hinges), we can put paint stripper stuff on them (or take them somewhere to be dipped), and paint them some light color. Since I don’t particularly want to remove the cabinets themselves from the wall, I think there’s goo you can paint on that will eat the varnish, etc and you then use a scraper to get all of goo off.
So, would I be making a huge mistake to go this route? H is probably going to be busy replacing/expanding the master bathroom, so the kitchen is going to be my focus.</p>

<p>Conversely, anyone had any (good) experience with the people who advertise cabinet refronting? How expensive of a proposition is that?</p>

<p>Thx to CC handymen (and women!)</p>

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<p>Stripping old finishes from wood is a major undertaking. The cost of materials and time needed is likely to be several times what you might guess. Using a professional is likely to be very expensive.</p>

<p>One obvious option is to replace the old cabinets with inexpensive new units. Since you are just trying to make some inexpensive temporary fixes, I think your idea of painting the cabinets might be best. I would not try to remove the old finishes. You will need to remove the doors and hardware, then use some heavy duty cleaners to remove as much grime as possible. Next sand the old finish, not to remove the old finish but to create a suitable surface for painting. You can use coarse paper, then medium. Check with a paint store to get the best undercoat so you have good adhesion of the finish coats.</p>

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<p>I painted mine and they turned out nice. They lasted about 10 years until I was ready to replace with new ones.
I removed the doors and all hardware then I used TSP to clean the grime off and then sanded them. I primed with a Kilz type primer and then painted with an oil based paint. I wanted the look of a distressed cabinet ( fortunately) so I distressed the finish and coated with a glaze to give it the antiqued look.
I think if you like the distressed look it works great, but if you’re looking for something more modern maybe not.
It was a lot of work and took quite a bit of time. If I had it to do over I would probably just replace them. LOL</p>

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<p>Wow—if I don’t have to strip them, hallelujah! LOL, PAmom, until I got to your last line I was like – hey, cool, 10 years? but then I got to “It was a lot of work and took quite a bit of time. If I had it to do over I would probably just replace them” </p>

<p>Maybe a road trip to a far-away IKEA might be in order.</p>

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<p>agree with the above two posts…there are so many different colors and finishes of paint. also new knobs make a big difference.</p>

<p>you do not need to strip the old paint. surface prep is important, and so is using the proper primer. </p>

<p>i am a huge fan of keeping the old as long as it isn’t cheesy or cheap. your cabinets sound like solid wood cabinets, much better than a lot of what is available in the big box store.</p>

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<p>I painted too; mine were a cherry stained pine. I did not strip but did lightly sand. Since I like everything to be light and bright I just chose white polyeurathane paint because it stands up to water so well. Then I added brass knobs. Entire job cost about $50.00 16 years ago. Yeah, they do need to be redone, especially the lower ones.</p>

<p>I added some handmade cabinets a few years later, and of course, we were able to perfectly match the originals wth the same paint.</p>

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<p>The previous owner of our huse took out hte original cabinets and did the cheap cabinets as replacements. He lived with them for about six years; we have lived with them for almost ten. They need to be replaced. Desperately. Of course, with DS1 a senior and DS2 two years behind, that ain’t happening anytime soon. Of course, by the time we decide to replace the cabinets, that would lead to wanting bigger appliances/expanding the kitchen into the living room/dining room we hardly use, and suddenly the project has turned into a renovation and $$$.</p>

<p>If I had wood cabinets, I’d clean/strip enough to repaint. Murphy’s Oil Soap is great for getting off years of grime – but I wasn’t painting over the wood. I used this with a china cabinet I bought from a friend – her parents were smokers, and you would not BELIEVE the numer of old t-shirts that went completely brown from the tar/toxins that adhered to the wood over 50 years. The kids were in middle school at the time when I cleaned this cabinet – just seeing the t-shirts was enough to make them swear never to smoke. In fact, my younger son wanted to take one of the shirts in for his health class.</p>

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<p>The stripper goo is expensive and corrosive. You need special gloves, it will eat right through regular rubber ones. It took me more than a quart just to do my front door.
Be sure to clean and sand if you repaint. I repainted my “milk-wash” stained cabinets and I didn’t do a good enough job preparing. The new paint is coming off in little patches after just two years. Arrgh, this time I will have to strip at least the new stuff off.
If you can take the fumes oil based paint is best. Latex paint stays tacky for a long time, meaning the doors will stick to the cabinet frame and then pull some of the paint off the frame when you open them.</p>

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<p>The good thing about a chemical stripper is that it will get old finish out of grooves and corners that mechanical removal (sandpaper) cannot easily reach. Taking the doors to a professional furniture refinisher to be dipped is a great idea. If you strip the cabinets, don’t start grinding away with sandpaper – you’ll only cause problems. Sandpaper in the hands of an inexperienced user will leave swirl marks, remove crisp edges, and likely make flat surfaces less so. Your cabinets are likely to be solid wood and not veneer, but if they do use veneers, sanding will likely grind through the veneer exposing the less-attractive substrate wood. After stripping the finish, go over the surfaces gently with 220 grit sandpaper on a solid sanding block. I use dense rubber blocks or even just a piece of scrap wood. Be very careful to keep the sanding block flat on the surface; this will reduce the chances of sanding your doors or cabinet frames unevenly.</p>

<p>If you choose to sand the finish off, you want to use the finest paper that does the job. If the old finish is really thick and flaking, you could start with a scraper, not putty knife, gently held against the wood at a really high angle. The lower the angle of the scraper, the more chance there is you will dig into the wood. The best tool is a real cabinet scraper like this one: <a href=“http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1081&filter=scraper[/url]”>http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1081&filter=scraper&lt;/a&gt;. If you have to scrape first, you then want to go to 100 grit sandpaper until it is as smooth as you can make it. If you don’t scrape, I’d try 150 grit first, and if it just isn’t working you can down to 100 grit. Once you are done with 100 grit, go over everything with 150 grit until it smooth, then repeat again with 220 grit. You won’t gain anything going finer than 220 if you are going to use latex-based house paint. If your paint is really glossy, or a thin paint like a lacquer, you might go to 320 and then 600. I wouldn’t, but they are your cabinets!</p>

<p>Above all, paint will not cover up sanding mistakes. It’s unfair, but bad sanding will actually be magnified by a paint job, especially a glossy paint in dark colors. If you aren’t happy that your doors and frames are perfectly smooth, use a matte or flat paint – that will deemphasize sanding swirl marks.</p>

<p>If they were my cabinets? I’d call a refacing company if the doors are plain or ugly, and at least price a professional refinishing job if they are handsome.</p>

<p>If the hardware is cheap or ugly, replacing the hinges and pulls with something nice can make a HUGE difference. If it’s an old house with traditional styling, brushed or shiny nickel looks really nice. I like it anyway…</p>

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<p>We redid ours by hiring a doors and drawers guy. In other words, left the existing wood cabinets and had a carpenter but new fronts and drawers. Then we changed out the hinges and hardware. Much cheaper than buying new cabinets and better quality unless you spend a lot. If you watch Flip This House, they always tell people that it is a mistake to demo the cabinets unless they are terrible and can’t be revived.</p>

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<p>I agree that you do not need to completely strip before you paint. What you want is a smooth, clean surface to start with.</p>

<p>Then, I strongly suggest that you use an excellent, name-brand, sealing primer as your first coat. B I N is my favorite. It is stinky, but effective. I think it is better than Kilz. Be sure to read the instructions. Ammonia is the solvent! If you clean the surface with ammonia in water and allow it to dry, then use ammonia to clean up afterwards, you’ll be in good shape.</p>

<p>Then you proceed with the paint of your choice, at least 2 coats, lightly sanding between coats. I, too, am a fan of oil-based semi-gloss paint for high-touch surfaces such as the cabinets.</p>

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<p>Mafool and WashDad—how about spending a couple of weeks in Charlotte? It’s a lovely time of year…I’ll treat you to shrimp and grits, with fried green tomatoes as an appetizer, you can do the cabinets. Heck, I’ll even make homemade banana pudding for dessert. Whadyathink!!!</p>

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<p>You’ve gotten good advice, one thing that’s fun to do is remove whatever existing knobs there are and get something more fun/elegant/jazzy or whatever will make you feel good.</p>

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<p>The main issue is the existing varnish. After cleaning and sanding, I would urge you to use a chemical deglosser like Imperial’s Wil-Bond as a final prep step before priming. Personally, if I have to paint over old varnish, it’s 2 coats of BIN, 1 coat of oil enamel underbody tinted to color and 2 coats of oil satin finish top coat. Cabinet painting is tedious, and bad prep will kill you.</p>

<p>Figure your prep and painting time. Then triple it. You’ll be close to that if you want a quality job that will last without chipping and can be effectively cleaned without damage.</p>

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<p>apm-</p>

<p>if I ever finish my own old house, we’ll talk!</p>

<p>~mafool</p>

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<p>violadad-</p>

<p>I second your prescription for 2 coats of sealer and then the tinted primer. I suspected that my own level of compulsion would be over the top for the rest of the world! (See comment above about my progress on my own home. Doing things the “right way” takes time!!!)</p>

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<p>astromom,
I found a place online with really nice knobs, brackets, etc. for VERY reasonable prices. (I was ahead of the burnished copper look and it was the only place I could find things.) PM me if you want the details, since I don’t think I can link it here.</p>

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<p>Astrophysicsmom,</p>

<p>Well this is a fortunate coincidence. It’s late out here in California, and I’m just starting to catch up on some CC reading after completing a huge re-finishing project on solid wood cabinetry—three bathrooms and a large kitchen. It was a lot of work, but thoroughly enjoyable. The results are gorgeous and the savings enormous. </p>

<p>I first researched “how to re-finish cabinets” on the internet to get a good understanding of the various approaches. Lowes has fairly good online tutorials covering the basics. I wasn’t sure if I was going to re-finish the wood stain or paint the cupboards out. The consensus seemed to be that painting them out in satin or semi-gloss paint would be the easiest, especially if using a sprayer. </p>

<p>Yet, I hated the idea of painting over these solid wood cabinets that have a beautiful shape. I felt that re-finishing the stain would be worthwhile if I could master the skill. I started with an upstairs bathroom to learn the process.</p>

<p>Either way you choose to go, as Violadad says, the prep work is key. The chemical strippers seemed like an unnecessary mess. You do not have to completely strip the previous finish—just a nice sand. You’ll be amazed how well cleaning with TSP preps the surface. And I did not find sanding to be problematic. I stayed with the grain and used a careful touch. No swirls or marred edges. (I am a handy and enthusiastic project person though.)</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Cleaned all cabinets with TSP, diluted with water in spray bottle.</p></li>
<li><p>Rough sanded with150 grit, using the rubber sanding blocks. Finished with 220 grit sand paper. Followed the grain. Used vibrating hand sander for larger kitchen project.</p></li>
<li><p>Vacuumed the sanding dust off the wood, and then wiped off remaining dust with paint thinner on a cloth (very important to manage the dust).</p></li>
<li><p>Applied wood primer for stain; for paint it is recommended that you use sanding sealer followed by primer to fill and smooth the grain.</p></li>
<li><p>Applied stain with cloth in layers to build color. There are products with stain and polyurethane varnish that can be applied in one step and do not require complete removal of old finish. I wanted a specific stain color that I controlled, so I did not use an all-in-one product.</p></li>
<li><p>Finished by brushing on varnish. Between layers, used 0000 steel wool to remove dust particles. I wanted a satin or semi-gloss finish, and because I wanted several layers of varnish to protect the surface from water, I had to first use a gloss varnish and finish with a satin or semi-gloss. The satin or semi-gloss finish gets cloudy if layered. (Near the sink and water areas, I used two glossy layers and finished with a final satin.)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Labor wise, this is a huge undertaking. Between cleaning, sanding, vacuuming, wiping, staining, drying, finishing, steel wool re-fining, and finishing again, the number of passes you make on the same piece of wood is more than tedious. I’m not sure I would have made it to the bathrooms, if I had started on the kitchen first. In all, I found all the products forgiving and easy to work with—nice, even stain application and no brush marks on finish. I learned that steel wool is your best friend for correcting mistakes. The cabinets are beautifully smooth and have a gorgeous hand-rubbed feel. </p>

<p>I have to warn you, it is a bit of a “if you give a mouse a cookie…” scenario. I ended up re-doing a cherry table, some chairs, and the banisters (all took careful work). I have one end table to still to do. My H and I had repainted the interior earlier, and it left the woodwork looking tired. So this has been a particularly rewarding facelift. </p>

<p>Mafool, I too will confess to being compulsive as my numerous trips to the hardware store will attest.</p>

<p>Best of luck with your project, Astro-mom. </p>

<p>(As an added bonus, you may believe for a moment that you’ve kicked the CC habit. Darn, I knew I shouldn’t have looked!)</p>

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<p>After reading these posts I recall that I did, in fact, use BIN rather than Killz as a primer. I think it may have been the recommended primer ( from my paint store) for my oil based paint. </p>

<p>I recently replaced the cabinets with brand new ones and oddly enough I still chose an off white paint with a caramel overglaze. It looks very similar to what I had done years ago, except now my drawers close with a gentle tap and all of my cabinets have rolling drawers and the doors close nicely. LOL They are definitely nicer but freakishly similar in looks - I guess I am a creature of habit.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the great advice. I’m nixing the stripping goo plan, and carefully thinking about whether I have the patience and intestinal fortitude to successfully repaint them. Maybe that God-awful 50 years of yellowed, greasy, and otherwise unsitely look will be the next new thing in kitchen decorating!!! After all, I can still come home and enjoy my awesome kitchen at home and let our friends who are renting the place look at the crappy cabinets. Maybe I could get new doors and drawer fronts and paint the rest of the cabinets (the places that don’t show so much)…all the warnings have me a bit concerned, and I don’t have a good track record for working on long, involved projects that required a lot of detail… usually H comes and bails me out when he sees what a crappy job I’m doing (and some time I don’t even intend for him to do it :wink: ). This time, he’ll be busy on the DISGUSTING bathrooms and figuring out whether he wants to replace the vinyl flooring himself… I’d much rather be outside cleaning up the yard crap.
Food for thought. </p>

<p>But again, thanks…much more information than I was able to glean online, although the Lowe’s tutorials were pretty good. I knew I could count on my CC buddies!</p>

<p>3Ks–sorry I was the one to pull you off the CC wagon. I’m thinking that maybe I could open a CC Rehab center. Hey–I’ve got it! It will be located in beautiful Charlotte, NC, in a quaint tri-level home…Home renovation therapy!!! How about it!!!</p>