We get these on almost every Don Mills job, so here they are in plain terms.
Some questions need someone to handle the doors first, and the free visit is the place to ask them.
Cabinet painting calls for coatings built for furniture, not walls. We spray either a water-based alkyd enamel, which flows out smooth and comes in nearly any colour, or a two-part polyurethane, which dries to a tougher shell. Each is low in odour. We name the chosen product on your quote.
Yes, and the finish depends on it. The booth keeps dust off the wet coating, holds a steady temperature and lets each door dry lying flat. The boxes and face frames cannot move, so they are sprayed at home behind sealed plastic.
Usually, yes. Original slab doors in birch or mahogany plywood are some of the best doors for cabinet painting, because the flat face sprays smooth. The plywood boxes are often sturdier than new ones. If the doors are walnut or teak veneer in good shape, refinishing may suit the house better.
Solid melamine and laminate respond well to cabinet painting once a bonding coat is down. Thermofoil works only while its vinyl skin is tight across the whole door. Peeling vinyl near the dishwasher or range cannot be saved by cabinet painting, so those doors are stripped or replaced.
Plan on two to four weeks of lead time, longer in spring and fall. An early booking also leaves room for a test door to stand in your kitchen before the colour is final. One broken door can usually be squeezed in quicker.
Insides are part of the job only when the cabinet painting quote lists them, as they raise the price noticeably. Painting inner walls, backs and shelves nearly doubles the surface, and each removable shelf needs both faces done. Many people paint the frames and doors and leave the insides as they are.
That door is replaced and sprayed with the rest so it blends in. A water-damaged sink door or a cracked panel affects one door only, and replacing it typically runs a few hundred dollars. Sprayed in the same batch as its neighbours, it is impossible to spot.
No. The smelliest steps take place off site in our booth. Only a mild waterborne coating is used in the house, and fans clear any smell within hours. In condo buildings with shared air, that is what keeps the neighbours comfortable.
If they are changing, do them first. Installing a countertop after cabinet painting risks nicks and scrapes on fresh enamel. Save cabinet painting for the end of a kitchen refresh, once tops, tile and plumbing are finished. When the countertop stays, hold the test door against it to decide.
Cabinet painting needs very little care once it has cured. Wipe it with a soft cloth dampened with warm water and a drop of dish soap. Abrasive pads, gritty cleaners and harsh sprays can scuff or dull the enamel, most of all while it is new. Dry any drips around the sink right away.
Toronto houses swing from humid summer air to dry heated air in winter, and solid wood shrinks and swells with them. A hairline beside a panel in winter that shuts again in warm weather means the wood is moving, not that the cabinet painting has failed. Slab doors rarely show this, while raised-panel oak shows it more.
A dated kitchen is often the first thing buyers notice in an older Don Mills house. Cabinet painting changes the look of the room for far less than a new kitchen, and it can be done in a couple of weeks before a listing. Soft whites and greige appeal to the most buyers, and a written cabinet painting quote lets you budget before listing.
Yes, by a wide margin. In Toronto, cabinet painting a whole kitchen usually runs $2,800 to $6,000, new doors on your existing boxes run $3,500 to $11,000, and a full replacement starts around $17,000. Only your own written quote sets the price for your kitchen.
These pages go deeper into the topics the answers above touch on.
Doors and drawer faces come down, get cleaned of grease, scuffed, primed for their substrate and sprayed with durable enamel, then go back up. Kitchen cabinet painting changes the colour of the entire room without touching the counters, the flooring or the floor plan.
See Kitchen Cabinets
Flat slab doors, clean lines and simple pulls make mid-century kitchens some of the best candidates for cabinet painting anywhere in Toronto. The job is about keeping the style of the house while giving the cabinets a hard, fresh finish.
See Mid-Century Kitchens
Tannin inside oak stains water-based primer, and the deep pores telegraph through colour unless someone fills them. Oak cabinet painting starts with a stain-blocking primer and a decision about the grain.
See Oak Cabinets
Good wood can be kept in view by sanding or stripping the old finish, adjusting the stain and sealing it under a sprayed clear coat. Refinishing makes sense whenever the timber itself is more valuable than any paint colour could add.
See Refinishing
Sprayed enamel lands as a fine fog that settles into a single even layer with no bristle tracks. Cabinet painting applied like this resembles a new factory door rather than a home repaint.
See Spray Painting
Glossy factory doors call for a specialty bonding coat, since standard primer has nothing to hold on to. Paint works well on sound melamine and laminate, and on thermofoil only while its vinyl skin is still tight.
See Thermofoil and Melamine
Fresh doors can go onto your existing carcasses, and the frames are then painted or veneered so everything agrees. A single damaged door can also be replaced and sprayed with the rest of the kitchen during cabinet painting so it blends in.
See Refacing and New Doors
People most often ask for pale upper cabinets above deeper lowers in sage, charcoal or navy, with the island carrying the darker shade. Painting just the island counts as a complete booking too.
See Two-Tone and Islands
One vanity usually needs a day, two at most, and barely interrupts household routines. Its doors are sprayed off site and its box is coated in place, so this short cabinet painting job returns the bathroom to you fast.
See Bathroom Vanities
Most condo galleys hold ten to fifteen doors and drawer fronts, so the work goes fast. Cabinet work in a tower runs smoothly once the elevator, parking and odour plan are agreed with the building.
See Condo Kitchens
Laundry uppers, pantry doors, entry lockers, shelving units and fitted wall cabinets are finished with the kitchen's exact primer and sprayed enamel. Because they are attached to the house, the work is done on site inside plastic sheeting.
See Pantries and Built-Ins
Unused handle holes get plugged and hidden beneath the finish, while a jig places each new hole so pulls sit perfectly level. Loose hinges get swapped at the same time, since cabinet painting already has every door down.
See Hardware and Hinges
Cream, greige, soft white, sage, charcoal and navy are the current favourites, yet a tiny store swatch proves almost nothing. We spray one of your doors in the actual cabinet painting colour and set it back in your room.
See Colour ConsultationBirch, walnut, painted or not sure, jot it down and we will call to set a visit time. Your name and phone number are all it takes. Or talk to us now at +1 (647) 370-5216.
