best paint for bathroom cabinet

[stephen wood]

I'm painting the edge treatment on the euro style cabinet with a brush, but will probably spray the doors and drawer fronts with an HVLP setup. Any recommendations on brand/type of paint for this? Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams?

[Dale Gilbert]

I'm basically in the same boat as you, but I've moved on to the kitchen after doing some experimentation in the bathrooms. I've yet to spray, but I have chosen SW Emerald Urethane because it brushes so well and the info available is very favorable.
I've still got doors and drawer fronts to build, but I've started some door casing etc in the kitchen and I love the look so far
I have a Fuji Semi Pro so there's going to be some experimenting I'm sure. Good luck! I'm sure others will have good recommendations as well.

[Jim Becker]

The Emerald Urethane is reported to be an excellent project, but it's been said that there may be a slight amber cast due to how it's formulated. If that would be an issue for a light color, SW ProClassic is an excellent choice, brushes out beautifully and can be sprayed nicely with the right gun setup.

[John TenEyck]

ProClassic dries and cures faster but doesn't spray as easily for me as Emerald Urethane. 10% thinning of the Emerald Urethane and it sprayed like a dream with my pressure assisted HVLP conversion gun. Also, BM's Advance would be another excellent choice if thinking about darker colors. It brushes and sprays great. It's one major drawback is how long it takes to dry and cure.

John

[Tom M King]

I've now sprayed Emerald Urethane twice. The second time was for some plywood cabinet doors in the dog room. They get scratched up, and I decided it would be easier just to make some new ones, rather than repair the other ones. SW didn't have the dark base for Pro Classic, so I bought Emerald Urethane.

They both spray beautifully with airless. The difference I found out on these green cabinet doors is that the EU can't stand the handling that PC can. I sprayed one side one afternoon, and it was several days before I got around to spraying the other side, so they had plenty of time to set up. They showed some signs of being handled that would not have showed up with Pro Classic. I spray airless outside, and one of my work stations is an old extension ladder. It has pipe insulation over the side that's up, but there was still some marks left on the first side I had sprayed. It was certainly good enough for what I was doing, but would have had to put another coat on the insides if they were going anywhere but in our dog room.

[John TenEyck]

I've now sprayed Emerald Urethane twice. The second time was for some plywood cabinet doors in the dog room. They get scratched up, and I decided it would be easier just to make some new ones, rather than repair the other ones. SW didn't have the dark base for Pro Classic, so I bought Emerald Urethane.

They both spray beautifully with airless. The difference I found out on these green cabinet doors is that the EU can't stand the handling that PC can. I sprayed one side one afternoon, and it was several days before I got around to spraying the other side, so they had plenty of time to set up. They showed some signs of being handled that would not have showed up with Pro Classic. I spray airless outside, and one of my work stations is an old extension ladder. It has pipe insulation over the side that's up, but there was still some marks left on the first side I had sprayed. It was certainly good enough for what I was doing, but would have had to put another coat on the insides if they were going anywhere but in our dog room.

Emerald Urethane takes a lot longer to cure than ProClassic. It has an alkyd oil resin in it whereas ProClassic is acrylic It takes at least a week for the Emerald Urethane to substantially harden and a month or more before it's really hard. It's very much like BM Advance, except that takes even longer. The benefit is the alkyd oil products flow out great and are very durable after they do cure.

John

[Tom M King]

I don't think the temperature ever got above 50, for that time either, which I'm sure didn't help. That is not a heated shop. It was plenty hard enough for normal handling, but not for rubbing against anything.

[stephen wood]

All great information. Thank you!

[John TenEyck]

I don't think the temperature ever got above 50, for that time either, which I'm sure didn't help. That is not a heated shop. It was plenty hard enough for normal handling, but not for rubbing against anything.

Yeah, that would be challenging. I can see how ProClassic would work a lot better in that environment, but even it would appreciate higher temps., too. But I understand; sometimes you gotta work with what you're dealt.

John

[Tom M King]

Normally, I don't do deadlines, but this time there was some remodeling needed in the dog rooms before the last two litters of the four we have right now were born. I had to use any open slots in the weather to paint the parts. Ordinarily, we would have been prepared, but when my 104 year old Mother moved in with us, I took some of the dog parts of the house for her to live in.

One interesting thing was the day I was spraying the white Emerald Urethane, it was supposed to be full Sun. The Sun never came out, and I was thinking it felt like it was going to rain, so I checked the weather on my phone. It said there was light rain, but it wasn't reaching the ground. It might not have reached the ground, but as I looked outside, it was reaching the tops of these sawhorses, on the wet coat of EU.

I carried the pieces inside that shop, and left them for another day, thinking I would have to sand them, and put another coat on. The next day, when I was taking them outside, that coat of paint was completely okay. It was a very light rain, but you could see the drops sitting on the surface.

Long story shortened, I got everything in place, and the third Mom had her puppies that evening.

[Scott Brader]

I used SW ProClassic on a bathroom vanity I built a couple of years ago. I chose to brush it because I only have a 2 stage HVLP and wasn't confident that it could spray it with good results. It was very easy to brush on, it leveled out nicely and the result was beautiful. It still looks great after a couple of years.

Scott

[Jim Becker]

Yea, my kitchen lower cabinets (and the pantry cabinet I just refinished) have ProClassic on them...all brushed since it had to be done in place for a refresh a few years ago. It really lays down nicely as long as you don't cake it on too hard in corners. Revisiting it a few minutes later to check on those spots where it's easy to put on too much is a best practice for any painting by hand.

[John TenEyck]

I'm spraying some Emerald Urethane right now for a dining room table base. Thinned 10% with water it sprays incredibly well and flows out to a factory finish. I'll take some photos when I get the beast upstairs. Also, the stated recoat time of 4 hours is spot on in my 65-70F, 45% RH shop. You can lightly sand it w/o corning.

John

OK, here's a not too great photo but maybe it will show you how beautifully this stuff flows out and accommodates corners and contours.