Kitchen Cabinet Painting in Southwestern Ontario

FAQ:

 

How long does it take?

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5 Total Working Days Process within a one week schedule; Only 2.5 days inside your home so you can be back cooking fast.

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Do I need to empty my cabinets?

You only need to empty cupboards behind doors that have glass, clear open shelves and remove the first 10 cm from the front edge.

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Day 1: Labeling, Door De-installation & Controlled Loading of Doors, Drawer fronts & any removable pieces. All of the pieces are brought to our shop. We have a professional 12' x 30' spray booth that is reasonably climate controlled.

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Day 2: Manual Degreasing using Dynamic CHOMP Natural Degreaser. We do NOT use TSP as the chemicals are known to react to the Zinnser Alcohol Based Shellac Primer Sealer we use.

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Day 3: 180 Grit Dustless Sanding with a Festool HEPA Filter vacuum & sander combo to remove bumps, cracking, and flaking in the old finish. Feathering out any blemishes in the old finish is crucial to the appearance of the final finish. Followed up with 2  minimum coats of Zinnser Shellac Based Primer/Sealer. We use this product as it is best at fusing to the previous Oil based lacquer by softening the old finish, the Shellac Based Primer/sealer is the best for blocking wood tannins as well as any oil based stains used in the original finish. It also does not have any restrictions for using waterborne topcoats. Waterborne primers simply do NOT bond as well as alcohol based primers over oil based lacquer finishes.

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Day 4: Fine finish sanding starting with a super fine 320 grit 1/2" sponged sanding block attached to the Festool sander to create that smooth fine finish needed. We follow that up with 2 to 3 coats of Gemini Evo Eclipse -  built for "1K  simplicity, 2K performance" - so you get factory-grade durability with no isocyanate hardener in your home, sealed with an aluminum oxide based Clear coating for that silky smooth hard finish. This will allow for the flexibility needed as solid woods expand and contract in your home due to seasonal changes of temperature & humidity.

 

Day 5: Final Delivery, Door & Hardware Re-installation with felt pads & Clean up

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FAQ:

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Are there fumes & smells?

The primer & topcoat we use are LOW VOC products that have a mild odour that dissipates quickly, no strong odors or vapours. They are similar to interior latex paint odors.

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Do we spray in your home?

In most cases we do NOT need to, larger more detailed kitchens may require spraying & we can do that. The cross linking urethane we use is self leveling and naturally takes the shape of the material it is applied to.

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We do NOT rush your kitchen, Factory Like Finishes take patience & attention to detail to avoid cracking & peeling issues down the road. We like to do it right the first time!

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Although it is a 5 day process factors that can affect working conditions like extreme humidity, low temperatures, (our spray booth removes & replaces the air every 5 minutes) excessive grease or food debris that has penetrated deeply into grainier woods like Oak can & do affect timelines so we offer a 7 to 10 day timeline to compensate for any issues on most kitchens. Larger & 2 tone kitchens typically require the longer timeline.

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We have a HEPA Filtration system we use when spraying for homes where sensitivity to air molecules is a concern.​

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We are not able to recoat certain finishes like Thermo Foil or items where latex paints have been applied over a previous lacquer finish. We do not offer a stripping service to remove latex paints, thermo foil or to apply our wood finishing products over top of latex based paints. Wood finishing products & latex paints are not compatible & can cause adhesion problems due to the different types of solvents used and how they dry & cure.

 

Our method varies based on wood type & detail and size of the kitchen. On the in home portion we’ll either apply the primer/sealer & Gemini Evo Eclipse 1K Hybrid water poly known in Europe as Sirca an industry leader by spray application or by hand in some areas and some kitchens based on design and wood product. Our experience dictates that using the self leveling product with a special 4" roller that we can force the primer into the open or porous wood grain better on vertical surfaces vs spraying, where Oak wood is concerned this is crucial to getting a better long lasting bond that soaks deeper into the open wood grain. The product levels itself out so no roller or brush marks are visible anywhere. This method has been working very well for us over the last 10 years and served to reduce adhesion problems making them virtually non existent! Spraying every nook & cranny in most kitchens with todays spray gun sizes and shapes is just not possible. There is always some small elements of Kitchens that require some hand tool application. Customers can certainly request a full spray at any time however additional preparation charges may apply based on the size, shape and ease of which we can seal off a kitchen for spraying, not all situations or kitchen designs have features that make that easy. For example vaulted ceilings, ceilings over 12 feet. It takes a great deal more time to seal off these types of areas and in smaller kitchens that are of average size the time to do that and spray exceed the time needed to complete with self leveling handle tools & our lacquer. We also need to consider your ventilation system and the ease at which it could move any fine dried dust particles around your home. Lacquer's tend when in atomized form take on an electrostatic charge and they will float around drier air more easily, it can be in some scenarios very difficult to contain 100% of any dust.

 

We’ll also leave a touch up bottle for any damages down the road.

 

The water poly's flash off the solvent in 6-8 hours under normal conditions. Cabinets will be touch dry in 30 minutes. You just need to be gentle while the full cure takes place.