Need advice on repainting kitchen cabinets w brush and roller

[Roger Feeley]

We want to update some dark maple kitchen cabinets.
we want white
we don’t want to spray. This would be brush and roller.
the face frames are solid wood as are the doors and drawer fronts.

some of the side panels appear to be vinyl coated pressed board.

the rustoleum kit from Home Depot has been recommended.

thoughts

[Jason Lester]

We painted ours at our last house. We took all the doors off and the drawers out, scuffed with sandpaper, primed with Kilz, then painted with whatever the paint store recommended.

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

I have not done this, but I do know a couple of people who have.

Same process as Jason mentioned, the only difference is the friend who got paint directly from the paint store (sherwin-williams or?) had a much better result than the one who got the kit from the big box store.

[Mel Fulks]

Some years back I brush painted my Mom's cabinets, and Im a lousy painter. I used FIXALL white enamel. The stuff flows
tegether like it was sprayed. Never seen any paint that worked in a similar way. Think it comes high gloss only,drys fast.

[Jason Lester]

I have not done this, but I do know a couple of people who have.

Same process as Jason mentioned, the only difference is the friend who got paint directly from the paint store (sherwin-williams or?) had a much better result than the one who got the kit from the big box store.

We used professional quality Porter paint from an independent store, probably similar to Sherwin Williams.

[Jim Becker]

Before you do anything at all, you must properly clean all the surfaces you intend to paint. Kitchen environments have a lot of grease from the cooking process as well as grease and oils from peoples hands, even on cabinets that are as far away from the cooking area as you might be able to get. TSP or other appropriate cleaning agents should be used first; then de-gloss/abrade, prime and paint.

[Barry McFadden]

We are thinking of painting our Oak cabinets are wondering if we should use a grain filler first. I got some online and tried it on the back of one of the doors and even though it's thin and goes on easy with a squeege after about 3 coats and a light sanding I could still feel a bit of grain in places. It would be quite a chore to do all the cabinets and breakfast counter. Just wondering when people have painted their cabinets do they look good with the grain showing or does it get filled in with the paint?

This is what I was using https://www.amazon.ca/Aqua-Clear-Gra...n+filler&psc=1

[Jim Becker]

That's a subjective thing, Barry. Some folks like the grain behind the paint; others do not. I did not fill the panels on my new kitchen uppers.

On the small project I'm working for a client "as we speak", she did not do any grain filling on the remainder of her kitchen cabinet painting work, so the two doors I removed the panels in favor of glass got the same primer and color coats as she already used...even with two coats of primer, the oak grain shows through cleanly and I suspect it would take some meticulous work with filler to completely obliterate.

[Wayne Cannon]

My Benjamin-Moore dealer recommended a high-solids primer followed by sanding with a firm sanding block/backer to hide/cover the grain.

[Wayne Lomman]

Take note of Jim's advice. Cleaning and preparation are critical for this job. It will be 60% of the labour. Get it right or all sorts of discoloration, adhesion and appearance problems will happen. Clean it twice. Cheers

[Steve Schoene]

Why not spray? If you have the capability to spray you should reconsider the decision not to spray. Now, of course you don't want to spray in your kitchen, but even if brushing you would want to remove all the doors and drawer fronts to be painted in a separate place. That leaves only the frames and a few end panels to paint in place in the kitchen.