I’ve been in several homes lately where the homeowner has decided to simply redo their own cabinets. They’ve probably sanded them, repainted them, and then put a clear Coat of protected sealant on them.
While this is definitely the budget saving method, there are some drawbacks. If you are in the middle of deciding whether to repaint your kitchen cabinets or buy new ones, here are some things to consider.
They’re probably never going to look as good as the professionals.
You might consider weighing the cost of professional painting them versus yourself and versus the cost of brand-new cabinets. New cabinets can be expensive, but there’s a reason people pay professionals a couple thousand dollars to get it just right.
Be ready for some exercise.
And, you may never want to look at another piece of sandpaper again. Remember, you’re going to need to remove every single cabinet door and the hardware, sand every little piece of wood including all of the grooves with 100 grit sandpaper and make sure there are no bits of dust to mar the finish. You’ll need to vacuum the cabinet inside and out and rub them down with a tack cloth to catch any debris. Hand sanding is the usually the best technique on oak because you can get the paper into the open grain but of course, a power sander will be much faster.
Dust will be everywhere.
Even if you take these out to the garage, you will have dust coding everything for a long time. And again, I do definitely recommend doing this outside.
More: 10 of the Best Home Improvement Tips from the Experts
You’ll need to keep track of every door, drawer, and hardware peace.
You’ll need a system to make sure that you put every piece back exactly where it belongs. A good way to do this is with masking tape and letters. This might sound easy but one little mistake and it could mess up the entire kitchen. Every door and drawer needs to be properly labeled including the hardware that will go back on it. Not every piece of hardware is identical. You might even need to label the hinges so that they all go back in the same place as well.
There will be errors.
No matter how good you are you will find smudges, a little hair, or a gouge somewhere even if you’ve repainted this a dozen times.
Be cautious of fumes.
Again, you want to do this outside but chances are you’ll be taking longer than a professional and it can get stinky fast. Oil primer and paint at here the best and give longest lasting results on cabinets but it is highly toxic.
Related: Have you become nose-blind to your home’s odors?
If all of this sounds like something you’re ready to tackle, go for it, however, if you’re looking to sell your home, buyers are looking for the most professional cabinets possible and sometimes getting all new cabinetry is just worth it.
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