Painted Cabinets

[April Benard]

Hi Flippers/Rehabbers.... What are your thoughts on painted cabinets? Should I make the investment for new cabinets or can cabinets be preserved? This project is for a flip.

[Christian Bors]

Depends on what cabinets look like.  i have seen some really nicely painted cabinets and some stuff that is junk.  

If you are considering painting the cabinets, you should check out chalk paint.  I'm a big fan on that stuff.

[Sean Blomquist]

@April Benard I would stay away from trying to paint cabinets.  To do it correctly, can end up costing you quite a bit, and the time involved isn't worth it.  Better to put in new, fresh cabinets for just a little more money.  There is no point in making the entire house look like new and then have old cabinets that are painted in one of the most important rooms in the house from a sales standpoint.

[Salley Smith]

I painted my cabinets, they look fine. However, the time I had to invest was probably over 30-40 hours, and my kitchen is smaller than most. The prep work itself is substaincial, you have to tape off the inside and outside of the cabinets. Started out with oak which unfortunately has a lot of grain. So in addition to sanding them I decided to also fill them with wood putty, which took extra time (be very careful if you do this step) But keep in mind, if you want them white, ivory or black, it is not going to look as good with the grain showing. I then spray gun painted them with two coats of primer and two color coats. I also used the spray gun indoors, which required extra prep work. I would not recommend brush painting them, my mother did that and you can see the brushstroaks, which again, doesnt look extremlely modeen. You could try to roller brush them with a small roller (ultra smooth), but you would have to be careful of maintaining perfection along the grooved edges. My cabinets were not completely flat which meant that I had to use a brush in the inner corners, which was so much extra work, but very necessary. I found sanding between paint applications was fourtunatly unnecessary. If you have a lot of extra time, and not very much money, then you could try to do them yourself, but you need to be very careful. Mine look good, but they aren't perfect, and I spent hours. 

[Valerie Hiscoe]

As Sean and Salley said, the time it takes to do it is worse than you think.  It'll take you away from the actual 'business' concept of flipping.  Only if they're seriously nice cabinets would I really consider it.  If they're especially suited to the house or have some sort of irreplaceable characteristic then there are paint additives that you can get (Floetrol, etc) that helps smooth brush strokes and make for easier application.  Zinsser makes a shellac-based primer that's awesome, sticks to everything, dries super fast, etc.  Highly recommend it.  They have a wide selection of primers available to suit different needs and they're in most paint stores.  I have to say though, that I've tried a few different cabinets and always have to rate the options at Ikea high on the list.  Relatively inexpensive, easy to transport, easy to put together if you follow the directions (except for the under-counter corner lazy susan - just walk right on by that one), there's a pretty wide selection of styles and colours and then they 'hang' from a rail on the wall so that the rail is secured to studs instead of trying to line up the cabinets to hit a stud (which never ever ever seems to be in the right place).

If the cabinets are in good shape but not quite nice enough, and you're going to be making an island, you might be able to use them for that because an island doesn't have to be too matchy-matchy.  Use the wall cabinets instead of the base cabinets if you want a skinnier island and get creative with legs to make them give more oomph to your vision.

Hope it goes well!

[Mario Mormile]

@April Benard-

Great question! It definitely is contingent upon several things: condition of current cabinets, the town/ city where property is located, and time. In my county/ area , people love the older cabinets that are ornate and have unique features. Rule of thumb: if cabinets have any sort of odor= dumpster time. Unless you're very handy and/ or have the time to do them yourself, spending the money on new cabinets is well worth it. Hope it goes well!

[Mindy Jensen]

@April Benard, like everyone else said, they can look really nice if done right, and really horrible if done wrong.

Oak is difficult to paint, as it has an open grain. If the cabinets aren't nice enough to keep as-is, I'd replace in a flip.

I saw a house that had painted cabinets in the kitchen. Oak cabinets from 30 years ago came in basically one style and are very easy to spot. They had painted the oak cabinets, and they looked ok, but not amazing. 

Home Depot sells off-the-shelf cabinets from Hampton Bay, and I put them in my personal kitchen. Love them, inexpensive, and look amazing.

[Jassem A.]

If the existing cabinets look pretty bad or outdated then paint and new hardware can be a quick and cheap DIY way to spruce things up. I quart of paint and a paint brush or a few cans of spray paint and something to mask off areas would be all that is needed.  Of course the cabinets may just need to be cleaned. I usually use oil based paint because it tends to leave a more even coat even with poor quality paint brushes and it will usually cover in one coat.

[April Benard]

Everyone this was very helpful! We originally painted the cabinets and I wasn't impressed. We did not use all the correct methods you all suggested. The cabinets may be 30 years old, however I did not want to waste money if it wasn't necessary.

Since we are now on a time crunch, I'm certain new would be best. 

@Mindy Jensen thanks for the recommendation.  I was actually looking at Hampton Bay but I wasn't sure if I needed to purchase something pricier. We're going with that option and will add granite countertops to spruce everything up!

Once again thanks everyone!

[JD Martin]

There's other things to consider besides how they are going to look:

1. Will the kitchen accept stock cabinets easily? Meaning this: the old cabinets might have already made the adjustments for pipes, out of plumb/square walls, heating ducts, whatever. Don't assume pulling the old cabinets and putting new ones in will necessarily be faster than painting. A good painter with a sprayer can get an entire kitchen coated in two days, possibly less. 

2. What's the price point of what you are doing? If you're flipping, and it's higher end, yes, probably best to change. If you're renting, or selling something at the bottom end, you may be throwing money towards something that won't net you anything greater. 

3. What quality are the existing cabinets and what are you willing to pay for? I would take professionally refinished solid wood/plywood box cabinets over pressboard overseas junk any day, so long as the price point wasn't too different or I wasn't doing something radical like changing the layout. In cases like that, you might not have any other realistic option.

[April Benard]

@JD Martin I never considered those options. I will speak with my project manager today to ensure we're not making a big mistake removing the cabinets. 

The flip is considered on the higher-end of a middle class neighborhood.

[JD Martin]

If you can post a picture it would help. I find it hilarious when one of the renovation shows on HGTV show people sledgehammering their cabinets, and then having long, sad faces when the GC tells them it's going to cost 5 grand to relocate all of the ducts and pipes in the soffit that they assumed was just decorating the tops of the cabinets :D

[April Benard]

@JD Martin

Here are the before and after pictures. You can't really see the detail of the cabinets on the after and we never replaced the doors. Excuse the mess. 

[JD Martin]

It looks like those cabinets were flat front doors that someone trimmed out to give them a little depth. It also looks like that wall floats, so you are probably going to have some stuff in the soffits above the cabinets - at a minimum, ductwork for the range hood (if it's not vented back to the room) and possibly electrical wiring. It's hard to tell from the pictures but the cabinets appear to be built in place and then face-framed, so you would want to take some careful measurements.

If it were me, I would look at having the boxes painted and replacing the doors/drawers/handles/hinges. Unless you are going to do major demo, I think you're going to end up with more or less the same layout of cabinets and you probably already have very solid boxes to work with. 

[Marian Smith]

I have replaced with shaker doors off the internet. I order with european hinges.

[Thomas Oliver]

There is a Awesome Cabinet Company in Tn. A lady I buy from gets them from.
Just a heads up for everyone.

[Brian Pulaski]

Old thread, but looking at the photo it appears the tile work was done up to the cabinets? If so you might have flooring issues if you want to replace.

Those boxes don't look bad. At this stage I might entertain ordering some new doors with concealed hinges and keep the boxes, soffit and trimwork.

[Lucia Matos]

Hi @Marian Smith , where to you get the shaker doors and European hinges from?

Thank you so much!