Stain Grade Cabinet Refinishing, worth the effort?
This is NOT about cabinet painting stained cabinets. Yet, it is far from the most popular trend of refinishing by painting. Some clients like the feel and flavor of stained and clear top-coated cabinetry. Many industry-based custom cabinet makers frown upon painting stain-grade cabinets. Some even believe it as a form of sacrilege. Yet, ours is not to reason why but to do and die. (in service of our customer’s needs)
Often clients want to change the look of their cabinetry. Stain-grade cabinetry is restrictive in the end. The physical realities such as to lighten a finish are difficult. More costly than slathering on some well-chosen color paint. Often requiring full stripping and sanding of all the cabinet components. Even then it takes a monumental effort to remove a stain that has penetrated deep into the wood grain. An alternative is Re-facing with new doors and drawer fronts. Often the best option for keeping the rich wood feeling of a lighter color than the existing ones.
Is it more practical to do cabinet refinishing of existing stain-grade cabinetry? If you the customer want to keep the look and feel you have, it is. This article is a case study. On how Alexanders goes about refreshing (Cabinet refinishing) Stain-grade custom cabinetry. On a well-used Kitchen Island new like, like the day we installed it.
Cabinet Refinishing A Stain Grade Project
Starting with a suitable approach to tackle the project. It’s a stained island surrounded by glazed cabinetry. We need a plastic enclosure for this cabinet refinishing project. Spraying in this close environment will make a mess of the cabinetry that does not need work.
The next consideration is how the cabinet frame doors and drawer fronts are best dealt with. This cabinetry style is inset doors. Sitting flush with the face frame there is a bead around each opening. Making it very difficult to refresh everything in place. And it is always a better result if we can take the parts back to the shop. A couple of days of having the protective enclosure up is not practical. As it is restrictive for our clients to use their kitchen, in any capacity.
This approach required taking all the doors and drawer fronts off. Some “disassembling required”. We got lucky; the designer (Alexanders) created the original fabrication for this purpose. Left us with a skeleton that we could get at the inside edges and beads with ease. The next step was washing the cabinetry. We need to remove any material that will resist and repel the topcoat. This is not a trivial consideration, especially with a clear topcoat.
This refresh (Cabinet refinishing) required an added effort to remove grease buildup. The kitchen has A luxury Viking Stove and deep fryer. Everything, everything facing and around the stove had some grease build-up. Making the de-greasing a challenging and very important task. Especially in the grooves at the beaded face frame.
This kitchen island is well-used. The wear from repeated uses such as plugging in appliances and even cell phone chargers is proof. As is normal wear and tear wearing through the original topcoat. Which was a good grade ten years ago. The depth of it started to affect the stain. Required touch-up. The entire unit was deep sanded and scuffed to receive and hold the new topcoat.
The surfaces were ready to accept the new top-coat masking off the openings started. To prevent overspray on interiors that did not need refreshing, it is necessary. Floor protection installed and the spray tent/envelope is set up and ready to drop.
Our preferred method of applying the topcoat is HVLP equipment. But The flow of air with that setup is problematic. The airflow stresses the plastic envelope, hard. The plastic breaks free and then blows onto the cabinetry. So we opted for airless equipment and process on-site. Applied first coat, then sand, and final coat. Right after each coat skins over a fan circulates air and expedites the drying process. You can see the enclosure billowing from the fan.
Tear it all down, pull up the floor protection, and then head back to the shop to work on the doors and drawer fronts.
Cabinet Painting -Refinishing in the Shop
The doors and drawer fronts got degreased and washed. Taking extra care of the pieces that were close to the stove. The grease gets in the nooks and crannies of the door profiles. Miss a spot and the top-coat behavior is like oil and water. Very frustrating at that point as any quick remedy moves the grease oil around. Compounding the grief of having to almost start over.
Good visual example of how wear if unnoticed exposes bare wood. As soon as there are signs of this on your stain-grade cabinets give Alexanders a call. Always more effective to catch it early rather than needing us to match and re-stain those areas. We’re good at this yet it is not quite as good as the original. The areas touched up look darker due to the wiping clean dust of the scuff coat, but these are close.
An example of one of the doors having the stain touched up.
Right after spraying with the HVLP process, we show the final topcoat. It appears to go on thick and goopy.
Looks ugly, but rest assured after the chemical polymer chains will do their thing. Linking up and contracting this topcoat will settle down. A silky-smooth satin furniture-grade finish will appear. Of course, the quality of the door makes the greatest contribution. It is the base of how well the final product looks. Alexanders made the doors .. so was there ever any doubt?
Doors need to be cured for at least a day before transporting back to the job.
Back to the Island Cabinet Refinishing
Back on site putting it all back together begins. As we go along fixing loose hinges-screws is an important and added value. Even replacing the hinges if needed. A new refreshed set of cabinets with doors that sag, rub, and in general misbehave. This is in no way acceptable considering the effort to refresh the cabinetry.
Looking pretty much the same as the first installation day. With many moments from the past remembered. It is very important for us at Alexanders to touch the work we’ve done in the past. Not for sentimental reasons but to see in real-life terms how our cabinetry is holding up. Even the highest quality craftsmanship and materials can stand improvement. Those improvements are what make excellent craftsman masters in their field.
Stained Cabinet Refinishing - Is not Cabinet Painting -Conclusion
Refreshing stain-grade cabinets is more involved than the typical cabinet paint job. The blow-and-go cabinet painting is good enough for the cost-effective price, result. In a situation where a client wants to keep the warm wood feel they have? There is no blow-and-go approach to bringing custom cabinetry back up to its original quality. Is it worth it? Often it seems to be an expensive and non-trendy way to go. Well, trends change like the weather here in North Texas. A refresh like this one is much less than even new paint-grade custom cabinetry.
It is worth going this route if you like what you have and want that clean fresh new appearance.
Considering a Cabinet Refinishing DIY approach? Check out General Finishes for more on what is involved. Their retail products are very good. Alexanders uses the professional 1K and 2K coatings from GF exclusively given the choice.
You know the drill, the call to action, give Alexanders a call for these types and other custom cabinetry.