Painting Advice

Inside - 

We supply our kitchens fully lacquered inside ready to use - the insides typically just need a wipe out with a damp cloth.

If you find some scratched inside there are two ways to sort this, typically depending on the depth of the scratch.

Light scratches - Use a Bees Wax to buff out

Deeper Scratches - use a find sandpaper to rub out the scratch, then wipe down any debris with a damp cloth and dry.  We would then recommend a "Hard Wax" such as Fiddes Hard Wax Oil

Apply in light coats and once dried it should be invisible.

 

Outside - 

Our cabinets come Pre Primed and as they are done in bulk it is a very smooth finish.  Some paints if applied direct to this wont stick well, so we advise the following process and using a good quality undercoat.

Install the kitchen and ideally get the worktops fitted 

*Wipe down & inspect the cabinetry for any dinks or dents that may have happened during fitting or delivery, repair these with a 2 part wood filler.

*Remove door and drawer furniture (handles) and fittings including magnet fittings inside cupboards - If there are butt hinges the doors are painted in situ and not removed.

*Vacuum off and masking tape up around drawers, cupboards and floor areas not to be painted  - We do recommend using a good quality masking tape such as Frog tape to give the best finish.

We deal with lots of painters and over the years they all seem to recommend slightly different products - Below are the products our main painter would use.

But we also come across lots of other paints along the way - one we really like is from Kitchen Cupboard Paint - Well worth a look!  We found them easy to use and apply, and heard wearing.

 

 

Products our main painter uses below -  

UNDERCOAT

*Etch prime using Zinsser Cover stain mixed to the colour or closest colour to the final top coat.

This coat is oil based, and from our experience with this cabinetry gives the best adhesion and overall finish, it also adds an extra layer or waterproof protection to the wood - .Over the years we have seen that wood and water don't mix well, and any extra protection you can give it would be worth it.

This dries in less than 2 hours, so once dry you would then caulk around the kitchen and fill any damaged areas and visible screw holes.

PROCESS once undercoated  - 

*Rub down the entire kitchen with a fine sandpaper.

Primarily to de nib, key and smooth any filled areas.

*Wipe and Vacuum off the kitchen completely to remove any dust and contaminates

*Start the first coat of finished paint.  - We would recommend a Colour matched Dulux diamond Eggshell / Johnstones Durable Eggshell to finish

*Check over finish and apply a fine surface filler to any visible defects and let dry.

 *Rub down any fine surface filled areas done the day before, de nib any contaminates and vacuum off.

*Touch up, if necessary and apply final coat of paint.

*Replace any door furniture and fittings leaving units open to fully cure – Depending on the humidity and temperature – this can take a few hours or even a few days.

Preferred Products -

After many years of working in this area we have found that these products give the best finish.

*Zinsser cover stain to etch prime and create a good undercoat to work from.

*Dulux diamond eggshell / Johnstons durable eggshell to finish – Colour matched to your preferred colour

 

Branded Paints -

If customer insists on Branded paints such as Little Greene, Farrow and Ball or any other  paint there may be additional costs as they will probably need 3 coats due to poor opacity.  In our experience these paints will also not give you as hard a finish as the Diamond eggshell or Durable eggshell we recommend.

 

Important Notes -

Paints will need to cure before the kitchen can be used.

Dulux and Johnstons would be up to 48hrs.

Little Greene and Farrow and Ball could take up to 4 weeks to fully cure but we find at LEAST 7 days are needed.  They will remain quite soft and easily scratched before they cure.

Hand painted kitchens will not look like factory painted kitchens, you will see brush marks and slight roller marks.

Almost all the paints these days are water based as this has a lesser impact on the environment, because of this they will need ongoing maintenance and touching up to keep them looking their best - having it hand painted allows this to be a painless process.

Rollers we like - Over the years we have used thousands of rollers - we really like these from Two Fussy Blokes (Smooth Small rollers - Available on Amazon) 

General Advice 

Ideally when the kitchen is being painted you should, where possible, keep the room temperature down below 15⁰c or the paints will dry too quickly.

 If the room is too hot the paint will dry too quickly and tend to stipple and drag when laid off.

 No other trades should be present when painting as this limits the amount of contaminates in the air which are attracted to wet paint.