Cabinet painting
Cabinet painting in Tyler, sprayed smooth on a surface that is ready for it
Doors come off, get cleaned, sanded and primed, then take two sprayed coats of Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel.
Chapter 01
Why East Texas kitchen cabinets look tired
Most Tyler-area homes built between 1990 and 2015 have solid wood or MDF cabinet boxes under finishes that have yellowed, chipped or let go. Thermofoil, the plastic-wrapped finish common on late-90s and early-2000s construction, lifts off the MDF at door edges, corners and the spots near dishwashers and stoves. Once it starts, it spreads. The honey oak in many Bullard, Whitehouse and South Tyler kitchens yellows and chips around handles and pulls after twenty or thirty years of use.
Then there is the finish itself. A door painted with a brush or roller, even with good paint, shows stipple and brush marks, and its edges chip within a year or two. And kitchen cabinets carry grease, cooking residue and cleaner buildup that stops paint from bonding no matter how good the product is. Skipped prep is the leading cause of an early refinishing failure.
Greige painted kitchen cabinets with glass upper doors and wood counters
Clean, sand, prime, then spray
Every door and drawer front comes off, gets a number and is tracked back to its original spot. Hinges, pulls and knobs are bagged by cabinet. The kitchen stays usable, because the boxes and frames stay put and are masked and sprayed on site.
Every surface is degreased with a professional solution, and the areas around the stove and hood get a second pass. Then everything is scuff-sanded so the primer has something to grip. MDF gets a sandable primer to seal it. Solid wood gets its grain raised and sanded before primer. Primer is sanded smooth after it dries and before any topcoat. That step is what separates a finish that lasts from one that does not.
Because the boxes are masked and the doors are numbered, nothing ends up on the wrong hinge, and the kitchen keeps working while the doors are away.
Chapter 03
Sprayed Emerald Urethane, and when refinishing beats replacing
Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel is a waterborne alkyd enamel that cures hard, washable and non-yellowing, and levels out smooth under a spray gun. Doors and drawer fronts are sprayed in a controlled setting off site, not painted in place. Boxes and frames are sprayed on site with the surroundings masked. Two coats go on, with full cure time between them, which leaves no brush marks, no stipple and no visible edge transitions.
Whether to refinish or replace comes down to the boxes. If they are structurally sound, with no water damage, no broken joints and no failing drawer slides, refinishing gives the same new-kitchen look as replacement, usually in three to five days instead of weeks. If there is water damage, failed structure or a layout you want to change, replacing makes more sense. The free in-home walkthrough settles which one you have.
When the doors are rehung and the hinges adjusted, the production manager walks the finished kitchen with you, and the written 3-year labor warranty starts at sign-off.
Quality Coats carries liability insurance and workers’ compensation on every job. Every cabinet project closes with a production manager walkthrough and a written 3-year labor warranty.
Door by door
One estimate sheet, six steps, every door
- Tag
- Each door and drawer front removed, numbered and tracked to its original spot. Hardware bagged by cabinet.
- Clean
- Full degrease, with a second pass near the stove and hood.
- Sand
- Scuff-sanded for grip. Wood gets its grain raised and sanded, MDF gets sealed.
- Prime
- Substrate-appropriate sandable primer, sanded smooth once dry.
- Spray
- Two coats of Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel, full cure between coats.
- Hang
- Doors rehung in their original positions, hardware back on, hinges adjusted.
“Hayden and the crew were top notch. We had a kitchen hood and island painted and they were meticulous in their prep and finish.”
Sean’s kitchen is the hood and island cabinet project. The same prep-first order runs through the preparation process on every job.