Fine Furniture Finishing Newsletter, Issue 10
This issue's topic: Refinishing kitchen cabinets
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For some reason, there's been a slew of letters with questions about
refinishing kitchen cabinets lately, so I thought it would make a useful topic
for a newsletter. Even if you have no plans to refinish your own kitchen
cabinets (lucky you!), you may find that a lot of this info still applies to a
smaller finishing or refinishing project of your own.
What's the difference between kitchen cabinets and any of the projects that
were demonstrated on the tapes? Mostly just a matter of degree.
-Kitchens are a large project, and will take more of everything than a single
project or cabinet would. That includes time and patience, and did I say, time?
-Oftentimes you must partially use these while working on them. Eating out
three times a day is not an option for most folks.
-(Existing) kitchen cabinets usually start out with a higher degree of crud on
them that must be removed before any other steps.
-Except for countertops, nothing else takes a beating like these cabinets;
steam, grease, water, wiping, scrubbing. The final finish must be sturdy!
-And finally, the interior surfaces are more visible (and used) than most other
projects, and so may need a fair bit of attention (and did I say time?) paid to
them.
So why would you want to refinish what you've got instead of ordering new?
Well mostly the money, of course. New, standard modular cabinets are
around $100 per linear foot. You can double that for custom cabinetry, and
that's with a standard finish option. You want a Smallbone-type (lovely, high-
end English cabinets with hand-painted finishes) kitchen? It can be as much
as doubled again. Big bucks...
Which leads us to the other reason you might want to refinish the cabinets
you've already got: a custom, hand painted look that is unique, and
(presumably) matches perfectly with the rest of your kitchen and your style.
This can provide the excitement that keeps you going during some of the
less glamorous phases of this project.
Now I'm not going to be much help here for WHAT you do to your cabinets; I
would suggest magazines, visits to kitchen centers, and friends (assuming
you've got some you trust!) for ideas. Hopefully you feel the videos were
good for giving you techniques, but the possibilities for ideas are endless.
Keep in mind that you may not be able to reasonably have some of the looks
you might want. If your existing cabinetry is dark walnut and you were hoping
for pickled pine, forget it. You may be able to modify the color of wood,
especially toward darker. Any painted look will be fine.
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So after much ado, a few tips:
Take it apart as far as possible. Take all the doors down and remove the
hinges and pulls.
Many drawers have separate fronts that are attached to the box of the
drawer, sometimes with just the screws that hold the drawer pull or knob.
Remove these if you can, and you won't have to empty out each drawer, a
big time saver.
Scrub the dickens out of 'em. You can substitute another word for "dickens" if
you feel the need, but make sure they're darned clean with TSP or citrus
cleaner and at least one solvent-based product like mineral spirits. There
WILL be grease, wax, silicone (the worst) and dirt on them which will
conspire to keep any other applied paints, stains, or varnishes from sticking.
If you're planning on using water-based products (which are especially nice
for their reduced smell for the parts of the kitchen you can't remove to another
location), be even more thorough; they just aren't as forgiving for sticking to
contaminants.
Do the cleaning before any sanding, which can just embed the gunk further
into the old finish.
Otherwise keep in mind the advice on the tapes for where you can use
chemical etching versus sanding. Sanding is better for the high abuse areas
(which is most everywhere in the kitchen).
If you are time-challenged, or one of those people who are long on ideas but
short on patience, consider a compromise. Hire some pro's to come in and
do the prep and base coat of color (if you'll be painting). Particularly if you
have dark cabinet interiors that you want to be light or white, their spray gun
coverage will go much more quickly than your roller and brush. Now you'll
have a smooth, clean base upon which to exercise your talent and your labor
on the parts that will show the most. Otherwise you risk the same problem
that I see with many people who build their own furniture: by the time they're
finished building it, they are tired of the project, and rush the most visible
part, the final finish.
And finally, my broken record* section: make samples! More than anywhere
else, they are so important. You will be looking at a lot of this (your chosen
finish) for a long time, you will have lots of hours in its execution, and you
won't be able to move it to the guest room if you change your mind. Do a
complete finish schedule on a sample and put it in your kitchen for a week or
a month.
*(CD's just don't break the same way, what will we say instead?)
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From Marcia (about an earlier Newsletter):
"A comment on your tip about using small quantities of paint. I bought a
box of plastic picnic spoons which are great for dipping paint, glaze or
varnish from the can to a small jelly or baby food jar for immediate use
(mixing also). Since I'm more often painting than cooking, all my wire
whisks, wooden spoons, spatulas, etc. are put to good use with paints. I
also use an old set of plastic measuring cups for scooping out liquids from
larger cans."
Sounds good to me, though I'd suggest caution to any who might appropriate
kitchen utensils without permission (huh, Dad?).
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Featured product(s) of this issue: Spray cans
While in my favorite paint store the other day, I finally remembered that I was
always out of the stuff I need, and picked up a spray can each of clear (gloss)
lacquer, satin lacquer, satin polyurethane, and cans of red, gray, and white
sandable primers.
I was tryin' to think of what all I use these for as I write this, and couldn't tell
you, but somehow they are always handy for some small thing or another,
and if you add black and white topcoats to the above list, it seems like you're
prepared for a whole passel o' projects that come your way. Don't know how
they come your way, -they just do...
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Please forward this newsletter to interested friends.
Best wishes,
David Sorg
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