Cabinet Painting
Wall Painting
Lacquer Spraying
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Your kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your home. Most of us spend a significant amount of time in our kitchens, and rightfully so.
Of course our kitchens serve as a necessity for cooking, cleaning and the daily routines of life, but the kitchen is also a feature room that adds significant value to your biggest investment… Your home!
Your kitchen should not only add to the value of your home, but also the enjoyment you get out of your home.
Unfortunately it’s common to see outdated or worn out kitchens, simply because with lots of use and abuse comes lots of wear and tear.
The solution is easy! Having your kitchen cabinets painted is the most affordable and easiest way to bring life back into your home.
For only a fraction of the cost of replacing, we will systematically refinish and paint your kitchen cabinets using the highest standards of KCMA certified products (more on that later). Once finished we will seamlessly put everything back together so you can start to enjoy your home the way it was meant to be enjoyed!
When shopping around for a contractor to paint your kitchen cabinets it’s important to understand the process and the products being used!
The best way to ensure you are getting a quality product is by asking questions about what products are being used and what’s included in the service.
The truth is that not all contractors have the same standards or resources. Both quality and workmanship vary between different companies. With literally hundreds of painting contractors to choose from, it’s important to understand what you are getting.
With a few simple questions it’s easy to get a quick understanding of what you are getting:
The price to have your kitchen cabinets painted in Calgary varies between companies.
The price you pay usually depends on the company's size, overhead expenses, whether or not a company specializes in cabinets, corporate ownership, and a number of other factors.
Every company will have their own rate but in general you can expect to pay anywhere from $3000.00 to $7000.00 to have your cabinets sprayed.
Does paying more equal better quality? The answer is not always clear!
It can be assumed that a bigger price tag means better quality; however, that’s not the only factor to consider while shopping around for a contractor. A franchise for example has a lot of overhead, therefore a bigger price tag to cover its margins. Does this have anything to do with quality? Not really; in fact, an interesting way of looking at it is to assume that most of what you are paying for are overhead expenses and shareholder profits. By this comparison, you may be paying a premium for underpaid contractors.
On the other hand many people take comfort in the assumption that a bigger company should have consistent quality and bigger resources to ensure everything goes as planned.
Another price factor might not be overhead expenses at all, if a company can't keep up with demand, it only makes sense for them to increase their prices. In this scenario what you are paying for is based on outbidding other customers for the service of a premium contractor. Is it paying for better quality? Probably; however, you may be able to find a premium contractor that has room for more customers, thus paying less for quality work.
These are just a couple examples of what to expect when pricing out a contracting company to paint your kitchen cabinets. The best advice would be to shop around and ask questions.
Because DecoPainters is a small business, we have less overhead and tighter profit margins. We also specialize in kitchen cabinet painting, which means we concentrate on efficiency and also get our products at a discount by purchasing supplies in bulk.
We are able to pass our savings onto our customers, which enables us to provide our services at the most competitive price points available.
Our kitchen cabinet painting is priced at a flat rate of $70.00 for cabinet doors and panels. Cabinet boxes are priced separately, but average between $1500.00 to $2500.00.
Because when you hire DecoPainters to paint your kitchen cabinets, you are getting a reliable, honest, dependable service from a company that prides itself on quality workmanship and complete customer satisfaction.
We have over 20 years of experience painting kitchen cabinets, giving us the knowledge and expertise to do things right the first time!
Our cabinet painting process has been systematically developed to produce amazing results.
We are easy to talk to and take the time to fully understand the task at hand.
We only use top of the line products from industry leading manufacturers.
We promise complete customer satisfaction. We are so confident in our services that we won’t charge you unless you are completely satisfied.
When choosing a paint for your kitchen cabinets it’s easy to get confused by the numerous products out there. Ideally, you want something that’s easy to use, cheap, durable, environmentally friendly, low odor, non toxic, fast drying, non runny and smooth. Unfortunately it’s hard to find paint that does all this.
When choosing paint there's always a compromise, meaning that you may have to make a few sacrifices to achieve your desired finish; whether that means paying a premium price, putting up with odors, investing in equipment or sacrificing durability in exchange for low toxicity.
Lacquer for example is durable, fast drying and smooth; however, it’s toxic, hard to use and emits a strong odor. Latex on the other hand has no strong odors, is non toxic and is easy to use; however, it doesn’t spray-on as smooth and isn’t as durable.
Another important thing to remember is that not all paint is user friendly. Many high end coatings require specialized sprayers, tools and equipment to apply properly. This will be a significant factor in choosing your paint because if you don’t have a professional setup for spraying, you will be limited to what you can use.
Below are a few examples of the most common types of products used for painting kitchen cabinets:
Lacquer: Is a thin solvent based coating that sprays on smoothly and cures to a hard, durable finish. Cons: Flammable, hard to work with, toxic, requires ventilation and has a strong odor.
Shellac: Is the best primer for blocking wood stains and has exceptional bonding and durability characteristics. Cons: Flammable, fills the air with alcohol fumes, has a strong odor, requires ventilation.
Alkyd enamel: Produces a hard, durable finish that can be brushed, rolled or sprayed. Some products are also self leveling. Cons: Usually Flammable, toxic and hard to clean up.
Polyurethane epoxy: Is extremely durable and resistant to chemicals. Cons: Takes a long time to dry, Flammable, toxic, has a strong odor and is hard to clean.
Water-based lacquer: Is comparable to traditional lacquer in terms of durability and beauty. It’s also non flammable, less toxic and it has less odors. Cons: It’s much harder to work with, requires a lot of skill to spray and requires a warm environment to avoid runs.
Waterborne alkyd: Is a water soluble paint that combines all the good things you want from an oil based paint without any of the negatives of an oil based paint. Cons: Not as durable as solvent based paint, doesn’t spray as smooth and is slightly tacky when dry.
Latex Paint: Is extremely user friendly and has no harsh odors. It can also be applied using a brush, roller or sprayed. Cons: Latex paint isn’t durable and usually tacky when dry.
What type of paint do we use for painting kitchen cabinets?
We are equipped with every type of sprayer and have an off-site shop for spraying any type of finish. Because of this we are not limited to what type of product we can use.
Priming is done with a combination of 2 products which are shellac and high build surfacer. These two products work well together because shellac serves as a wood sealer that blocks out stains and contaminants, while the surfacer fills in wood grains and can be “built up” to make the surface more uniform.
Water based lacquer is our preferred top-coat because of its durability and smooth appearance. The main benefit of using water based lacquer is the fact that it’s non flammable, less toxic and has no strong odors. This enables us to safely spray cabinet boxes indoors without the risks associated with traditional lacquer. The downside of water based lacquer is that it’s difficult to spray because it’s thinner and runnier than other coatings; however, this isn’t a problem for us because we’ve invested in specialty equipment just for spraying waterborne lacquer.
What coatings do other companies use for painting kitchen cabinets?
That’s a good question because not all painting companies are the same. Whether or not a company has the proper skill set or resources to spray specialized coatings, usually determines what products they use. Many professional companies are able to spray high quality products; however, many companies can’t. My advice would be to ask questions and have a look into what products a company uses before making a decision.
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The objective of painting kitchen cabinets is to have a finish that’s durable and beautiful. Painting your cabinets is a fairly simple process to follow; however, it also takes a lot of time and requires a high level of skill to carry out correctly.
The Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA) is a non profit organization that sets standards for kitchen cabinet manufacturers. Manufacturers of kitchen cabinet paint seek out KCMA certification of their products through intensive testing and industry standards. When choosing a product to paint your kitchen cabinets it’s important to look for products that are KCMA certified to ensure you are getting the best coating possible.
An important question we are frequently asked is, “how long does it take to paint my kitchen cabinets?”.
The best answer to this question is to look at the directions and guidelines that are listed in the technical data sheet of the products being used. It’s true that manpower and efficiency will greatly improve how quickly things move along; however, there’s no getting around dry times and minimum coat thickness.
A good contractor will make allowances for proper dry times to avoid problems later on down the road.
On average we have a two week turn around for painting kitchen cabinets from start to finish. Our process is broken down into two jobs; off-site spraying in our shop, and on-site spraying at your home.
The process for painting cabinet doors and boxes are the same; however, it helps to let the doors cure before handling them for re-installation. That’s why we prefer to do all the off-site spraying during the first week.
Each job takes approximately a week and can be broken down as follows:
The process is the same for the on-site and off-site portions of painting kitchen cabinets, which brings the total estimated project timeline to two weeks. By not rushing and giving enough dry time between steps we achieve the best results.
There are always ways to do things faster; however, it’s probably not worth it in the long run.
The process of painting kitchen cabinets is somewhat simple and I've seen fairly good results from home-owners and do-it-yourselfers using little more than a brush and roller. The main difference between having your cabinets sprayed by a professional vs brushed by a do-it-yourselfer is going to be visual appeal and product versatility.
If you’re not too picky, can put up with brush marks and not overly concerned about durability then brushing is perfectly fine.
If you’re looking for a smooth factory finish paired with high end products, then some equipment will be required.
The most professional finish will require three things:
A closer look at spray booths:
If you’re not a painter then a spray booth is probably something new to you. At its simplest form a spray booth is a designated room, partition or even area that's used for spraying paint. A simple spray booth can even be a tarp that separates a shop from a painting area.
The more professional or industrial style spray booths are engineered rooms that incorporate an intake and exhaust system to remove harmful paint fumes. Industrial booths are also equipped with fire extinguishing systems and spark proof heaters and lights.
The style of the booth will depend on the products being used. In general, anything flammable requires an industrial style booth, while anything non flammable can be sprayed in a shop.
The type of spray booth you have access to will determine what you can spray. A company that has access to an industrial spray booth can spray anything, while a company that only has access to a shop is limited to non flammable paint.
Nowadays, there are a lot of options as far as non-flammable paint goes so you can get away with a simpler system. The main thing is to have a controlled area that is dust free. I’ve seen many automotive spray booths that are basically just a large shed that has enough room for a vehicle and spray equipment. That being said, it’s still nice to have access to an industrial spray booth.
A closer look at spray systems for kitchen cabinet painting:
When choosing a spray system for painting cabinets it’s all about having the right tool for the job. The most common types of spray systems are airless, air assist, and HVLP.
Airless sprayers are the most common type of sprayer that architectural painters use because of their versatility. The best description I can think of is to imagine a power washer that sprays paint instead of water. A pump sucks up paint and pressurizes it to a sprayer nozzle.
Airless sprayers can be used to paint walls, ceilings, moldings and cabinets. Airless sprayers can be used for anything. The downside is that airless sprayers don’t have the best control over paint flow and don’t atomize the paint as well as other systems.
Air assisted sprayers are a mix between airless and a conventional system such as HVLP. They spray paint by sucking it up and pressurizing it with a pump; however, air assisted sprayers also use pressurized air at the nozzle to achieve a finer finish.
Conventional or HVLP systems are powered by air and use pressurized air to atomize the paint. These systems are specifically designed for fine finishing and are optimal for painting kitchen cabinets. The downside to conventional or HVLP spray systems is that they aren’t good for high volume painting and tend to produce more overspray than airless sprayers.
If you are painting waterborne lacquer or anything that requires a high level of control I would recommend using an HVLP or air assisted system. For anything else an airless sprayer will work fine.
When choosing a painting contractor to paint your kitchen cabinets it’s important to know what tools and equipment they have access to because the tools have to match the product and desired finish you are looking for. The best thing to do is to ask questions to get a good understanding of what you are getting.
Everything outlined in this page has hopefully given you a better understanding of what goes into kitchen cabinet painting; however, if you have any questions feel free to reach out to us about any questions you have.