MHD Posted December 27, 2018 Report Share Posted December 27, 2018 Hey all! A co-worker of mine decided to try to strip their bathroom cabinets and repaint. It seems that they did a fine job I'm the boxes, but the doors are not able to be refinished as they are chipboard. He and I have chatted about woodworking as I have gotten into the craft, and the other day he asked if I could make for cabinet doors and a drawer front to replace the ones they ruined. I've got my sock, and I plan to start cutting tonight. What I'm not sure about is what the best method to prep for paint will be. I intend to do a superb job on these, with the hopes that it may lead to more business in the future, either from other coworkers or from our customers at work. in short, I want to embarrass myself by delivering a project that doesn't take finish well or has mistakes, that sort of thing. The paint that they want to use to finish the doors is some kind of Behr from the box store, and the doors are hard maple rails and stiles with a 1/4" maple ply panel. I have not had any reason to paint a project yet, so I am wondering if there is an accepted regiment of prep for painting cabinet doors. Am I good to start laying down paint after I clean up with a smoother? Will the doors take paint better if they are roughed up with a sander first? Should I be looking at a paint primer? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 Sand your doors down to150 grit . Get all the dust off before you finish and sand between coats. I would sand ,prime and put on one coat on the front and back sides of the door panels before you put the doors together. The reason for that is when your ply panel moves you don't end up seeing unpainted wood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHD Posted December 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 Thanks, Mat. Sounds like solid advice. I had basically the same idea in mind for the process. Although I know I've heard to paint the panel first, I definitely wasn't thinking about that. These are going in a bathroom, too - thanks! What do you like for primer? How about number of coats of the paint? I've got a decent enough air compressor to handle four doors, thinking of looking into spray guns as I'd like to spray finishes later, anyway. Not sure how they'll handle paint though. I gather that it needs to be thinned down pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted December 28, 2018 Report Share Posted December 28, 2018 To be honest with you I have almost always used stains and clear finishes. Very little paint. The prep is pretty much the same. How many doors are you painting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 I start with an oil based primer. Sand that to 150, tack cloth, and a coat of Sherwin Williams Wall and Wood primer. I'd forget the Behr paint. I've used it a couple of times, but never will again. Finish would be Sherwin Williams Pro Classic, sanded with 180, tack ragged, and a finish coat of the same. Any of that is only available in gallons though, so would be awfully expensive for one bath cabinet. Sherwin Williams Sherwood would be even better, but the Pro Classic is still pretty daggone good, and the Sherwood is only available through the SW Pro stores, which the ones around here are not. I only use airless for paint, other than the first coat of oil based primer, which I keep a cheap HVLP rig specifically for. A lot of woodworkers certainly do a lot of spraying with HVLP turbines, but I have almost gone away from them altogether, except for the cheap single stage one. Getting into sprayers, it's a long subject with several possible directions to go, but the simple answer is always that you can't do a professional quality job with cheap equipment. There are many threads on this forum about spray equipment, so some time spent searching, and reading would be worthwhile. I wish you luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 Tom and Mat are both right. Careful prep, accurate craftsmanship, meticulous attention to details are all key to successful painted woodwork. It's even harder to achieve great results on stained & finished doors. Learning how to use any brand of paint or finish takes time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 If I understand correctly????? Since your co-worker has applied the coating to the other pieces, no worries for you. I would rather tell your co-worker it's up to them to prime and paint. That way your co-worker doesn't have to worry about what type of primer you use will play nice with the "paint" they choose. Put that on them. Your job is to build the best damn doors and drawer fronts possible. Or you seek out what type of behr primer works with the behr paint they used. I would sand to whatever the primer coating calls for. Prime and paint...rock on! I would probably recommend to your co-worker that the behr paint from the box store is not recommended for the bathroom environment? (I don't know what they bought - - just guessing its wall paint??) -Ace- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 An interior/exterior grade enamel would be suitable for a bathroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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