Cabinet Painting

Highpoint Painting offers cabinet painting in Tucson. Painting is a good choice when your cabinet boxes are solid and you like the layout but not the color or worn finish. If the boxes are swollen, sagging or falling apart, new cabinets make more sense. Grease, gloss and the wrong paint are what make cabinet jobs fail.

Paint or Replace Your Cabinets?

Paint works when the cabinet boxes are sturdy and dry. Swollen or crumbling particleboard is a sign to replace. Check under the sink first. That is where leaks do the most damage. Solid wood and MDF doors take paint very well. Laminate and thermofoil are harder. Thermofoil is a thin plastic skin, and if it is already peeling at the edges, paint will not hold it down. Hinges matter too. If doors sag because the screw holes are stripped, that is a repair to make before paint. Ask yourself one plain question. Would you keep these cabinets if they were a color you loved? If yes, paint is worth a look.

Why Painted Cabinets Chip and Peel

Most cabinet paint failures start with grease left on the doors. Kitchen grease builds up as a thin film you cannot always see. Paint will not bond to it. A good job starts with a real degreaser, then a light sanding to dull the old gloss, then a bonding primer. Paint type matters just as much. Wall paint stays too soft for doors that get opened all day. Cabinet-grade enamels cure much harder. One more thing people miss: paint can feel dry long before it is fully cured. Doors that get stacked, slammed or scrubbed too soon can stick, dent or chip.

Brushed, Rolled or Sprayed Finish

A sprayed finish is the smoothest. Brushed doors show faint brush lines, which some people like for an older look. Rolled finishes fall in between, with a light texture. Wood grain is its own choice. Oak has deep, open grain that shows right through paint. If you want a smooth, modern look on oak, the grain has to be filled first. If you like a little texture, leave it. Maple and MDF have tight grain and paint smooth with less work.

Getting Ready for Cabinet Painting

Plan for the kitchen to be out of normal use for a while. Empty the cabinets you want painted, including the shelves. Decide on hardware early. New knobs or pulls with different spacing mean old holes must be filled and new ones drilled, and that work should happen before paint, not after. If the walls around the cabinets also look worn, our interior painting page covers sheen and color choices for the rest of the room.

Cabinet Painting Near You

Highpoint Painting is a Licensed Arizona contractor, ROC #353460. We serve Tucson and cities within 150 miles, including Phoenix. Ask for a free estimate on your kitchen or bath cabinets.