Post-war bungalow kitchen cabinet painting restores the original birch and plywood slab doors of 1950s to 1970s kitchens, or the 1980s oak that replaced them, in the small galley layouts those houses were built with.
The north end, Lakeshore, Port Weller, Western Hill, Secord Woods and Merritton were built for GM and canal workers, and thousands of those bungalows, backsplits and sidesplits still carry their first kitchen. Full insurance stands behind every job, and these kitchens are a large part of the week.
Birch And Plywood Slab Doors From The 1950s Have Thin Veneer That Cannot Be Sanded Hard
The veneer on an original post-war slab door is often less than a millimetre thick, so aggressive sanding goes straight through it and leaves a patch that will show under any paint. Cabinet painting on these doors means degreasing thoroughly, scuff sanding by hand with a fine grit, and letting the primer do the levelling. Where a corner of veneer has lifted, it is glued down and clamped before the primer goes on.
The upside is that the doors are simple and the boxes are solid. Plywood boxes built on site in 1958 are usually tighter than the particleboard that replaces them, and they are worth keeping.
Peeling DIY Paint Has To Come Off Before New Cabinet Painting Goes On
Paint that is already peeling is not a surface, and painting over it just adds weight to a layer that has let go. Most post-war bungalows in Merritton and Secord Woods have had at least one coat of latex wall paint brushed on over the decades, and it peels in sheets at the edges. We strip or sand it back to a sound layer, spot prime any bare wood, and rebuild from there. The quote adds a line for stripping when it is needed.
Cabinets in a house built before 1980 may carry old paint with lead in it. We do not sand old site-applied paint hard without a test, and the visit is where that gets checked.
Wobbly Hinges And Old Handle Holes Are Fixed During Cabinet Painting
Sixty-year-old hinges have worn screw holes, and the doors sag and rub. The holes are filled with hardwood plugs or filler and redrilled, and the hinges are replaced with new ones, often soft-close. Old handle holes that do not match the new pulls are filled, sanded flush and painted over, and a template guides the new holes. The hardware and hinges page covers the options and the finishes.
Keeping The Mid-Century Look Or Going Shaker White Are Both Cabinet Painting Choices
A slab door in a warm white, a soft grey or a deep green with a simple bar pull keeps the mid-century character of the house and suits it. A slab door can also be given a shaker profile with applied moulding before cabinet painting, which reads as a new kitchen. Both are done from the same boxes. On a north-end bungalow with a 1980s oak replacement kitchen, oak cabinet painting applies instead, shellac primer and grain-fill decision included.
Quote A Post-War Bungalow Kitchen Cabinet Painting Job In St. Catharines
Most of these galley kitchens have fourteen to twenty pieces and sit near the bottom of the cabinet painting price range. Send the address or call +1 (905) 367-8017, and a photo of a door edge helps us see the veneer before the visit. The St. Catharines Cabinet Painting home page covers the rest of what we do across the city.
A bungalow kitchen built in 1960 has already outlasted two generations of replacements, and cabinet painting done with care for the thin veneer gives it another few decades.
Post-War Bungalow Kitchen Cabinet Painting Questions
Can old birch slab doors be sanded hard?
No. The veneer on 1950s birch and plywood slab doors is thin, so sanding stays light. Peeling paint from earlier DIY coats is scraped off first, and the primer then levels what is left. The aim is a smooth surface without cutting through to the core.
What happens to old hinges and handle holes?
Sixty-year-old hinges often have worn screw holes, which makes doors sag and rub. The holes are filled and redrilled so each door hangs straight. Old handle holes are filled the same way when the pulls change, and the new holes are drilled with a jig.
Can the mid-century look be kept?
Yes. Slab doors can keep their plain profile in a fresh colour, or the kitchen can move to a shaker white look with new doors. Both are cabinet painting choices, and the written quote shows the price of each side by side.