Can You Paint Over Kitchen Cabinets?

We get asked this question a lot. Many people are concerned that if they are unhappy with their cabinets, they will have to replace them entirely. Some are also concerned that fresh paint won’t hold up and they will be back at square one within a few months. 

The good news is you can paint over most kitchen cabinets, just as long as you are mindful of the products you’re using and the necessary steps.

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HOW DO YOU PAINT OVER KITCHEN CABINETS?

The process for painting cabinets is very involved, and the best results come when you hire a professional painting contractor like Heritage Painting. 

Once you remove all the cabinet doors and store them in a safe location, you need to sand the cabinets. Scuffing the surface like this will give the fresh paint something to bond to, creating a stronger finish. After sanding is done, you apply the primer, then sand again, apply the first coat of finish, sand a third time, and apply the second coat. 

As we said, it’s a labor-intensive process, but that added effort creates a smoother and (more importantly) longer-lasting finish. 

The cabinet doors themselves go through the same steps. In our process, we set up a spray booth and apply the same process as the one outlined above. 

Afterward, your cabinets will be assembled after being left to dry. While the cabinets are dry to the touch at this point, you will still want to be careful around them for thirty days as they cure. After they have had time to fully cure, the product will harden and be durable for years to come. 

You can watch the video below for a more detailed look at what this process looks like.

CAN YOU BRUSH OR ROLL KITCHEN CABINETS?

You can paint cabinets this way, but the real question is whether or not you should. It’s very difficult to get an even finish with just a paintbrush or roller, especially on surfaces as flat as kitchen cabinets. Acrylic latex products don’t auto-level like oil-based paints, so you will get brush marks and roller stipple. Because of this, our technicians will always spray cabinets for the smoothest finish. 

CAN YOU PAINT LAMINATE CABINETS?

Yes, you can paint laminate cabinets. However, vinyl laminate is prone to peeling eventually, and a fresh coat of paint isn’t going to solve that. As that vinyl begins to come off, that is a sign of the laminate failing itself, not the paint on top of it. 

PAINTING KITCHEN CABINETS IS BEST LEFT TO THE EXPERTS

This type of project takes a lot of special care and work, and an inexperienced hand can do a lot more harm to your cabinets than good. At the end of the day, letting a trained and experienced team of technicians is the best approach. You can get a high-quality paint job in a matter of days instead of weeks (or in some cases months). 

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If you’re ready to have your kitchen cabinets painted, fill out the form below to have Heritage Painting come out and provide a free quote. Our experienced team will help walk you through the process, and we can even assist with selecting colors. Now is the perfect time to get your kitchen cabinets done, and Heritage has the team and experience to get it done. 

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