Kitchen Cabinets Refinishing (April 18, 2009)

Depending on if you're needing to work on one or two cabinets only or the entire bank of cabinets, kitchen cabinet refinishing can be either a one or two-day job, or it can turn into a several-week project. And if you're like most folks, letting go of around $100 per linear foot to have them replaced with a new set can put a serious ding in the pocketbook or, in many cases, just isn't an option. So hopefully, these suggestions can help you not only do the job better and easier, but save you some cash, as well.

Strip Em Down

All kitchen cabinets refinishing tips should start with taking everything possible off and down. This translates into unscrewing and removing hinges, knobs, pulls, and then, the entire cabinet door. Some drawers have faces that are removable when you take off the knobs. If yours are like this, go ahead and remove them. If the shelves come out, and you want those refinished, take those out, too, and set everything in your garage or workshop or wherever you're planning on working.

Clean Counts

Next comes cleaning. Any kitchen cabinets refinishing suggestion won't be worth anything unless you get the cabinets as clean as possible before you do anything else! And that includes sanding. If you sand dirty cabinets, it will only drive the dirt deeper into the grain of the wood.

So clean, clean, clean with something like a good citrus-based cleaner and then use a solvent-based cleaner afterward for good measure. Until you get off the grease, dirt, wax, and all the other unknown gunky properties off the cabinets, forget about stain, paint, or varnish or any other finish properly adhering to the surface.

For Best Results: Slow Down

Once you get to the final stage in your kitchen cabinets refinishing project, do not rush! This is the part that's the most highly visible - the final paint, stain, or lacquer job - so don't make the mistake of getting so tired with the all the previous work that you rush through the most attention-getting part. Even if you have to take a day or two break, be calm and rested when it comes time to put on the finishing coat.

Don't Forget Protection

Any time you work doing sanding or using any kind of chemicals - and this includes kitchen cabinets refinishing - always take care to protect yourself. Irritating your lungs or causing damage to your eyes or the skin on your hands or arms is a high price to pay for not taking some simple precautions. Always keep several pairs of work gloves on hand as well as a facemask and goggles - and then, use them!

These kitchen cabinets refinishing tips don't take a lot of effort, but using them will help you in more ways than one. And after you've finished and your cabinets are looking like a pro did them, you can tell everybody how easy it was - with your fingers crossed behind your back, of course!

Other News:

< Back >