If your cabinets are a bit old, banged up, or faded you might not need to replace them. Most of the time, you can refinish them by stripping the paint, then adding a new coat along with finisher. Refinishing kitchen cabinets is a pretty big job, but it’s certainly one that can be accomplished by one or two people if they’re focused.
However, if you have any hope of the results looking beautiful, you should be using professional-grade tools. Cheap tools will produce bad results, so spending a little extra on hardware will greatly increase your chances of great-looking refinished cabinets.
Must-Haves When Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets
- Flexible putty knives
These will be used for spreading spackling. You’ll want two: One will be a larger 3.5″ flexible knife, which will allow fast coverage on large spaces such as end panels. Then you’ll also want a smaller 1.5″ knife for edges and for filling in holes.
- A rubber sanding block
This is a trick of the trade for getting perfect spackle coverage. You use a rubber sanding block, with a one-third sheet of sandpaper. Make it fairly fine-grained. You might also want a fine-grit sanding sponge for the corners.
- Brushes
You’re going to want several different brushes. These include:
– Two genuine top-quality brushes for the final coats of paint. If you only have a little extra cash for pro-grade equipment, this is where to spend your money. One should be 1.5″, for the frames, and the other 2.5″ for the panels. We suggest brushes that are 75 percent China bristle and 25 percent boar bristle. It’s expensive, but it’ll create a super-smooth coat. Plus, with proper care brushes can last decades.
– A single 2.5″ China bristle brush which you’ll use for the varnish. Varnish is easily ruined by contaminants, so you don’t want to use the paint brush for varnishing as well. You’ll inevitably get flakes in the varnish.
– A cheaper 2″ brush for priming with shellac. Shellac is extremely difficult to clean out of brushes, so you may consider it disposable. If you want to try to save it, you’ll want to immediately clean it with denatured alcohol once you’re done priming.
Too Much Hassle? Let Genesis Pro Painting Handle It
Genesis Pro Painting can handle your home renovations quickly and affordably. We’re one of the fastest-growing operations in Westchester County! Contact us directly for a cost estimate.
