Refinsihing Question

[Dave Dionne]

Hi All

Trying to help out a friend. They just bought a new house and the kitchen has red oak cabinets(at least from her description) anyhow she hates red oak and she wants to paint them black then sand threw it in a few places giving it a rubbed/distressed look. Does she need to sand all the old finish off first? Can she prime with a tinted primer for the bottom color she wants and then paint on top?
She has warned me that if the paint peels or flakes off her hub will freak.

Thanks for any help/direction that I can forward.

Hope everybody had a great Forth Dave

[Phil Phelps]

Best advise is stay away ;) Are the doors slab, raised panel, or what? I really don't know what she is trying to achieve. I would first get some red oak and finish it the same as the cabinets are now. What about the carcass? Will it get the same treatment? I'm wondering if she is going for a "pickeled finish". It calls for an overcoat and then sanding for a weathered look. You have to be careful with whats already there. You know lacquer will attack oil or varnish. You'll get the alligator look really fast. To strip all the finish off the existing cabinets is "really" a lot of work. I'll tell you what I'd do in this case of a new home. Hire a professional. Most people don't know squat how to "reallly" finish anything and they'll mess it up so badly they'll wish they'd never begun in the first place. Personnaly, I think the inside should be the same as the outside. However, I would practice on something similar to what they already have before jumping in with both feet. Good luck and stay posted.

[Mike Cutler]

Whoa! that's gonna be alot of work, and I mean alot. Depending on the amount of cabinets, how they were originally finished, and how far she is willing to go with this project this process could take weeks. The short answer is that it can be done.I don't know why she wants to paint them though. I'd strip them down and seal them and start of with a dark stain and get all the material a uniform color, a dark walnut, and maybe some ebony stain would get the cabinets dark enough, then use a thinner, with a sponge and a greenie to give the "distressed look on the edges and around the knobs. Then I'd feather in a lighter stain mixed with some of the darker stain. Once I got done I'd apply a low gloss or semigloss exterior. A big mistake that people make with "distressing" or "aging" cabinets or furniture is that they make all the wear marks uniform, not realizing that some cabinets doors or drawers get opened more frequently than others and some get opened rarely. It' hard to make a set of cabinets look 50 or 100years old. I would point her in the direction of some really good books on the subject. to give her more of an idea of what is available and different application processes. I've done a fair amount of "refinishing" and "restaining", and sometimes when you get done it looks close, and sometimes you just have to start all over and try something different. There are a number of online resources for furniture/ cabinet restoration and there are also some consulting pages where for a price they point you in the right direction. Once again this is a lot of work, and it is smelly, dirty work, and none of it is easy. She won't have her cabinets available for quite some time, because all the work has to be done on all the cabinets at the same time to ensure a uniform application. Additionally all the stains have to be bought at the same time for the entire job, and care should be taken to ensure that they come from the same lots, so that once again everything is uniform. This is really an "in for the penny, in for the pound" type of project. Dave it would help if she could provide a little more insight into the "look" she is trying to achieve. I think that painting on top of the existing finish is a recipe for a lot more work down the road. This is definitely not a "first timer" project. My thoughts on the subject, fwiw

[Todd Burch]

If they want to use Milk paint, that would probably work. The Old Fashion Milk Paint Co. has an additive called "Extra Bond" that you can add to their milk paint that will allow the paint to bond to a non-porous surface.

Yeah it's a lot of work, there are lots of thing in life that are worth doing that are a lot of work!!

Todd

[Dennis Peacock]

Dave,

That's NOT a project to take on very lightly. That's a lot of work without really knowing how it's all going to turn out. The best way is to do as mentioned earlier...get a piece of red oak, finish it just like the cabinet company did and see what you need to do in order to get the overall desired look and feel. Multiply that time by about 100 times and you'll be in the ball park of how long it will take....of course that all depends on how many cabinets there are, door detaila and such.

I'm NOT saying don't do it....just weigh out the cost in time, effort, materials and frustration. If it all wieghs out ok...then I say jump on it.

I am as guilty as anybody else of jumping into a project without realizing the actual time and effort involved to help someone save a few bucks....and it usually winds up costing ME money in the end. Not a smart way of doing things......unless you have unlimited funds.! Which I do NOT have! :)

[Dave Dionne]

Thanks for the advice guys


I am not going to do the work SHE is. I think I will read her a few of the replies and then tell her my opinion is to let them be. She is trying to get this all done while packing to move along with other projects in the next 8 days. She is a driven lady but this is not going to be possible.

Thanks Dave

[Phil Phelps]

Thanks for the advice guys

She is trying to get this all done while packing to move along with other projects in the next 8 days

Thanks DaveWell, why didn't you tell us? I'm sure she'll be finished in five or six hours :eek: As they say south of the border, "No way, Jose".

[Pete Rosenbohm]

I think shes been watching way toooooo much of his Normness on T.V.

[Greg Mann]

I think shes been watching way toooooo much of his Normness on T.V.
Or the Learning Channel's 'While You Were Out'.:rolleyes: