Our cabinets were made by a local cabinet maker that works for our builder. The cabinets were delivered "raw" to our house and then finished on-site. I do not know what kind of original finish was applied to the natural maple but it was dispensed out of cans(think aerosol). From the moment we had the final walkthrough on the house, we questioned the finish on the wood. Some areas appeared to have no finish on them but we were told everything had been sprayed with several coats. Within 6 week of living in the house, the maple cabs and trim were starting to spot...white spots. The painter(different from the cabinet maker) returned to our home and did some sanding and more spraying. That looked OK for another few months but the problem returned again AND again. Eventually all of the window ledges were "white"...no finish left and very raw and damaged looking. We continued to complain to the builder who then turned the problem over to Sherwin Williams...the product supplier. Sherwin Williams sent a few cabinet doors to a lab and determined the problem was "product failure". A new contractor was sent in, did more sanding, and brushed all of the cabinets and trim with a lacquer product which made me assume the original products were not lacquer. Once again, it looked better but not great for awhile and then the finish began to disintegrate once again. At this point, we were so sick of this crap. The builder sent in ANOTHER contractor who supposedly specializes in restoration and we tossed out the idea of getting rid of the maple look and enameling everything. The builder went for it...not sure why...possibly because they truly had no idea what was wrong with our wood. And this new contractor told us it had been a terrible move for the cabinets to be brushed with lacquer. We then left our house for 2 weeks with no expense reimbursement(road trip for 2 weeks with 4 kids in a camper...that was fun) from the builder for the financial inconvenience but were hopeful we would return to something that looked nice and was durable. When we walked in the door after vacation, the work really did look nice until we started noticing things upon closer inspection. We have now had a few areas that have peeled down to the maple, the cabinet doors were not adjusted correctly so the interior hinges have put chips in the new enamel, the inside of our childrens' closet doors(bi-fold) doors were barely sprayed and the wood is showing through, the bottom edge of the bottom panels of every six panel interior door was missed with the sprayer, the baseboard is full of debris, AND THE LIST GOES ON. Oh yeah, we were told to pick out the kind of paint we wanted the house walls to be repainted with(necessary due to spraying)...no strings attached. We directed the painter to use Hirshfields Platinum Ceramic Eggshell(with microban technology). He screwed that up somehow and used this Top Scrub junk. At this point, we are on good terms with the painter and he is telling us he will return to fix anything we want fixed but I'm like...DUDE, we left you the entire stinking house for 2 weeks. Couldn't you get it right the first time? That is the story.

I just had custom shaker full overlay white lacquer cabinets installed. The wood cabinet doors look like they have a striping effect to them - "blue white" with "whiter white" in a vertical strip, as if the finish spray was not overlapped enough. My cabinet maker explains it as "seeing the wood paneling (?) through the lacquer because it is not a lacquer and not a painted finish". I'm a newbie here and have no idea but the end result doesn't seem right to me. Why would a solid wood door have panel strips? Is that how doors are made? Why would enough of a coat of white lacquer still what'sallow underneath to show through? Can someone help explain if this is "normal" for a white lacquer finish or if I should insist it should be corrected?

I painted my brass plated bedroom handles over the summer, because I couldn't find new ones in the right size/color/price. Here's what I did: Soaked them in a mild vinegar/water solution. Rinsed them in clean water, then sanded them well to make sure the surface was scuffed up well to help the paint adhere. Next I sprayed them with an etching primer. Followed up with a oil rubbed bronze metallic spray paint. Paint and primer were Rustoleum brand. They seem to be holding up well so far. Don't skip the sanding, its tedious and not fun but I believe sanding is crucial to get a good adhesion. I didn't spray a clear coat over it, but I guess that might help. Let the paint cure however long is recommended before you attempt to screw them back in place and hopefully they won't chip.

$1750 is a hack. Not a Pro. It’s not even half of what a good job should cost. 7-9K is average, from someone that knows what they are doing spraying a conversion varnish. Lacquer is a 10 minute finish for cabinets because it does not hold up to moisture. House paint belongs on houses, not cabinets. It won’t be durable enough. Read about the KCMA testing that all cabinet manufacturers undergo for a factory finish. That is the kind of durability that you are giving up. For chips, runs, and drips, and bugs and dust. https://www.kcma.org/certifications/ansi-kcma-certification DEMAND a finished door sample to do your own testing. You will end up in the same boat as these people. The tide has turned on white cabinets. Wood cabinets are coming back strong. And those are ahead of the game. When white cabinets are the new avocado green, you’ll wish you had your old wood ones back.