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best way to touch up white kitchen cabinets?

3 years ago

We redid our kitchen last year and opted for white upper cabinets with no handles for a clean modern look. The paint started chipping away along the edges where our fingers pull on the fronts. I bought a can of behr semi-gloss cabinet enamel and painstakingly sanded down and touched up the problem areas. After a couple months it looks worse than before I even touched them up. The texture of the paint never quite matched the original (we had them professionally done). When it dried it had the slightest tacky feel. Maybe I’m not using the right paint or brush or technique. Does anyone have suggestions? Also is it odd that the original paint job would show signs of wear only a year out?

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Comments (5)

K R
3 years ago
The same thing happened to my custom kitchen cabinets. The trash pull was the worst, chipped all over. I had my contractor come back and look at it (2 years later) and he sent his (new) painters in who verified the wrong paint was used. So at his expense he took all the doors and sanded and repainted them (professionally resprayed) with the correct paint. It’s been 6 months and not a scratch to be found, and we’re pretty hard on them. My thoughts are that painting them with a brush is never going to look right, even if you somehow found the exact same paint which is next to impossible because paints and painted surfaces change over time and with use. Painted cabinets by nature are prone to chipping but if they’re done correctly (according to my contractor) it should be minimal.
K R
3 years ago
I also meant to add I tried touching up with the exact paint that was originally given to me by the painters, and it looked horrible. Sorry I know this isn’t great news but you might want to try calling them back to take a look at it. Worth a shot.
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Cindy F
Original Author
3 years ago
We did call the original guy and he came out a couple times but it kept happening. I figured I could try to handle it on my own. Sorry if my methods offended you lol! That’s why I’m on a forum. Be kind please.

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