Matching Lacquer finish

[Mark Rios]

This is my first time in the finishing forum here in the Creek so please be gentle. :D

I just completed a kitchen cabinet job yesterday. The cabs are made of white oak for the outside ply, the doors (inset panel), and the face frame. The inside material is birch ply. The painter (I don't finish very well at all so if any finishing that needs to be done I tell the customer that a painter/finishing contractor would need to be hired for the project) put a clear sandable sealer and then a clear lacquer finish on the cabinets. He used his sprayer.

Today the customer asked me to trim out the kitchen window with matching oak. My question is this: Can I brush on a lacquer finish on the trim and get it to match the cabs? Or do I need to get a couple of cans of lacquer and spray it? Is there a particular brand that is easier/more reliable to apply?

The only kind of finish that I've had any real experience with (not that much really) is brush on poly. I'm not familiar with lacquer at all.

Any help and/or advice with type of material, application, sanding/prep is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

[Cecil Arnold]

Mark, they should have a Sherwin Williams in California, go and get a couple of cans of spray lacquer and a can of sanding sealer. That assumes that the finisher used NC, otherwise, I'm afraid your on your own. If it is NC, don't worry about gloss etc, just dull it down after a few days with some steel wool.

[Jamie Buxton]

Must you do the finishing yourself, on-site? A lot of trim is installed pre-finished. Perhaps you could get your painter to prefinish your trim stock with exactly the process he used on your cabinets. On-site, you cut to length, nail in place, fill the holes, and you're done. On oak in particular there's enough grain pattern that well-filled holes aren't super-obvious; besides, this is housebuilding not furniture. Use the smallest nails you can manage, and fill with colored putty or colored-wax pencils.

[Jim Becker]

Deft makes a brushable lacquer...just be sure you have REALLY GOOD ventilation and consider pre-finishing the components, installing them and then touching up.