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Lacquer or oil paint for cabinets?

14 years ago

I did the final measurements with the custom cabinet people last night. We were talking about finishes and they want to use a precatelyzed lacquer from United Coating Technology. I originally wanted to use the same oil based paint I use for all the trim in my house. Cabinet people say they can match the oil paint but that the lacquer will hold up better on the cabinets (and it is easier to spray and doesn't take as long to dry).

Bad part about the lacquer is you can't touch it up. Cabinet people said they will do whichever I choose but they really recommend the lacquer.

Comments-advice?

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Comments (3)

plllog
14 years ago
It all sounds toxic to me, so it's out of my knowledge base

so...

BUMP
clg7067
14 years ago
Personally, I like working with lacquer. I painted my harp blue with your basic automotive acrylic lacquer. (It was an old harp.) Lacquer dries fast and is easy to make repairs, however, you do need to wear a respirator to apply. The solvent evaporates very quickly, though. (Fast drying.)
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eks6426
Original Author
14 years ago
Hmm, I went to talk to the store that sells both the oil paint and the lacquer and actually got a very knowledgable person.

Here's what I learned:

Oil & lacquer will pretty much have the same durability.
Lacquer is preferred by the cabinet maker because they can spray it all in one day because the dry time is really quick. Spraying oil will force the cabinet maker to find a dust free place to set aside my cabinets for days between coats for drying time. The cabinet people will probably have a tougher time working with spraying oil because it sprays differently than oil.

I discussed the fact that I have trim work in the room that needs to be the same color and sheen as the cabinets. In fact, the crown molding will go on the cabinets then carry over to the rest of the room. We also have window trim that butts right up against cabinets.

If we go with lacquer cabinets and then paint our trim with the oil like usual, they may look different and they will also age differently.

Other option is to have the cabinet company do the trim and lacquer it too. But then since we have an old house that requires caulk to fill in gaps, we would have caulked areas that normally I would paint over that can't be lacqured over.

Best option to me is just use oil on everything but the cabinet people might not actually do it. Or they might put up a huge fuss and charge me more for drying time.

No perfect solution and all lot more things to think about (trim considerations) than I expected.

What do those of you who got premade cabinets do if you matched your trim to the cabinets or didn't you bother?

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