painting kitchen cabinets

[dcurrit]

My son just bought an old house and wants to paint the kitchen cabinets.  Does anyone have suggestions on the paint to use?  

He would like to spray them to get a smooth finish.  My only experience spray painting is painting cars.  I have a compressor which works for painting fenders and doors, but not an entire car (my friend teaches auto shop and lets me use his paint booth) and a spray gun that works for automotive paint.  I am wondering about using an airless gun instead of taking my compressor to his house.  Does anyone have any experience with them?  I saw this article

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/handhe...n-reviews/

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[MikeBob]

Get the paint from a paint store, they have paint for cabinets that is better then you will find at most BBS. Use a primer.

[jteneyck]

I've never used an airless gun so take this for what it's worth.  I would seriously consider using one since it sounds like your current gun is not up to spraying a lot of surface area and probably can't handle the higher viscosity of most paints, and definitely if you plan to do this at your son's house and he doesn't have a big compressor.  Of the guns shown in that link, I'd go with the Graco corded gun - or I'd go with another unit altogether that has a hose pickup and much smaller, lighter weight gun, like the Graco Fine Finish Pro II 295.  That gun will be a lot easier to use for extended periods of time.  Cleanup will be more involved but is justified, to me anyway, since you will be spraying a lot of surface area with each coat.  

As for paint, SW's Acrylic ProClassic sprays beautifully from an airless unit.  BW's Advance should spray equally as well.  Both are waterborne products and give a beautiful, durable finish.  The ProClassic will dry and cure more quickly, Advance flows out better in dry conditions.  Advance is a little cheaper unless you can catch one of SW's frequent sales.  ProClassic has a limited color palette, while Advance is available in SW's complete range. 

Whatever you use, getting the doors, etc. really, really clean is key to getting good adhesion of the paint system.  Mineral spirits, detergent, TSP, all have their place in getting them clean and free of grease.  Then you need to scuff sand them if they have a smooth finish on them and repair any dings and dents.  Bondo works great for large dents and holes.  And you definitely want to use a primer. Whatever is recommended for the paint you choose would be the best option, although BIN pigmented shellac primer has always worked well for me. Good luck.  

John

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

JohnT has got you going in the right direction.  BIN shellac based primer and your choice of the BM or SW waterborne enamel for a topcoat.  Get them clean but I would also consider at least some light sanding.  If you want a smooth paint finish, you need to start with a smooth medium before the paint.  Paint doesn't make a silky smooth surface....the prep work does.  If you sand, use a shop vac with a brush head for starters after any sanding.

This is an old house.  What's the final goal of the kitchen?  Is this a complete make over with top notch results being the expectation?  Or are you looking to clean up the kitchen a bit and keep things reasonable?  If it's the latter, you can most likely get an acceptable job with a brush and/or mohair or foam roller.  The BIN primer won't brush worth a hoot but the two enamels given above will brush and flow out very nicely.  

If you're dialed in with spraying, thinning, troubleshooting, etc., give your cup gun a try if you have the time.  An airless rental unit can be had for around $85/day the last time I checked.  A commercial airless unit will perform better than the handheld Graco airless units.  I haven't used the handheld Graco units but I own two commercial models and I have shot just about everything you can imagine through them.  An airless unit will be easy to dial in.  Add paint, set your pressure for a good pattern and then go to work.  I would recommend a 311 sized tip.  Anything bigger and you will need to be very talented with an airless to avoid runs.

That said, I wouldn't rule out the portable hand held Graco unit either.  I too would only buy the corded version though.  If you buy the portable unit you linked, get a green fine finish tip for it.  You will get better atomization with less pressure and volume needed.  It will make for much better control and less overspray.  I believe they come with a 515 sized tip which will throw a very good amount of paint at a high volume, IMO.  A 515 sized tip is a "one size fits all tip" but it's too big for cabinetry and the overspray will be worse.  I like a 310-311 tip for cabinetry on an airless.  The "3" will give you a 6" fan and the "5" will give you a 10" fan.  A 10 inch fan is way too big for cabinets but great for exterior siding, walls or ceilings.  

Be prepared for the overspray because it will float and bounce to a certain degree.  Hopefully you will get a "dry fall" from the overspray before it this the floor or floats off and sticks wet to whatever it lands on.  BIN dry falls very well.  Oil based enamels will float and stick to everything.  

Another consideration at this point is sprucing up the cabinetry with some new crown, bottom carcass trim, possibly new doors and/or drawer fronts. Purchase these items or make them yourself if you have the time.  New doors would also allow for new state of the art hinges.  It comes down to how much time you want to invest.  If you're going to paint, now would be that time for me.  Also consider adding some under cabinet LED lights at some point.  Hope this helps.

[Cooler]

I just painted some bottom cabinets.  I went with General Finishes (imitation) milk paint.  They say it needs no sanding, and I didn't sand.  I wiped the surfaces with alcohol and then brushed on the finish with the recommended foam brushes.  I used black and this first step was perfect: No runs, bumps, dust--it looked like it was sprayed on.  

I then brushed on clear poly as the matte finish will scar easily.  

A durable and easy to apply finish.  

I compared the GF milk paint with S-W best and the GF milk brushed on with superior results.

[dcurrit]

Thanks for all the replies!  This is an old house (1920's) and I think my son is just trying to spruce up the cabinets, not do a complete make over.  I am going to buy some of the recommended paint and try brushing it and see how it looks.  If I can get acceptable results, I will go with that.  Otherwise, I will have to decide on renting a commercial unit or buying one of the hand held units.  I appreciate the advice on the tip size as I would have no clue.  He doesn't close on the house till the 26th so I will be painting some time after that and will let you know how it goes!

[Scoony]

This is timely as I am getting ready to paint my cabinets. Painted my daughter's cabinets last year with a BM product (Not Advance). That was an adventure and lots of paint was wasted with one of those Graco airless rental units that ended up to be too much. Wish I had know about tip sizes then.

I went by the BM dealer the other day to look at options and Cloud White is high on the list. I am also considering GF milk paint in Antique white which I think would be easier to apply.

[Cooler]

If you are going to spray, then PPG "Breakthrough" reads like a good choice.  Let me know how it works because if you like it I will use it in my cabinets.

It has a 15 minute dry to touch and 30 minutes dry to stack.  In one hour you can re-assemble doors to the cabinets.  It is supposed to dry very hard and have good abrasion resistance.  

But it is supposed to be difficult to brush or roll because of the fast dry times.  And you have to filter the paint before each use.  If you leave a can open it will quickly skin over.

It is supposed to have excellent adhesion over many substrates.

I would like to hear a positive comment from someone who sprays.  The PPG dealer should be able to advise you on what spray tip to use.

https://www.ppgpaints.com/products/break...ne-acrylic

A versatile, ultra-durable water-borne acrylic, Break-Through!, is formulated to bond to some of the most difficult substrates including fiberglass, laminate, and many plastics. The interior/exterior satin finish offers very fast dry and outstanding early block resistance for increased productivity with less down time. Break- Through! provides hardness similar to or better than standard alkyds with a low VOC formula, but maintains flexibility to endure extreme bends and deformation without cracking and peeling. Break-Through! is ideal for doors, windows, cabinets, shelving, hand rails, fixtures, trim, wood and concrete floors.

[dcurrit]

I am thinking of buying the Graco 257025 Project Painter Plus Paint Sprayer and getting the 311 tip as someone suggested and using it with BM Advance paint for the cabinets.  Does anyone have experience with this sprayer?  It is a little more ($223 on amazon or HD) than some of the hand held units but seems like it might be a little better and I like Graco.  Any ideas would be welcome.  Also, I am going to have to spray the cabinets in my sons new house (rather than at my place) and  it will be cold and he does not have a garage.  Thinking of constructing a small paint booth out of plastic in the living room.  We are going to be painting the entire house so the floor will already be protected.  We will not be spray painting the walls, just the cabinets and doors.  At least that is the plan.  Do you think creating a booth like that will eliminate the need to mask everything, or should we just go ahead and mask everything?  If we mask everything, should we consider spraying the walls?  Not sure this unit would be up to it and not sure it would be that much easier.  Anyone have any suggestions.  I am thinking that rolling the walls and ceilings would not be that bad.

[jteneyck]

BM Advance is great stuff, but takes weeks to cure - just so you know.  Either of your approaches will work.  If you build a booth you will need to exhaust it to keep the overspray from falling back on your freshly painted surfaces.  Contractors here often use an airless sprayer to paint trim before anything else has been painted, so they don't mask off anything.  They then paint the ceiling/walls with a roller. 

John