You don't need a primer if the current coating is in good shape. My rule of thumb for spraying is that for any wood surfaces, you need to back brush or backroll so spraying would only be used as a tool to get the material on faster...you would still need to brush it. Aluminum and vinyl siding can be sprayed and left so for those types of surfaces it is really worth it. Also, for most people, spraying is not just something you pick up the sprayer and go....takes a lot of practice to get the techniques down, learn where your overspray goes, learn how to adjust for varying conditions so that your product atomizes properly, etc, etc so I don't know that it would be something for a novice to do, especially outside. Yes, Benjamin Moore stores have sales. If you use Aura, keep in mind that this stuff dries fast and will dry faster if there is any wind. I would just do one or two laps of siding at a time, all the way across, then do the next two, working from the top down, maintaining a wet edge at all times and use their extender.

After doing two gut job remodels, I can safely say you should have everything picked out before you even demo. It's pretty easy to get samples of your cabinet doors, countertop materials, flooring, and paint chips and make a board that you can check in the various lighting conditions of your kitchen area. I'm also a stickler for detail...after spending that much money on a renovation, I want the paint job and tiny details to be as clean and exact as possible. Cutting in paint against a line of cabinets is iffy at best. Painting the wall before installation guarantees you a perfect line at the wall/cabinet interface, without a speck of paint on your cabinets or a hint of primer or background color sneaking in at the interface. As for knicks, scrapes, and other things after installation...any good painter or homeowner can completely cover those mistakes with good painting and patching techniques. They've been discussed to death in here and they work. I freaked out about that during our last renovation, but ended up being quite proud of the totally invisible corrections I was able to do to the drywall and paint. No extra sheen or flashing to reveal where the patches were. Generally, the more you plan and purchase ahead of time, the more efficient and economical your renovation will be.

Hey! So first, don’t worry, you’re not alone- painting cabinets DIY is neverrr a good idea. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to fix cabinets that were DIY’d. Homeowners are always surprised how it turned out wrong... The reality is, cabinet painting requires trained professionals. Not everyone can do it, and that’s okay. Most people generally wouldn’t represent themselves in a legal matter, diagnose yourself during a medical checkup, or do your own accounting unless they’ve received training in those fields. The same is true of painting cabinets. Secondly, did you remove hardware, degloss, sand, and use an oil primer and let it cure 2-3 days prior to painting? If not, then you unfortunately will likely have bigger problems than food on cabinets, such as peeling... Third, Benjamin Moore aura is overpriced, to begin with, and it’s also not a cabinet paint, it’s a wall paint. Cabinet paints from BM are their Advance, but an equally good one is the Sherwin Williams Pro-Classic. A good cabinet paint has more enamel in the paint and is specially made to be applied and look good on wood. Fourth, if it’s not cleaning easily, you probably used a finish with too little gloss in the paint. It’s recommended to use semigloss for cabinets... if going below semigloss for aesthetics reasons (like satin, low luster, or matte), then you should use 2 coats of a water based polyurethane topcoated on top of the paint, in order to protect and seal the cabinets. At this point, the best course would be to hire a pro to repaint the entire section that was unfortunately discolored by the food, and then have the pro apply a poly topcoat over all the cabinets to protect them from future issues. Best of luck!

true statement: "After the last sub leaves, the whole house damn near needs repainted" That is usually because the paint is cheap or because only one coat of good stuff was used... If you use a good quality wall paint in satin or eggshell, most (non dark) colors will touch up just fine if done properly... true statement: "The painter's house is usually way smaller and nowhere near as nice as the one he just painted for you" true statement: "a large portion of folks are just rude, arrogant and ungrateful" false statement: "SW paint is always consistent" Well on second thought I guess you are correct... There is one thing that is consistent about Sherwin Williams' cheaper product lines such as: "Property Solutions", "Builders Solutions", "Painters Edge", "Sherscrub", "Pro-Mar 400", and "pro-Mar 200" Et Al. and that one thing that is consistent is the amount of trash found in a brand new five gallon bucket of the paint... Anymore it seems like we have to put the freshly opened bucket of paint through a strainer bag before it can be used.. a lazy painter who doesn't care will not have a strain bag on hand and will only pick the largest "boogers" off the wet wall leaving the painted wall riddled with small debris.. I see it happening all the time and it really aggravates me- ("it aint my house" they say)................ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- Anyway, I've learned that so many people think that paint for their new house is the obvious part of the construction process to save money... But in the long run they will find that to have been a regrettable decision. (and sometimes they find this out very quickly (like on move in day or even before). Besides having no durability, using a cheap paint will cause noticeable differences between areas that were rolled and those brushed- especially the "halo effect" against the ceiling or crown molding.. In my residence, I used Ben Moore Aura... The walls look awesome, they feel awesome and since the paint is self leveling, areas against doorframes where the trim work was done first and the rolled area meets that brushwork, you cannot tell the difference... It blends so well and I am so happy with how it looks even 8 years later... Lets put it this way... When I worked for a big name nationwide home builder, whenever they would have us do some painting in their model homes/offices, they would have us use SW Durations satin.... Then when we go to paint a homeowners build they would spec "Painters Edge" flat... I really hated that employment because home owners would commonly blame us for the appearance as a workmanship issue... And when it comes to "Painters Edge" and all the other cheap paints- the darker the shade the crappier the end result. Good luck Y'all