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Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Painted Finish

3/20/18       
Ron Member

I'm doing my homework ahead of bidding on the above captioned job. Customer is requesting their 20-year old Oak kitchen be refaced to a white Shaker-style kitchen. I plan to build all the full overlay doors and drawer fronts, probably Hard Maple and MDF. Straightforward enough, but I never tackled a reface on the face frames.

Local supplier, Wurth Wood Group, offers a 10ml polyback plain sliced Maple veneer.

I looked into some older post but thought technology may have changed so I'm resurrecting the subject. Also, older post provided a wealth of info other matters of refacing (interior colors, etc.). Also have considered changing the crown moulding to capture syle; strength of existing boxes; new hardware.

Customer will be living in the home should I choose to tackle this.

Unanswered questions:

1. Correct way to prep Oak face frames?

2. Which veneer product over Oak considering a white opaque finish?

3. Can I prefinsh a stiff veneer and install without on-site finishing?

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

3/20/18       #2: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Mike

I did one in Cherry and i finished the sheets before slitting them, worked out great. I also used peel and stick veneer. You really have to sand every inch of the face frame well and wipe it down with a wet rag alcohol evaporates fast. Follow all the instructions including scraping it down and i also used a block and hammer and quickly taped it all down as i installed each piece. Some people say peel and stick dosen't work but it's most likely their install error. I used a laminate slitter and a paper cutter (i forget what it is caller) the kind the teacher had in school to chop large sheets of paper square. You can get one at places like staples.

3/21/18       #3: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Tom

Might try a matching color plastic laminate .I think Wilson art still sells it with a real strong self adhesive backing .

3/21/18       #4: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Family Man

You'll deeply regret veneering this and then painting it. Think of all those seams that you can hide in wood but will stick out horribly with paint. The oak grain has had the finish put in it from the last finish. Sand it to level it out, essentially grain filling it and paint. Are you going to use the same paint on your doors as on your frames. They are living there, what are you going to use?

Veneering this and painting...it would be cheaper to rip the cabinets out and start over. You'll be there a long time and the call backs will be endless.

3/21/18       #5: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Jared Emery

Years ago I worked for a guy whose technique was of using prepainted veneer cut into rectangles large enough to cover the whole face of a cabinet or group of cabinets. He'd mask cabinet interiors, spray adhesive on, adhere the prepainted panel, flush route it to the face frame, then dress the inside corners with a file. It was quick and minimized the number of joints to deal with.

3/21/18       #6: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Ron Member

Thanks guys. I hear ya Family on the seams. My last two kitchens were painted and the other, colored white lacquer. My fair warning to these customers is opaque finishes are like concrete, its not a matter of if you will see a hairline crack, but when. No call backs over 8+ years.

I've seen a few posts on removing and replacing the face frame. Of course, that depends on the box and how well it was glued and assembled. I like this idea best, though it seems like all the stars need to line up for it to go as planned.

I dread the idea of applying veneer on a face frame. More so the prep work. I may just take a pass unless the replacement face frame idea can work.

3/21/18       #7: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Pat

Order some PSA veneer and try it. Show the result to client. Most refacers just veneer the outer face of face frames. You'll end up with a big contrast between the white and old oak, but most will be obscured by doors and drawers.

Sanding the face frames might not be the way to go. I believe the PSA sticks better to a smooth surface. When I've done refacing, I just cleaned the surfaces with automotive wax and grease remover (like Pre-Kleano). The Virutex laminate slitter is the way to go for cutting the strips lengthwise. A guillotine-style paper cutter is great for the end cuts.

Good luck!

3/22/18       #8: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Adam

If you can't prefinish this stick on refacing. Then why bother refacing?

Sand the frames with 150 grit. Prime them with BIN so you know you get good adhesion. Fill any of the dings or scratches with a high quality spackle. 240grit. 2nd coat of primer.240 grit, 1st topcoat, 320 grit, 2nd topcoat.

The other option is you mess around cleaning sanding, cleaning, cutting/slicing/dicing, then sticking it on. Then doing all of the above.

3/23/18       #9: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Scott

I would agree with Adam and Family Man, I would for sure just refinish the oak face frames. You could spend a ton of labour putting on veneer and then what do you do with the face frame edges? they still need to be finished. With the quality of coatings these days you could finish the oak with low voc coatings and very little odour.

3/31/18       #10: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Chris Payne

Doing same kind of job right now I am painting the oak frames and painting her oak doors by her request. I am adding in some new cabinets making them out of oak and painting them so they will match the rest.

4/8/18       #11: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Dan Sadler Member

I'm halfway through a very similar job myself. Oak kitchen with arch top recessed panel doors, lady wanted painted shaker kitchen without breaking the bank. We Built new shaker doors (maple and mdf) new drawer boxes, changed the crown and all new hardware. Having a painter come in and paint face frames, end panels and new doors/ fronts. Painter looked at it before committing and he seemed to think that primer and two coats they should look pretty good. He's a quality painter, has done quite a bit of good work for me so I trust his recommendation. Will let you know how it turns out.
I had a company that specializes in refacing give us an estimate and they were several grand more than what I could do this for. Although this approach isn't perfect, it gets her what she wants within her budget.

5/3/18       #12: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Terry V Member

Website: http://www.woodshoponshilling.com

I completed a job almost identical to the one you're describing. I had the doors built. Painted them. Taped off the entire kitchen. Cleaned and sanded all facees. Zip walls. exhaust fans. Then sprayed all end panels and face frames with white conversion varnish. Clear CV topcoat. Customer loved it.


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6/20/23       #13: Reface Oak Kitchen Cabinets With Pa ...
Nuenza Design  Member

Website: https://nuenza.com/en/

Website: https://nuenza.com/en/
I used a laminate slitter and a paper cutter (i forget what it is caller) the kind the teacher had in school to chop large sheets of paper square. You can get one at places like staples.


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