I have a large new house of cabinets coming up that are all painted. I have only done a few small jobs in the past with painted cabinets. Most have been cherry with a dark stain. Almost to the point I cant wait to do something different.
For finish product I use gemini conversion lacquer. My process was spray inside of boxes with clear, tape off and spray 2 coats of tinted finish on face frames. (stained cabinets always 3 coats but the sales rep said no more than 2 is recommended)
My biggest question is at what price upcharge should painted be at? Comparative to cherry? On a small job I couldn't really get a great time calculation on it. I plan to use soft maple for ff and door styles and rails with mdf center panels. Mdf will be used for all finish ends as well. It seems as I add up my material list of which I generally double (with outsourcing doors and drawers) my total materials are a bunch lower than if it was cherry (obvious) So when I double that figure I am way short of labor. So I added back in about 25% of then double to make up for the extra time involved.
Am I on to the right track? I just want to be competitive on this project as I know they are getting other bids.
Next question would be, what extra time is needed and in what detail/ precaution with painted cabinets. Am I underestimating what it takes compared to a stained cabinet? It seems for the time I save from staining I can tape a lot of cabinets off. But my concern is what steps pry to finishing are more important with painted cabinets than stained? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!