How To
Successfully Paint Madera Kitchen Cabinets
by
Donald Thomas
Painting your wood or madera kitchen cabinets can be done successfully
by most homeowners and weekend warriors. All you really need is good
information on how to do it correctly and the energy and desire to make
it happen. I have been painting madera kitchen cabinets for many years
now and the experience and knowledge I have gained over the years I
will share with you in this article. So roll up your sleeves and let's
begin your kitchen cabinet makeover.
All
Madera Kitchen Cabinet PREPARATION: The key to a quality job
First, in order to do a real quality job with your madera kitchen
cabinets it really is best to remove all the doors and drawers. This
will allow you access to areas that would be difficult to reach with
the doors and drawers left in place. Once the doors and drawers have
been removed from the cabinet frame or boxes as they are sometime
called, removed the hardware- hinges and handles. Now is the time to
think about replacing them and giving your cabinets a completely new
look, however, if your hinges and handles still look great than you're
okay.
Try and find or create a good work area to lay out your madera kitchen
cabinet doors and drawers. You will need an area to work comfortably in
and with as much ventilation as possible. Remember, since you are
painting your madera kitchen cabinets and not staining them you don't
have to remove the existing finish unless it has failed or in a state
of failing. But for the record we will assumed the worst and go from
there.
Use a good cleaning solution to remove grease, grime and other oils
from the cabinet surfaces. Trisodium phosphate and a host of other
degreasers can be purchased at your local hardware store or home
improvement center. Thouroughly clean the wood or madera kitchen
cabinets inside and out and allow them to dry before proceeding. Once
the cabinets are clean and dry begin sanding. This can prove to be a
daunting task if you have never done it before, but believe me it is
essential to good wood preparation.
Start out by using a coarse grit of sandpaper that will cut and remove
failed coatings, then progress to a medium grit and finally to a fine
grit. When you reach this point your cabinet surfaces should be very,
very smooth to the touch and smooth looking as well. The doors, drawers
and cabinet boxes should all feel smooth at this stage.
Blow or vacuum away all dust before proceeding to the next step. Use a
tack cloth or a damp towel to insure total dust removal.
PRIMING Your
Madera Kitchen Cabinets
Before you start painting there is one more step that you should do to
ensure a quality job that will stand up to all that kitchen cabinets
must stand up to: humidity, temperature changes, constant abuse and
grease and oily hands! I personally prefer to use an oil base primer to
prime kitchen cabinets and I prefer one that will seal and prevent
anything from leeching through to create problems for my new finish.
You might prefer to use a latex primer that is more easy to work with
and cleans up with soap and water as oppossed to a solvent base primer
that requires mineral spirits or paint thinner. But whatever your
choice be sure and use a quality primer that is manufactured by an
industry leader and not some cheap product that only cost a fraction of
what a good product cost.
PAINTING Your
Wood Or Madera Kitchen Cabinets
This really is my favorite part and I get excited about it every time I
get an opportunity to paint madera kitchen cabinets. Now that your all
wood or madera kitchen cabinets have been properly prepared and ready
to receive paint, let's begin the fun stuff. Again, I prefer to use a
quality oil base paint on the cabinets that I do and the reasons are:
oil paint simply look beautiful in my opinion. It levels out perfectly
and gives a rich and elegant look. It is my personal choice, however,
sometimes using oil is not an option and it is mandatory that I use a
water base paint.
When that is the case I always use a quality acrylic latex enamel that
is manufactured by a leading paint company. You can still get a good
finished look with latex paint on your cabinets, in fact, some people
as well as contractors insist on it. But it is just not my personal
choice for reasons I described above.
Madera Kitchen
Cabinets APPLICATION METHODS
However you choose to paint your kitchen cabinets there are some pros
and cons to be considered.
Airless paint
sprayer:
If you have use of an airless paint sprayer and choose to spray your
cabinets with it be especially warned about the troubles that could
arise. Make sure you have the pressure set at a very low level in order
to help you control your spraying. It is very easy to make mistakes
with an airless paint sprayer. Unless your are very experience with an
airless... spraying cabinets in particular, I wouldn't recommend it!
Conventional
Paint Sprayer:
This way is considered by many as the "old way" of spray painting, but
I still like to use the old compressor and pressure feed spray gun. I
can get an automobile type finish on my cabinet doors. Although the
transfer of paint to substrate is only around 25%, I don't mind
sacrificing loosing some paint to get a beautiful and elegant finish.
And it is much more easier to control your paint spraying, unlike an
airless paint sprayer.
HVLP paint
system: I
have owned and used an hvlp(high volume-low pressure) gun and complete
system before, however, I found it wanting. Maybe, it was just a like
of skill and experience on my part, but I caustiously recommend this
system for a novice. If you choose to use this system be sure and get
as much information and instruction on the best way to use this type of
equipment.
BRUSH AND
ROLL: This
is the method I first used over twenty-four years ago and I still use
it today. Take your time and paint your kitchen cabinets manually and
enjoy every moment of it! That's right. I find painting kitchen
cabinets to be not only fun and exciting but theraputic in many ways
too. And you might find the joy and satisfaction in doing a fine job
while at the same time relaxing a bit. Purchase a quality paint brush
like a purdy and just take your time and stroke ever so
gracefully...and let it flow.
If you choose to roll on the paint be sure to brush it out evenly and
smoothly to avoid that roller textured look. Painting kitchen cabinets
and all other cabinets in your home, for that matter can really be
accomplished by you. Just take your time and commit yourself to the
task and you too will be amazed at the results. Good luck and enjoy.
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