Help! Spray or Brush for Cabinets?

15 years ago

I have seen similar posts, but they are mostly discussing factory vs. handpainted cabs. What I am wondering is if I am having my cabinets painted by a local painter in our home, am I better off going with brush painted or sprayed? The painter says that you can't touch it up if it's sprayed (is this true?), but you can if it's brush painted. The main reason we decided to skip the factory finish and go with a painter was so we could do touch ups ourselves. But, now with the quote in hand (YIKES!!! $5000 for sprayed, $8000 for brush--just about fell over when I saw that) I'm having second thoughts. I would really appreciate any input you can offer! I have to make this decision right away.

Thanks a ton!

Featured Answer

Fori

15 years ago

You can touch up sprayed paint with a brush--just be careful! :)

It's not like you're going to get HUGE spots that need touchup!

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Comments (6)

mac_t
15 years ago
I would not let anyone spray (even with the best HVLP equipment) in my kitchen, unless it were near-gutted. A good painter using a very good paint and very good brushes can brush-paint the cabinets so that they almost look sprayed.
Doors and drawers that can be removed and sprayed (HVLP only) off-site in a spray-booth are another thing. That keeps the painter from having to do so much taping and covering in the kitchen and gives a spray finish on the focal-point of the cabinets. But doors and drawers can be brush-painted, too, with excellent results.
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sarschlos_remodeler
15 years ago
Yikes! You must have a lot of cabinets. I had quotes ranging from $1-3k for brush painting my cabinets in our old house -- and I live in So. Cal.

For that price, it might be worth your time to learn how to do it yourself. I've brush-painted cabinets with excellent, factory-finish looking results.
jbrodie
Original Author
15 years ago
We won't have THAT many cabinets...the price blew me away. We will have a big island and there is a small desk area with bookcases that were included, and we live in the SF bay area which tends to have high prices, but still...

Our kitchen will be gutted at the time of the painting. Though the painting will take a couple of weeks which will increase our time without a kitchen. Unfortunately, I love the cabinets that our cabinet place makes, I'm just not fond of their painted finishes. They have kind of a plastic look to me. So, now there's no turning back because the cabinets have been ordered so I'm stuck with having them painted. I'm hoping the other bids will come in lower. My husband has taken to calling this painter "Picasso" because that's the quality he'd expect for that price!

Are there any issues with going sprayed?

Thanks again for your help with this!
skippy_2008
15 years ago
jbrodie,
i just spent 2 weeks spraying my old oak cabs and they turned out beautiful.of course i took off all doors and drawers and cleaned them used a very good primer and sprayed them all with an airless sprayer and they are flawless.i mean for 8k ill drive up and paint em for you Lol!!! i just didn't like the look of brushed paint,can't stand brushmarks and in so cal we only have latex no oil paints in CA.so with latex i would definitly spray.again just my opinion but i hope it gives you more food for thought.
mcr1
15 years ago
I would go sprayed, however that is what I do for a living. If you don't want a plastic look ask about latex in a satin or eggshell finish. I prefer satin myself. If the finish they show looks like plastic it may be a catalyzed lacquer. That would be difficult to touch up, plus it tends to be hard and brittle when pigmented. Latex will hold up better, be a little flexible and much easier to touch up. Plus it won't yellow as much. We spray cabinets in our shop and in home without any problems and we finish in the home more than in our shop. I can tell you, that it is a lot of prep work and masking, and it has to be done right. If you are glazing than you need to go with a product like a catalyzed pigmented varnish or lacquer, I prefer the varnish in this case. L

Help! Spray or Brush for Cabinets?

Fori

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mac_t

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