Vetting cabinet painting contractors to discover the best one for your needs and style requires a substantial amount of work. The first place to start is by understanding precisely what aesthetic you want to achieve with your kitchen cabinets. You should ask contractors to see a sample of their previous work aligning with your vision beforehand to get a sense of their experience and ability. Professional contractors will be pleased to grant this request, and many keep a portfolio for potential customers to browse through on their in-person or online.
You should have a set budget worked out when shopping around for professional cabinet painting contractors, as costs sometimes fluctuate significantly. Make sure that any painter you hire provides written statements of all equipment and labor costs and gives clear verbal communication during the process about it's expected completion. The last thing you need is for any surprises to pop up once the project has started that can raise costs higher than you planned for.
Give attention to the contractor's reputation by checking their online client reviews. Most professional painters will have feedback and reviews from past customers available online, and these are also an efficient way to find out if they have a history of delivering the services you expect on time and on budget.
It's may be enticing to immediately begin dipping brushes into paint and get your kitchen remodeling project moving forward, but there is some prep that needs to be done beforehand to ensure your cabinets look great and are protected from the heavy-use they will likely see in the future. Cabinet painting will quickly become an overwhelming project when doing it alone, but an expert can quickly and efficiently bring your vision to reality beginning with the most important prepping stage of cleaning, sanding, and priming:
- Cleaning: It's crucial that any dirt and grease are thoroughly removed from cabinet surfaces before painting or staining or it might hinder their adherence. The cleaning phase is also the right time to disassemble the cabinets and their hardware, like doors, knobs, hinges, etc., to make the next stages easier and more efficient.
- Sanding: The good news is that innovations in home improvement have made great strides, and there are products that professionals use to make some of these prepping steps easier. Deglossers, also referred to as liquid sandpaper, is a chemical product that quickly removes gloss from cabinet surfaces so that the dusty method of sanding in the traditional way is virtually obsolete. Liquid abrasives will also reach those places that are exceedingly challenging to get to with regular sandpaper.
- Priming: Priming will be mandatory in some cases, as it serves many important purposes for the painting that follows, such as allowing for better adhesion, blocking stains and imperfections from bleeding through, and providing a protective layer over the cabinet surface. If the current paint was oil-based and you apply a latex paint before priming, it will only chip away and need to be repainted sooner than you'd like.
Determining if your kitchen cabinets can be painted or not mostly comes down to their quality. Nearly any solid wood cabinets can be refinished several times within their lifespan, though the process may be a little more advanced for “open grain” woods like oak. Solid hardwoods adhere to stains and paints better than most other surfaces and can be repeatedly sanded to hide imperfections that develop over time from use. Engineered woods like Medium-Density Fibreboard, wood laminate, and even metal cabinets can also undergo painting relatively easy.
The most challenging type of kitchen cabinets to paint are economical thermofoil cabinets, which is a manufacturing process of applying a thin sheet of plastic over engineered wood. Some professional painters will recommend against painting this material as the surface repels the paint trying to stick to it, and even after scuffing and priming methods are employed, the paint will likely peel and chip much sooner than a better quality material like hardwood.
A more straightforward question many people might need to consider is should their cabinets undergo painting. If your cabinets are too old and worn out, it could be more cost-effective to purchase new ones.
Painting existing cabinets will almost always be a cheaper choice than purchasing new custom-built cabinets or even stock units. Painting and refinishing your cabinets is also a good investment in your house's value, with many residents in Hialeah, FL reporting an ROI as high as 70%. Upcycling your existing cabinets in this way offers you the chance to personalize your space and stay up-to-date with current design trends, not to mention follow through with your commitment to sustainable living.
The cost of new cabinets fluctuates in Hialeah, FL, but may be up to 300% more expensive than painting. This is even when considering that cabinet paints are usually more expensive than wall paints because they contain more resins that defend against fading, scratching, and staining.
Hiring a professional for your project rather than do the job yourself will add to the expense, but it will still likely be much cheaper than replacing them. An experienced painter will know what your cabinets are constructed with and how to apply different techniques to ensure they look the way you've envisioned when complete. If your cabinets have small damage like chips and cracks, they will use wood filler and paint to cover them up. Painting cabinets is a harder project than it seems, but a vetted painting contractor will be an invaluable resource to help you stretch your investment further.