Cabinet refinishing keeps the wood. Stripping or sanding takes the old finish off, new stain goes on, and a clear coat seals it, so solid walnut, cherry or white oak doors look new without paint covering the grain.
The executive homes of Old Glenridge, the ravine lots of Power Glen and the older houses along the Twelve Mile Creek hold a lot of solid-wood kitchens that should stay wood. The work is insured, and refinishing is quoted as its own job, separate from cabinet painting.
Refinishing Beats Cabinet Painting When Good Wood Sits Under A Bad Finish
Refinishing is the right answer when the doors are solid wood with a grain worth seeing and the only problem is a finish that has gone cloudy, scratched, sticky or orange. Walnut, cherry, white oak and clear maple all qualify. Cabinet painting is the right answer when the doors are veneer, MDF or a species nobody wants to look at, or when the kitchen simply needs to be white. We will tell you which one applies on the visit.
Refinishing also cannot change the grain. A golden oak kitchen refinished in a darker stain is still an oak kitchen with open grain, so a customer who wants a smooth finish is better served by oak cabinet painting with grain fill.
Stripping Or Sanding Depends On The Old Finish And The Veneer
A thick lacquer or varnish is chemically stripped so the wood underneath is not thinned. A thin, worn finish on solid wood can be sanded. Veneered doors are stripped rather than sanded, because the veneer is too thin to survive a sander, and some 1970s veneers cannot be refinished at all, which is when cabinet painting becomes the honest alternative. Every door is checked on the visit before the method is written into the quote.
New Stain, Then A Clear Coat Sprayed In The Booth
Stain is applied by hand, wiped, and allowed to dry, and sample boards are made first so the colour is chosen on the real wood and not from a chip. Then a clear waterborne or 2K polyurethane topcoat goes on in the booth as a few thin coats, each one sanded, exactly as a painted door would be. The clear coat is what protects the wood, and a sprayed one lasts far longer than a brushed one.
A Refinished Island With Cabinet Painting On The Perimeter Is A Common Combination
One of the most popular kitchens right now pairs a perimeter painted cream or greige with a stained wood island, and refinishing the island while the rest gets cabinet painting is a normal job. The island page covers how the two finishes meet and how the colours are paired.
Refacing Replaces Every Door And Keeps The Boxes
Full refacing swaps every door and drawer front for new ones, usually shaker or slab in MDF or maple, and the box ends and face frames that show get matching veneer or paint. The boxes, the counters, the plumbing and the layout stay. Because the new doors arrive unfinished or primed, they get the same cabinet painting system as a repaint, and the boxes get sprayed in place to match.
Refacing makes sense when cabinet painting cannot save the doors, when the profile is dated beyond what colour can fix, or when the customer wants a shaker door and has slabs. Cabinet painting makes sense when the doors are still sound and the profile is fine.
Ask About Cabinet Refinishing In St. Catharines
If the kitchen is solid wood and the finish is the only thing wrong, refinishing may cost less than you expect. Book the visit or call +1 (905) 367-8017 and we will look at a door edge and tell you whether the wood can be refinished. The St. Catharines Cabinet Painting home page covers the cabinet painting alternative when it cannot.
Refinishing keeps a wood kitchen as wood, and where the doors are veneer or the species is plain, cabinet painting is the honest recommendation and we will make it.
Cabinet Refinishing Questions
When is refinishing better than painting?
Refinishing is better when solid walnut, cherry or white oak sits under a worn finish. The wood is worth seeing, so it stays wood. Painting makes more sense when the wood is plain, damaged or already painted and the colour is the goal.
Is the old finish stripped or sanded?
It depends on the old finish and the veneer. Thick, failing varnish may need stripping. A sound finish can be sanded back. Thin veneer cannot take heavy sanding, so we check each door first and the quote names the method.
Can I refinish an island and paint the rest?
Yes, and it is a common pairing. A refinished wood island beside painted perimeter cabinets is a popular look. Each part is quoted on its own line so you can see what the wood and the painted work each cost.