The cabinets I think were Cypress. I live in Louisiana & I have the remodel plans from the person that built the pool house addition & they call for cypress. That is a wood that is native to here but, the grain is much like an oak so maybe it is cypress or maybe it is oak. Anyway, there is definitely a grain to it. DH and i argued about the primer coats & how many to put. I won that won (not that it got me anything) because the ones I did don't show any graining with 2 coats of primer. The ones he did do. So if you have thick coat of stain and/or any top coat on oak, you have to sand really well first. Then 2 coats of primer are a must - IMHO. I can see the grain in the ones that DH did and it drives me nutso. Like the underneath of the upper cabs for example. If he had sanded better & done 2 coats of primer, I don't think you would see it since I don't see the grain on the other surfaces. Who knows though because they were custom cabs, the cabinet guy could have used other woods too. They are 8 years old. Don't be afraid though. It is a lot of work but, if you follow the advice on this forum, the result is worth it. The cabs are not that shiny, it's just the lighting in the pool house is not great. They are very pretty. To the poster that asked about DIY cabs, there are some, mostly though people rip out old and put in new. I think that totally depends on the age of the cabs and the condition. If you can save what you have you are technically "going green". How in vogue is that? If they are nasty and have no character to them, then you have to start over. I have seen several posts for people that re-did therofoil or whatever it is called. It is more detailed what needs to be done but, nonetheless, less than new cabs are. I have friends and have seen many posters whose cabinets were $75k. Wow, that's a ton of money. So if you can figure it out, use what you have! Go for it. A little at a time is fine too. If you hate your cabinets, paint them. There are many posters here that have black, blue, brown or white cabinets. All look good. If you can use what you have then a little paint is so cheap compared to new. To be honest, I have the same types of cabinets in my kitchen, laundry, DD bath in my 1950s/remodeled in 2000 house that are 8 years old. All of those cabinets, I will either paint or have painted professionally, the wood is not really nice enough to restain. The ones in my Master bath & guest bath that are original to the house and then painted from 1950, they are out. They are just flat front wood nothing cabinets. There is no saving those. Anything in the last 20 years thougth might be savagable. There are so many options for colors. I can post some colored cabinets from my inspiration file if you would like to see them. that will show you paint grade cabs that are just beautiful.

I used a brush. One of the good features about Aura is that it is self-leveling so it minimizes brush marks. I can't say that there are none, but some oak grain shows through more than any brush marks. For a primer, I used latex Kilz on about half of them (because I had some on hand) and Benj Moore Fresh Start All-purpose on the rest. I did two coats to try to fill in as much grain as possible. I considered a more aggressive approach to the oak grain cover-up but decided against it. THe overall affect is great for me. I suppose the level of smoothness desired is a personal choice. I'm pretty picky in general about things, but these cabinets went from a 2 to a 9 (on a scale of 1 to 10) so I'm fine with that. If you want a "10", I suppose oil and grain-filling is the way to go. The sink splashes don't really affect the cabinets. But I have no backsplash (yet) under my uppers, but I used Aura (eggshell) on the walls too. They get their share of splashes and wet hands turning on and off the disposal switch - also Aura painted. It is absolutely good as new. The lower cabinets in my primary work corner do get surprisingly messy, but they wipe up just fine. Over the year, I've seen a couple of nicks here and there. I keep a little craft squeeze bottle of paint and paintbrush handy and I dab on a spot if needed. Oh, that was another thing about the Aura claim that appealed to me... unnoticeable touchups. I know regular latex touchups never seem to blend well. Don't know how oil does.

I'm afraid I can't call the contractor for advice at the moment....he had knee surgery this week. I let the skim coat cure about 10-14 days before priming. I guarantee there was very little humidity during the curing process; Utah is a desert climate and anything above 20% in the summer is considered "humid". I know the walls were free of debris before the skim coating was begun, and I know it's not a problem with the skim coating itself not adhering. When the paint came off with the tape the skim coated surface beneath was intact. I don't have the brand of the compound that was used but I know it was not pre-mixed......my children had a lot of fun watching the compound being mixed in the back yard with the giant "cake mixer" drill attachment. Yesterday I did repair the appearance of the jagged edges where the paint came off by sanding, priming, spackling, sanding, priming, and re-painting and everything looks great now........but I can't help be worried that my careful paint job is eventually going to bubble up and come off the walls.

@Laura Holland Thanks so much for the update. I am very glad you found someone to do a post-catalyzed conversion varnish on your cabinetry. That's the standard for finish longevity. How utterly horrible that the contractors have already messed it up. Yes, repairs are very difficult with the 2-part coatings. They absolutely should have been much more cautious. It's somewhat hard to mar a 2-part finish, so they must have been really careless. It sounds like you may have gotten the satin finish of the INSL-X. I have heard the semi-gloss is significantly more durable. If you do have it re-done, I wouldn't go with any Benjamin Moore products again. Find someone who can do Milesi, Renner, or ICA-Ilva. All three of those would be superior, but they may need to be sprayed as most formulations from those companies dry fast, and the 2-part formulas provide the most hardness and chemical resistance. Many people have reported finish failures with Advance even with a Stix Primer. INSL-X is a step above Advance based on my research. In fact, INSL-X is actually made by the same people who make Stix. Benjamin Moore bought the company.