How difficult to paint kitchen units yourself?

Emcm

Hi there

This is my first post on boards so forgive me if I ramble a bit !!

Basically we have a 12 year old solid oak kitchen which has seen better days but we cannot afford to replace it so we have thought about painting it to cheer it up a bit.

As we are on a tight budget we would be keen to do it ourselves but worried would it be a very difficult task - My husband is a neat and tidy painter but nervous about kitchen units.

We would just like advice about how we would go about it ? Painting or Spraying what is the best paint to use etc?

Also if anyone can tell if the finished products looks ok I have only ever seen it done on tv.

Thanking you in advance

zathan

I have a solid wooden kitchen that I got painted. The painter used B.I.N primer as an undercoat http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=216 and then used two or three coats of an egg shell finish. The primer was great - blocked out the wood colour almost instantly. He also used Isopon to fill in any blemishes. If your kitchen is 12 years old, you would need to give it a good clean down to remove any grease or residues first, but other than that it's a fairly straight forward job. It was a hand painted job - adds to kitchen.

curiousb

+1. Once you use the BIN primer and are careful you will get a great finish. When I did it I used a type of foam headed brush, which gave a really smooth finish. Also finished it with one or two coats of varnish to toughen it up.

antiskeptic

Emcm wrote: »

Hi there

This is my first post on boards so forgive me if I ramble a bit !!

Basically we have a 12 year old solid oak kitchen which has seen better days but we cannot afford to replace it so we have thought about painting it to cheer it up a bit.

As we are on a tight budget we would be keen to do it ourselves but worried would it be a very difficult task - My husband is a neat and tidy painter but nervous about kitchen units.

We would just like advice about how we would go about it ? Painting or Spraying what is the best paint to use etc?

Also if anyone can tell if the finished products looks ok I have only ever seen it done on tv.

Thanking you in advance

If you could get it sprayed it'd be best - paint the immoveable bits and take off the doors/drawer fronts for spraying. You could cut the cost by prepping yourself.

If deciding to self-paint, a good tip for the final coat is to thin it out (with white spirits/water depending on the paint) by 5%. This will make the paint runnier and will mean brush marks disappear completely. Lay the doors flat when painting to stop runs. You'll need to have prepped a blemish-free surface up to that point in order to get best effect though. I went primer/2 under/1 top /1 thinned top.

Would imagine solvent based topcoats are tougher than water based but not sure.

AidanBoland

I would get it sprayed with pigmented AC lacquer, much more durable than paint and can be mixed to any colour and you can get it in very glossy finish to a matte finish or anywhere in between

CarrickMcJoe

Most important is the preperation. I did one last week. Used a product called UBIK 2000 to wash it down, its an industrial cleaner and I diluted it 50/50 with water. and sprayed it on with one of those house hold spray cannisters.
the grease simply ran off. This stuff is far superior to the sugar soap i usually use.
Spray on and wash off with warm water.
Sand down and apply a coat of BIN primer (shellac based).
Filled all the joints with Caulk and all blemishes with Red Devil Onetime
Finished with 2 caots of Dulux oil based Satinwood. Colour I used was Halpenny Colortrend. (A bit pale I thought)
I usually do them French white or Marble.

It will take you approx 1 week to finish, but it will be worth it.
Good luck.

Emcm

Thank you all for your advice. Its really helpful that we now know what it entails and that you were all pleased with the results. Now all I need to do is convince my husband to do it for me

Mistyrose

I am also interested in painting my kitchen units. A bit apprehensive though and was wondering does anyone know a painter who could do the job for me in Co Meath.