Painting Kitchen Cabinets and Trim in a Working Kitchen
Kitchen cabinets and trim take more punishment than the walls around them. Hands, steam, cooking oil and cleaning sprays all land on the same few surfaces every day, and the paint on them has to survive it. The questions below are the ones homeowners in Carlsbad ask most often when a kitchen repaint reaches the cabinet doors, the casings and the baseboards.
Why does paint peel off kitchen cabinets so easily?
Almost always because of what was on the surface before the paint went on. Cabinet doors near the range carry a layer of cooking oil that has baked on over years, and the doors by the sink carry hand grease and cleaning residue. Paint cannot bond to either. It sits on top for a few weeks and then lifts at the edges where hands touch most.
The second cause is a glossy factory finish. Many cabinets were sprayed with a hard, slick topcoat, and a new coat goes on that surface like water on glass unless the shine is taken down first.
What gets done to the doors before any paint?
The doors come off the frames, and the hinges and pulls are removed and bagged by position so they go back where they came from. Each door is numbered on the back in pencil or on a piece of tape. Working on a flat surface gives a better finish than painting doors standing on a frame, and it keeps drips out of the hinge sockets.
Then the cleaning:
- Wash with a degreasing cleaner, using more attention on the doors nearest the stove and the drawer fronts nearest the sink.
- Rinse with clean water so no cleaner film is left behind.
- Let everything dry fully.
- Scuff sand all faces and edges with fine paper until the shine is gone.
- Wipe the dust off with a tack cloth or a slightly damp rag.
That sequence is slow, and it is where most of the quality is decided. A cabinet with a good paint and poor prep fails earlier than a cabinet with an ordinary paint and thorough prep.
Which primer goes on cabinets?
A bonding primer, either a water based acrylic bonding type or an oil based one. The oil based primers grip slick surfaces very well and block stains, and they smell strongly, which matters in an occupied house. The water based bonding primers smell less and are fine on most sound factory finishes. Bare wood that has been stripped or exposed near the sink may need a stain blocking primer, since tannin in oak and similar woods bleeds through paint as yellow or brown patches.
Any dents, open grain or nail holes get filled with a wood filler or spackle after priming, sanded smooth and spot primed again. Filling before the primer is a common mistake, because the filler then soaks up the primer differently from the wood around it and shows as a dull patch under the finish.
What kind of paint works on cabinets?
An enamel. Cabinets need a hard film that takes scrubbing, so the usual choice is a urethane modified acrylic or an alkyd enamel in satin or semi gloss. Flat and eggshell look softer but pick up fingerprints and are harder to clean. Semi gloss wipes clean best and shows every flaw in the surface, so the sanding has to be good to use it.
The paint is applied thin. Two or three thin coats cure harder than one heavy coat, and they level better, which leaves fewer brush marks. A fine foam roller on flat panels and a quality brush on the detailed edges give a smooth result. Some crews use a sprayer for the doors, working in a masked off area, because a spray finish lays down flat and even.
How long should cabinets rest before they go back in service?
Dry and cured are different states. A cabinet door can feel dry to the touch within hours, while the enamel underneath is still soft and can print the marks of a hand or a cup. Full cure of an enamel takes longer than most people expect. The doors are rehung once they are hard enough to handle, and the household is asked to go gently with them for the first couple of weeks. Soft closing bumpers on the door corners help during that time.
Stacking painted doors on each other before they cure is the most common way to ruin a good finish. Each door dries on its own rack or on pyramid points until it can take handling.
What about the trim around the kitchen?
Window casings, the door frame, baseboards and any crown or soffit trim get the same approach at a lighter intensity. They are washed, lightly sanded, filled where needed, caulked at the joints with a paintable caulk, primed on bare spots and finished with a semi gloss enamel. Baseboards near the dishwasher and under the sink take the most splash and get a careful caulk line along the floor edge so water has no gap to creep into.
The window sill over the sink is the hardest working piece of trim in the kitchen. Standing water, plant pots and condensation sit on it daily. Sealing it well, with primer and two coats of enamel, matters more there than almost anywhere else in the house.
Do coastal conditions in Carlsbad change the process?
A little. Homes near the lagoons and the coast take in marine air, and morning fog in summer raises the humidity inside the house even with the windows shut. Enamel cures more slowly in damp air, so crews allow longer between coats than the can suggests and avoid painting cabinet doors on the foggiest mornings. A box fan moving air across the drying doors, or a dry afternoon with the breeze coming through, speeds the cure.
Newer homes in La Costa and Bressi Ranch usually have factory finished cabinets in good condition, and they repaint well after a proper scuff sand. Older cottages and bungalows near Olde Carlsbad may have layers of old paint built up over decades on the doors, and the edges of those layers can show through a new coat unless they are sanded feathered out first.
Can the cabinets be painted while the household stays in the house?
Yes, with planning. Doors come off and move to a protected work area, usually a garage or a spare room with ventilation. The kitchen is without doors for several days, so the contents of the cabinets are boxed or moved to a closed pantry. A low odour primer and enamel keep the smell down, and a window fan pushing air outdoors takes care of what is left. Food is stored away from the painted area, since open packages absorb fumes.
What goes wrong most often?
- Skipping the degrease and wash, which shows up as peeling near the range within weeks.
- Painting over a glossy surface with no scuff sand and no bonding primer.
- Using a wall paint on cabinet doors, which stays soft and sticks to shelf liners and neighbouring doors.
- Heavy coats that run in the corners of the panels and sag on the edges.
- Rehanging doors too early and leaving fingerprints and dents in the film.
- Painting in damp air without extra time between coats.
Is it worth painting the inside of the cabinets?
Usually only the fronts and the visible edges. The inside of the boxes sees shelf liners, dishes and containers, and a painted interior can stick to anything left on it. If the interior is rough or stained, a coat of a clear sealer or a washable semi gloss gives it a surface that wipes clean, applied only after the shelving is out and the surface is scuffed.
A good cabinet repaint is mostly cleaning, sanding and patience. The paint is the smallest part of the job.