# Spray or Brush Kitchen Cabinets??



## Eric_ht

I'm preparing to paint some kitchen cabinets. Should I spray or brush them. Slick I've seen your preparation list for painting and will be doing something along those same steps. I have access to decent sprayer. It's one of the C-H with built in compressor. Thanks


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## slickshift

Off-hand I'd say brush them
I usually wouldn't recommend spraying unless your familiar with the process
It's not as easy as it looks, it has a learning curve, and the potential for disaster is high

However....

If you can play around with the sprayer a bit, this might be a good time to see if you have a good hand at spraying

If you've got a place to spray the doors, a garage or shed or something, and can set up a temporary spray booth, it might be worth trying the sprayer

First practice on scrap
Anything you can find

If you think you can get the hang of it, maybe you can spray the doors

The fact that it'd be separated from anything important lowers the disaster potential
And if you do one or two and they start sagging, you can stop, let them dry, sand them, and try again


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## gojetcity

*Kitchen cabinets*

Hello!
Cabinets take time and multiple coats depending on what the end result you are looking for. I usually brush, but spray painting can work do to the number of coats. Sanding between coats and using a high grade oil based paint is best. 
If spraying some guys use a hot thinner in the oil to have it flash off faster to lower the risk of runs. Lacquer thinner should be fine for a do it yourselfer. 
To get that great flat finish it's easier to brush the doors. I use a mohawk nap roller and a 3" angle brush. I rool the door in an up and down motion then lay off the finish using up and down strokes of the brush. I start at the top, move a brush stroke over then go up, then move and go down until the end. With the tip of the brush I rake the top and bottom of the edges.
This all takes practice and I advocate two thin coats as opposed to getting the job done in one coat. It depends on if the cabinets are for my own use or in a rental house. A brush gives me better control of small areas.
Hope that helps.


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## jude

*cabinets*

brush, definately brush! you want those nice brush strokes to be seen.


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## gojetcity

*brush strokes*

Sorry, I wasn't clear about brushing. Painting with a brush can leave brush stroke if the paint product isn't thinned correctly. There is a very fine line between over thinning and getting the product to lay off or lay flat without sags. I mentioned lacquer thinner in an earlier comment to get the thinner to flash off quicker. There are also extenders to the drying time to give a smoother finish. Many painters use a combination of extenders (drying time extenders) and hot thinner to give that eggshell finish. 
Spraying can orange peel, sag, run, or have high low marks. For a do it yourself project the brush gives you more control by not being as quick. Thinning is also a big part of spraying, and then of course there is the clean up factor of spraying. All in all I have gotten a flatter, softer finish by brushing oil. Spraying finish is an art that takes practice.


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## troubleseeker

Eric_ht said:


> I'm preparing to paint some kitchen cabinets. Should I spray or brush them. Slick I've seen your preparation list for painting and will be doing something along those same steps. I have access to decent sprayer. It's one of the C-H with built in compressor. Thanks


*Brush unless you are experienced at spraying. The large number of narrow edges, sharp exterior corners, and inside corners inside the boxes, make this a difficult spray job. Use a top quality brush, and add Penetrol to the paint (assuming your are using alkyd base).Do not apply heavy coats to try to cover with one application. "One Coat" coverage is a paint salesman's pipe dream.*

*And please, please, please, don't let anyone talk you into latex paint.*


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## McCool

Brush, Unless you are very familiar will spray painting. There is far too much room for error.

If you want to spray something you can take the cabinet doors off and spray them in your garage or something. But everything else should be brushed.

As for oil or latex; Personally I would use oil. It is far more durable and will outlive latex by a long shot. However Latex is not without it's charm.


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## RICHIE K

Brush them


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## dyad8

If I have sanded my cabinets and have the bare wood exposed do I need to prime it before I start painting?


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## slickshift

dyad8 said:


> If I have sanded my cabinets and have the bare wood exposed do I need to prime it before I start painting?


Yup
Bare wood needs primer to help the paint stick


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## donb1959

Eric_ht said:


> I'm preparing to paint some kitchen cabinets. Should I spray or brush them. Slick I've seen your preparation list for painting and will be doing something along those same steps. I have access to decent sprayer. It's one of the C-H with built in compressor. Thanks


I romove all my cabs, take all the hardware off sand it all down a little. I then tape off the kitchen and spray.I used a HVLP cs10000 have to get it thinned just right, and every thing dialed in, but it does a great job in2/3 the time.


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## donb1959

I digress....thought I was back in CT for a moment. The spraY can give a factory finish if you know how to do that.


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## jeremiah

just starting a kitchen cabinet project. thought i was going to spray, but the comments have scared me off...what is "sagging?"


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## sprayman

I would never advise a novice to spray a set of cabinets.I agree it could be disasterous.A little advice on brushing.There is a paint additive on the market called Penetrol.It is for solvent based paints which is what you should use on cabinets for beauty and endurance. This additive makes the paint lay down and gives it almost a spray finish.The brush marks are all but gone.If you use this product do not add any thinner to the paint.Always pull your brush marks out by pulling your brush from one end to the other.I am a professional painter of many years and I always use Penetrol.Highly raccomend it.


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## Scuba_Dave

jeremiah said:


> just starting a kitchen cabinet project. thought i was going to spray, but the comments have scared me off...what is "sagging?"


Sagging is when the paint runs or sags after painting










I took my doors off & laid them flat & painted them
Stripped everything down, sanded, primed & painted
A lot of work, but very good results
Temp - until kitchen is remodeled - they were a mess


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## chrisn

Perfect example of our favorite Behr paint. :laughing:

Also to add to the discussion about oil or latex.Latex will not yellow with age.:whistling2:


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## Scuba_Dave

I was tempted to take a pic of the Temp door I just painted with Behr (sagged)
But it was easier to do a quick Internet search for "Behr paint sagging" :laughing:


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## jeremiah

thanks for the advice


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## ScottAlbrecht

I'm making bottoms for very nice pre-finished cabinets. This is a natural maple finish so I just need to seal not paint but I'm pretty much going to be unhappy if I can't get a finish at least close to factory one. 

To add to the delimma, I'm extremely particular about the products I use and their off-gasing properties. This pretty much elimiates use of all the products discussed in this thread (no oil based for example) and I am using a water-based product called Polyureseal BP from AFM (http://www.afmsafecoat.com/products.php?page=3). Furthermore, the manufacturer recommends to not use any sort of thinner "for best results".

I actually started brushing (with a very high quality nylon brush) but do see slight brush strokes on the initial coats. Showing this to various people, here are some of the comments I've gotten back and was hoping I could get some feedback here.

* Put the product on thicker and maybe it'll then even itself out. [I actually don't believe this will work]

* The initial coats are clear, when you put your finishing Satin coat on, the less shinner finish willl probably hide these lines

* You can sand the brush lines off

* Spraying will give you the best finish [maybe in the hands of a expert???]

* The manufacturer recommended applying the product with the wood being damp or slightly wet. I'm trying that now.

Being cabinet bottoms, these are just flat pieces and not overly complex. At this point, I've stopped working with the real pieces and I'm playing around with different techniques on a spare piece until I can get this figured out. Any suggests will be highly welcomed! Thanks!!


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