Painting your cabinets will almost always be the cheaper option over buying new custom-built cabinets or even stock models. Painting or refinishing your cabinets will be a good investment in your house's value, with many residents in Colorado Springs, CO reporting an return as high as 70%. Refreshing your existing cabinets in this way offers you the chance to customize your space and stay up-to-date with current design trends, as well as uphold your commitment to sustainable values.
The cost of new cabinets fluctuates in Colorado Springs, CO, but may be up to 300% more expensive than painting. This is even when considering that cabinet paints are often more expensive than wall paints because they contain more resins that defend surfaces from fading, scratching, and stains.
Hiring a contractor for your project rather than do the task yourself will add to the expense, but this, too, will likely be much cheaper than replacing them. A talented contractor will understand what your cabinets are constructed with and how to apply different materials to ensure they look the way you've envisioned when finished. If your cabinets show minor wear like chips and scratches, contractors can use wood filler and paint to cover them up. Painting cabinets is a harder project than it sounds, but a trained painting contractor will be an invaluable resource in helping you stretch your investment further.
A frequently asked question pertains to the kind of paint used on cabinets and if there is any difference between it and the paint used with walls. There are differences due to the fact that cabinets and walls are very distinct surfaces, and the type of paint typically used for home walls will face some challenges when attempting to apply them to kitchen cabinets.
Most kitchen cabinets have slippery surfaces because of the materials used in their design to give them that modern look. Typical wall paints might not adhere adequately to cabinets and can begin to chip and flake off prematurely. The kind of paint contractors use for cabinets has adhesives that helps it stick to these slick surfaces better, and is also usually thicker to ensure longer durability. The chemicals and structure of cabinet paint also needs longer time to dry and cure than those usually applied to walls.
Vetting cabinet painting contractors to find the best one for your needs and style requires a substantial amount of consideration. The best place to start is by knowing precisely what look you want to accomplish for your kitchen cabinets. You should ask contractors to view samples of their previous work matching your vision beforehand to gain a sense of their experience and skill. Professional contractors will be pleased to grant this request, and many retain a portfolio for potential clients to browse through on their in-person or online.
You should have a set budget in mind while choosing professional cabinet painting contractors, as prices sometimes fluctuate largely. Ensure that any painter you hire gives written statements of all equipment and labor costs as well as clear verbal communication throughout the project about it's expected completion. What you don't want is for unexpected surprises to occur after the project begins that will raise costs above what you budgeted for.
Pay close attention to the professional's reputation by checking their online customer reviews. Most professional painters will have comments and reviews from past clients available online, and these can be an efficient way to judge their ability to deliver the services you need on time and on budget.
It's always enticing to immediately begin dipping brushes into paint and get your home improvement project going, but there is some prep that needs to happen first to ensure your cabinets look as envisioned and hold up to the heavy-use they will likely see in the years to come. Cabinet painting can quickly become an overwhelming task when doing it on your own, but an expert will quickly and effectively bring your vision to reality beginning with the most common prepping steps of cleaning, sanding, and priming:
- Cleaning: It's very important that all dirt or grime are fully removed from cabinet surfaces prior to painting or staining or it could affect their adherence. The cleaning phase is also an appropriate time to disassemble the cabinets and their hardware, including drawers, knobs, hinges, etc., to make the next steps easier and more effective.
- Sanding: The good news is that efficiencies in home improvement have made notable leaps, and there are products that contractors use to make some of these prepping steps a breeze. Deglossers, also called liquid sandpaper, is a chemical product that quickly strips gloss from cabinet surfaces so that the long method of sanding in the traditional way is virtually obsolete. Liquid abrasives can also penetrate to any nooks and crannies that would be exceedingly difficult to get to with traditional sandpaper.
- Priming: Priming will be mandatory in some cases, as it serves many important purposes for the painting that comes next, such as facilitating better adhesion, blocking stains and imperfections from showing through, and providing an added layer of protection over the cabinet surface. If the current paint is oil-based and you apply a latex paint without priming, it will only chip off and require repainting sooner than you'd like.