I write for advice regarding painting some kitchen cabinets. The current cabinets are red oak and finished nicely. The goal is to paint the cabinets. I have seen this done in other kitchens and the result is that the grain telegraphs through the paint. I find this to be objectionable.
What is a reasonable finishing schedule without removing the cabinetry? It is reasonable to use a filler to level the grain with the cabinetry in place? The next steps would to be to prime the surface (2 coats) followed by the paint (2 coats). The primer and top coats would have to be applied with a brush or roller.
All suggestions are welcome.
Replies
I think no matter what you do, it will be a messy job. I believe you will need to use a grain filler and then sand it smooth before painting. I'm not sure this is the best way, but I have successfully used joint compound to fill coarse grained wood. It is easy to sand smooth after application, but the fine dust is very messy. You will want to close off the space your in to keep the dust confined. It accepts paint nicely and will be durable after coating.
It will be essential to know what kind of finish is on the cabinets now. If it is polyurethane, you will need to remove it completely before starting the finishing process, as nothing will stick to it. If it is lacquer, other finishes will probably stick to it. Check compatibility before you do anything really visible.
I would probably not bother with regular pore filler, using the suggested drywall joint compound or auto body filler. I believe that latter has the advantage of not shrinking as it dries. In any case, you will have some sanding to do.
bilyo & jharveyb,
Thank you for the replies and useful information.
~jtj
Your worried about the bleed. Painted red oak does tend to bleed .Your better off with an actual paint job thankfully than trying to do a wash which people attempt over their red oak cabinets and end up with pink. I have painted over crazy bleeding wood and this is what I did. When your wood is prepped for painting either stripped to bare wood or at least roughed then take pigmented white shellac and give it at least one coat and preferably more. The shellac will help to control the bleed and will stick to pretty much anything short of wax so it should stick to whatever pollution youve overlooked or had difficulty removing. Anything will stick to the shellac. Then go to the paint store,the one that the painters go to because they'll have someone there that actually knows something and you want an 8 grade primer. I've done 3 /4 coats of primer before painting. Your oak shouldn't require all of that . A couple of coats anyway and give it a day or two to see if the tannins bleed through. If it does then keep priming.After that whole process your now ready to paint. Topping with drywall compound is probably as good as anything. Bondo as a skimcoat would be a bitch of a process. There are fillers though that are made for just what your doing. Timbermate is the name of one product. Floorguys use these for filling before sanding to finish floors, they just trowel the stuff across the entire newly laid bare floor.