Have you ever painted your kitchen cabinets–not made of wood but of some kind of laminate?
Did it work? Will this be a disaster?
I suspect the latter. My husband is to frugal to have the cabinets re-faced (@ $8000 ?) so thinks we can paint them with some kind of technique that makes them look better. However, we have a history of starting a project and letting it languish for months or years. We will have 19 cabinet doors and 16 drawer fronts that will have to be removed and painted in the basement, etc.
This is going to be a nightmare. :smack:
Or we could pay the $8000 with a line of credit and have it done in a week. Heaven!
Yes, laminate can be painted. You have to buy paint intended for that, and you have to clean and degloss the surface first – ask the nice guys at Home Depot or Lowe’s and they will handhold you all the way.
How good does the result look? That strictly dependent on your competence and artistic sensibility. My SIL did the cabinets in her kitchen. Besides painting them, she decoupaged a cut out illustration from an old botanical text onto each of the full sized upper cabinet doors, and added moldings (nothing more than half round plastic, mitered and glued) to change the look from cheap flat cabinet fronts to ‘panelled.’ The final effect was wonderful…but SIL has artistic sensibility and the patience to do crafty things slowly and well. If you’re a klutz and no taste, well, I’d expect the result to reflect that.
I guess I’m mostly on your husband’s side. How much money does he (and/or you, if you’d be doing the painting) net per hour from wages? (After taxes and all, actual money to play with.)
Because I’m thinking 19 + 16 = 35, and $8000/35 = $228.57 per door or drawer. And having painted a LOT of things in the past, I’d have to say the time to 1) unscrew the door, 2) clean it well, 3) scuff it well with sandpaper, 4) clean off the dust, 5) roll on two coats of paint, 5) put screws back in is going to be well under two hours per.
Note: this doesn’t count drying time, obviously, and it’s more efficient to do each stage with several doors together instead of one all the way through the process. And you’ll also need to clean/sand/clean/paint/etc. the outer edges of the cabinet frames. But even with that, I’ll bet on the entire job dividing out to less then two hours per.
So…then it becomes a question: Would your husband prefer to work however many hours it takes to bring in $228.57, or would he rather put in two hours and do it himself? Personally, I’d consider doing any job myself (assuming I can physically handle it) if I’m effectively ‘earning’ an after tax wage of $114.24 per hour at it.
Okay, additional factors need to be considered, like the cost of the paint & sandpaper (and a sander, or at least rental of one) if you don’t already own.) Are you going to want new hardware? Was that included in the estimate or going to be an addon either way? And…you guys are at least marginally competent, right? We’re not talking “The Three Stooges Screw Up at Painting,” right?
Here’s a thought: do you have a minor equivalent project you could use as a test? Like a laminated cabinet in your laundry room or a bathroom cabinet? If so, give it a try on that and then see what you think of the results and how the cost/effort equation works out.
You don’t say who the procrastinator is, but set yourself a schedule of doing a certain number of cabinets per week and stick to it. That way you don’t burn yourself out and you see steady progress.
I agree that doing a set number of cabinet doors each day or each weekend is the way to go. It will probably be less daunting if you break the job down into manageable chunks. But I wonder about the $8,000 you mentioned for having someone else do the work. I’d think you can get replacement doors for less than that.
One thing I must add/change though: Instead of going to a large, all-in-one chain for specific painting needs, go to a paint store. Whether a national chain or a local business. Deal with someone who really knows their stuff. In my years of remodeling, I’ve rarely found the majority of all-in-one stores employees to be expert in the department they are assigned.
Of course, you can also find a dolt at the paint store, but I think the chances are better for good answers and help at specialty stores in general.
When getting bids from professionals, you are also paying for the experience, not just the labor and materials. Experience can make an adequate job an outstanding one. From knowing how different materials and processes react to one another, to just having a talent and feel for superior application techniques, experience can go a long way.
No way to post in a thread all that this involves, though. It’s a very hands on type of thing.
However, some of the homeowner jobs that I’ve seen are very nice.
