Lacquer paint over an oil-based poly with shellac as a primer
I have a kitchen to refinish. I am building a few additional units to match the exisiting. The desired finish is a low luster black. The existing cabinets are red oak with an oil poly finish. The guy at Sherwin Williams said the lacquer would fail if sprayed over the existing finish. Do I really need to strip them before primer/paint?
Replies
Yes, problems could be significant trying to apply lacquer over oil based varnish. The solvents in lacquer are sufficiently strong that it is likely that they would damage the varnish. The result could be distinctly not pretty.
The other question is why lacquer. Nitrocellulose lacquer is much less durable for kitchens than oil based varnish, or since you are looking for black, oil based enamel. Unfortuanately, the catalyzed lacquer like products that are kitchen durable, require full fledged spray facilities that protect operators and the environment from the toxicity of their solvents.
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