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Painting factory finished stained maple cabinets

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

My friend is considering painting her existing stained maple kitchen cabinets. I thought I read somewhere that stained maple is difficult to paint and I shared that with her. I wanted to send her a link about the issue so I did various searches and all I am getting are painting instructions.

Did I imagine that they are more difficult to paint than oak? I know it is not easy to get a get a smooth durable finish on stained cabinets but if I gave her the wrong information about maple, I'd like to let her know.

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Comments (6)

My3dogs ME zone 5A
7 years ago
I had my light-colored maple cabinets painted in January 2015 by pros. They used the best SW paint, and mixed something with it that has made it tough as nails, with not a single chip in almost 2 years. Although I'm an avid DIYer, I wouldn't have attempted that myself.
mfrog
7 years ago
I painted my maple cabinets 10 years ago, no problems with chipping at all. I cleaned & sanded well, then cleaned & dried, tack clothed. Primed with good primer & used good paint. To get them to last with no chipping requires proper prep. Love my painted cabinets & I get lots of compliments on them.
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I'm not certain about this, but I think it's the finish, not the stain that yellows. OTOH, I've been cleaning cabinets I picked up at the Community Forklift. They happen to be oak, which means nothing. I'm having to use industrial chemicals (a palate knife and my fingernails) to get the grease and soot off these cabinets. The nicotine soot is particularly disgusting -- and yellow. Just an idea. Christine
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eggandart, painted cabinets are often made of less expensive woods but that doesn't make them lower quality. Poplar and soft maple are commonly used because they're cheap and serviceable. Of the two, the soft maple is a little harder and thus less dent-prone. Aspen or alder would work. Hard maple or cherry would make very nice painted cabinets, but most people would think you were nuts if you painted cherry. You could even use an open-grained wood like oak; the texture of the pores would show through the paint and create a very distinct look that only appeals to certain tastes, but there wouldn't be anything wrong with doing is so long as YOU like the result. If you meant to ask, like the OP, which wood would be best to avoid hairline cracks then the problem arises that the properties of particular species can easily be trumped by how the wood you get is handled. Many species that perform well if handled well will perform badly if handled badly. If you get wood that was improperly dried, or if it was stored poorly after drying, or if your workshop is especially humid, then fussing over the species choice could be for naught. In other words, don't sweat over it too much. No matter what you do, solid wood does expand and contract and some hairline cracks are fairly inevitable -- they aren't defects unless you think they are.
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I hope you used a preconditioner on the maple---which is almost always necessary to prevent blotching when using any stain on maple. Better color control with maple is achieved with dyes, rather than stains. My choice for interior finishing in most cases is varnish. The reason is because of all the finishes available, varnish has the best protection and repairability for vertical and other surfaces with little wear(baseboards/chair rail/crown molding/etc) The problenm with either kind of poly is they are so hard they chip easily and cannot be easily spot repaired---the entire surface must be recoated. Another problemm is that many varnishes now are part polyurethane---added for harder surfaces---which prevent spot finishing. Mow, wiping finishes---varnish or poly---are the easiest to control---wiping cuts way down on runs/etc. But, wiping finishes take twicve as many coats to provide the same protection as full strength finishes. But, trying to wipe on any finish with lots of nooks and crannies---added trim/figured trim/etc.----is very difficult. You almost have to brush the finish in those areas---and brushing a wiping finish means runs are inevitable. Lacquer is a bad choice when water is in the area----water causes white rings/stains on lacquer.
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i am in the middle of this right now! my cabs have poplar face frames and all the door and drawer fronts are maple. they are being painted on site right now. it is a bit disruptive but the whole kitchen remodel is disruptive so what is a few more days! details on the on site painting: the professional painter supplied by my GC took over my bonus room and garage. the ENTIRE rooms (ENTIRE!) have been draped in plastic and tarps, they have in effect created their own portable clean rooms. they sprayed 2 layers of primer and now they are spraying the finish coats. they look excellent! they did this once the cabs were installed so doors and drawers are painted and dry out in the garage and the cabinet boxes are painted in place in the kitchen where everthing is also draped and masked. you could have them paint them in a shop where there is a cleanroom, but then they need to transport them and install them where they could get dinged and need to be patched. so seems like each approach has tradeoffs. be prepared for odors when they paint on site and you need to provide them the space to do it. good luck!
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nini804
7 years ago
I've always heard maple was actually the best wood for painting. I think they are difficult to stain...they can be blotchy? Most maple things are natural maple color.

I hope I remembered that right! I do know for a fact that my white painted cabs are made of maple....so there's that!
User
7 years ago
Maple will paint nicely. Oak you can paint, but you'll see the grain. Some people don't care for this. Staining pine and maple are trickier because they are softer woods. And painting pine, you'd want to use a primer specifically for the knot holes so it didn't bleed through (like Zinsser's BIN).

If they're good and comfortable with their DIY skills, with proper prep and good quality products, they can be painted and will last.
Olychick
7 years ago
I googled "best wood for painted cabinets" and found lots of recommendations from pro woodworkers who choose maple. Of course, removing the factory finish well enough so the paint adheres is likely key in your situation.

Here's one thread:

http://www.contractortalk.com/f13/best-wood-painted-cabinets-70734/
PRO
Lars/J. Robert Scott
7 years ago
When we manufacture furniture for a painted finish, we use maple, poplar, or alder. Maple is the most expensive of these three, and they all paint equally well, but we can use maple for stained finishes as well. Poplar is our preferred wood for gilded finishes. Alder does not take stain the same as maple. We use oak when we want a cerused or waxed finish.

There should be no problem in painting maple, but you do need to remove the old finish first, as Oly mentioned.

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