In 2024 the price of $6092.00 is the average cost for a professional cabinet refinisher to paint a medium sized kitchen with 44 doors and drawers in Vancouver, British Columbia. The range in pricing is between $5,800 and $10,500. Vancouver Kitchen Cabinet Painting will paint a 44 piece kitchen for $4995.00. Call: 604-PAINTER, 604-724-6837 or email info@604painter.com to take advantage of this incredible price.
The 40 factors and that go into determining the cost to paint kitchen cabinets in Vancover, British Columbia have been categorized into three groups:
Group One: Significant factors Professional Kitchen Cabinet Painting Companies Consider
Group Two: Minor considerations Made By Professional Kitchen Cabinet Painting Companies
Group Three: Associated Costs When Dealing With Professional Kitchen Cabinent Painting Companies.
SIGNIFICANT FACTORS AND MINOR VARIABLES AFFECTING THE PRICE TO PAINT KITCHEN CABINETS IN VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
- Total Number of Cabinets
- Painting Versus Staining
- Spraying The Fixed Pieces
- Grain Filling
- Company With Employees
- Faux Effects
- Pinstriping
- Present Condition of Cabinetry
- Painting Inside Cabinets
- Shelves
- Extra Pieces
- Tricky Areas
- Materials
- Two Tone
- Fill Handle Holes
- Ceiling Trim
- Glass Insets
- Multiple Colours
- Decorative Crown
- Sub Zero Fridges
- Size of The Cabinets
- Wine Rack
- Weight
- Cabinet Substrate
- Behind Fridge
- Crown
- High Gloss Can
- Time Travelled
- Drawer Faces
- Dark Colours
- Reaction
- Transport
- Multiple Kitchens
- Matching
- MacGyverism
- Replacing Hinges
- Replacing Handles
- Adding Soft Closing
- Running Around
- Hiring Carpenter
Significant Factors Affecting The Asking Price To Professionally Refinish Kitchen Cabinets
1. Total Number of Cabinets Most Assuredly Affects The Standard Price To Paint Kitchen Cabinets
It’s the number one variable that affects pricing if you’re trying to determine the cost to hire a professional kitchen cabinet painting company to paint your cabinets. The number of kitchen cabinet doors. Obviously, if you have 65 doors and drawers that will cost more than if you have 30 doors and drawers. Although it’s true that some cabinet refinishers involved with cabinet painting Vancouver, and beyond, will ask you for the square footage of painted doors and cabinet boxes to determine the cost of painting, myself, as a cabinet refinisher who is actually spraying your cabinets in a spray shot and paint booth will want to know the total number of pieces with a breakdown as to how many doors and how many drawers, in total, you have. Remember, we’re doing spray painting here (for the pieces sprayed at the shop anyway) by a professional painter so it’s more than just throwing on a coat of paint and calling it done. The process involves spray painting on a couple coats of KILZ shellac primer /sealer followed by a couple spray applications of epoxy paint so the total number of cabinets is a pretty big thing…..this whole concept of square footage or number of kitchen cabinet doors.
That one factor alone will get me (and any other cabinet refinisher in North America) in the ballpark as to what the overall cost will be to resurface your cupboards. Breaking the overall total down into two numbers; one number for doors and one for drawers is a smart and fair way to proceed. If you have 55 doors and 10 drawers it will cost more than if you have 40 doors and 25 drawers since the doors will (for the most part) be larger than the drawers and there will be more overall square footage. Factoring in large pantry doors will be a consideration as well as a single large pantry door can be counted as “2” or “3” “regular doors”. More about that later.
2. Painting or Staining Absolutely Will Affect The Selling Price To Refinish Kitchen Cabinets
No single variable (other than the total number of doors and drawers and faux finishing) affects the pricing of your kitchen cabinet refinishing job more than whether you decide to paint your existing cabinets or have them stripped down to the bare wood and then stained followed by three top clear coats. This is not just a basic paint job with some good Benjamin Moore cabinet coat applied. Whether you’re cabinet painting Vancouver or beyond, the additional cost involved with stripping and staining turns a $4,000 project into an $8,000 job in a heartbeat due to all the paint removal (stripping) that is necessary to get the old finish off in preparation to take new stain. Most kitchen cabinet refinishing companies won’t even want to re-stain since most lack the skill to do it properly and as a result can sometimes call it a $12,000 job (instead of $8,000) just to scare you away.
And IF they (the professional kitchen cabinet painting company) lands it (are awarded the contract) they will struggle their way through it and learn on YOUR dime. And that 3’rd clear coat that SHOULD be applied probably won’t actually happen as most cabinet refinishers will do two and call it done. “Is it worth it to have my kitchen cabinets stained or should I have them replaced instead?” is ALSO a very common question asked by homeowners.
The short answer is that oak is outstandingly beautiful when stripped and re-stained (then triple clear coated) and maple, despite being a hot mess when stained….can be described as “beautiful” provided you define beauty as “wild hot mess”. Regardless though, it still beats the heck, price-wise, out of replacing everything.
THAT. REMAINS. FACT.
3. Brushing and Rolling or Spraying The Fixed Pieces Will Influence The Amount Of Money Paid To Resurface Cabinets
The fixed pieces or cabinet boxes are the pieces that can’t be removed when your cabinet painter is there to paint your kitchen cabinets. Hence the name “fixed” pieces. Since the doors and drawers are going to be removed and sprayed in a shop some place the question becomes: How to paint the fixed pieces? Brush and roll them or spray them? They can be brush and rolled for a similar look or sprayed for an identical look. If you’re going to be asking how much it costs to have a professional kitchen cabinet painting company paint your cabinets then you had better be hip to the significant difference in price between brushing and rolling of the fixed pieces versus spraying the fixed pieces.
A good professional kitchen cabinet painting company cabinet painting Vancouver can brush and roll the fixed pieces and simulate a sprayed look quite well, in terms of colour, sheen and texture. Provided that high density foam rollers and good artist brushes are used for the painting of the fixed pieces an expert cabinet painting company can score an 8/10 for recreating the sprayed look, and truth be told; you can’t even tell the difference from 3 feet away anyway. #good #value.
So, IF you want to score another two points and go for the 10/10 because you’re the type who wants to scrutinize the fixed pieces from 12 inches away then by all means have the fixed pieces sprayed and budget an additional $2500.00 to have that done. What? Ya, I just said that.
4. Oak: Grain filling Will Significantly Impact The Market Price To Re Paint Kitchen Cabinets
It’s virtually impossible to get oak kitchen cabinets laminate smooth but if that is the desired look then all the cabinetry can be grain filled with a thick plaster like compound then sanded and refilled and sanded again to smooth out the grain and eliminate the undulations. This has to be done to not only the doors and drawers but to the on-site pieces as well done by any refinisher who is engaged in cabinet painting in Vancouver.
Grain filling will turn a $4,000 job into an $8,000 job and a $6,000 job into a $12,000 job. In other words; it doubles the cost thus making the job (perhaps) prohibitively expensive. Oh ya…and you *still* see the undulations so if you were looking for a “laminate” look with those oak cabinets…not happening. Time to buy new if that’s the goal. That will be the only time you hear me talk like that but you have to get superb value or it’s not worth it.
5. Company with employees Inescapably Affects The Sum To Resurface Cabinets
A professional kitchen cabinet painting company that has employees will ALWAYS have to charge more for the company owner to make any money versus a husband and wife team so that one factor alone will add significant costs onto the overall cost of having your cabinets refinished.
 Hire a company with lots of employees if you want to pay a lot |  Best bang for your buck by a country mile |
6. Faux Effects Will Quadruple The Fee And Put You In Debt If You Get Your Cabinets Professionally Painted
This one could actually be the most expensive in a heartbeat if you want to go down the decorative painting road. Funny thing is though that most professional kitchen cabinet painting companies involved with cabinet painting Vancouver and beyond, don’t offer this service. Doing just about any faux effect to your cabinet resurfacing project will skyrocket your price. Whether it’s additive ragging / sponging, the crackle look, marble look or worn look be prepared to pay triple and quadruple the price that you typically pay for “regular” cabinet refinishing in which one simple colour is being sprayed.
7. Pinstriping Naturally Adds To The Expenditure of Refacing Kitchen Cabinet
Pinstriping is a type of “faux effect” so why the separate mention? Only because sometimes it’s a request that is made in lieu of a straight up request for faux finishing in the hopes of making the request for *only* pinstriping seem like it’s not a big deal. Well, it is a big deal…so the whole:
“hey Rick, can you just throw a few stripes on there to make the cabinets tickety boo” can be done so no problemo but “tickety boo” in the pinstriping world will take the average price for a cabinet refinishing job and double it. It takes time, and a lot of it, to add a couple lines of paint or tinted glaze to the crevices of your 65 cabinets.
Time is money, honey.
8. Present Condition of Cabinetry Can Sometimes Add To Your Budgeted Money To Resurface Kitchen Cabinets
A 40 piece kitchen that is in a serious state of disrepair will cost a lot more than the same 40 piece kitchen that is in impeccable condition. The extra cleaning, sanding, filling, re-filling, sanding and double priming required to get the beat up cabinets looking most presentable in preparation for the application of the finish coats is no small thing for a professional kitchen cabinet painting company cabinet painting Vancouver, and beyond. For what it’s worth about 7/10 jobs can be described as in “very good condition” with another 2/10 being in good condition but really greasy leaving just 1/10 that has a starting point of being less than stellar. It’s rare that a cabinet refinisher actually has a kitchen as described above: “in a serious state of disrepair”.
8.1 Delamination Will 100% Guaranteed Add To The Cost To Resurface Kitchen Cabinets Professionally 
Loose and peeling paint on cabinets that are being refinished is a fairly standard thing but a complete failure of the paint whereby it lifts off in sheets (called delamination) will change the whole ball game. What was going to be a $4,000 job could turn into a $6,000 dollar job or a ‘forget the whole thing Honey, let’s replace them instead”. Fortunately, serious delamination happens only 1 in 200 kitchen cabinet refinishing jobs done by any professional kitchen cabinet painting company. That one time is typically due to the cabinets being thermofoiled which is a flexible vinyl material that is applied by heating the vinyl and molding it over medium-density fiberboard (MDF) or engineered wood. So, how much does it cost to paint kitchen cabinets? Lets just hope you don’t run into delamination issues because ANY cabinet refinishing company cabinet painting Vancouver will have to charge to have everything stripped. And that’s no good.
9. Painting Inside The Cabinets Invariably Adds To The Out of Pocket Money To Refinish Cabinets 
Most kitchen cabinet refinishing companies involved in cabinet painting Vancouver, and beyond, do not include, as part of their quote, the painting of any interior of the cabinets. This is due to a number of reasons.
1) It would skyrocket the overall price of the job and scare away customers (not smart)
2) It just isn’t any fun as it’s extra smelly and extra dirty.
“Out of site out of mind” is the best way to go if you’re interested in keeping the overall pricing favorable. What happens most of the time as sort of a ‘middle ground’ is that only the inside gets painted if you can see it through a the glass in some of the cupboards. If you’re taking your natural cabinets and getting them painted all white then it might look a bit odd to see remnants of the original look when you look through the glass cupboards.
10. Shelves Will Add $70 More Per Piece To The Overall Price To Paint Kitchen Cabinetry
If you’re going to be painting inside a few cabinets (behind the glass) then you will be painting the shelves that you find in there. Not only do these shelve have to be primed and painted but an ultra-strong clear urethane automotive coating has to be sprayed on as the surfaces will be subjected to the most abuse in the entire kitchen whenever you remove and replace items. Not only does it have to be scratch resistant but the surface has to withstand objects being dragged and dropped onto it’s surface all day long. So when you’re asking the professional kitchen cabinet painting company you’re dealing with how much does it cost to refinish kitchen cabinets be on the lookout for all those shelves in the cupboards if you’re painting behind the glass.
11. More Pieces Than You Thought Will Unfortunately Add More To The Asking Price To Refinish Your Cabinets
“Honey, you said there was 34 cabinets but the ‘cabinet painting guy’ says there’s 45. Guess your night out with the boys is on hold huh.” –Mrs. Jones–
12. Painting Tricky Area (Crevices) Will, Once In A Blue Moon Add A Little To The Market Price Of Refinishing Your Cabinets
99.9999% of the time the cabinet doors and drawers that are uninstalled from your kitchen for the purposes of being sprayed at your cabinet refinishers shop will spray out just fine. Easy peasy. Despite some of them being “decorative” in nature they don’t present any challengers to the trigger-man and his sprayer can cover the entire surface. Even if multiple thin passes have to be made to some area in between the decorative part it still can get done and look perfect. However! There are “one-in-a-million” type cases where no amount of thin passes with the sprayer will get into the crevices entirely leaving any attempt at such method with a build-up of product on the surrounding surfaces. This is disastrous leaving only one available option to the sprayer: Do those crevices by hand. And to our Chinese customers out there…this would be the personification of the feeling that the phrase “aiyaaaa” is meant to capture. In fact, we may have just entered the world of “aiyoooo!”…you know that level of bewilderment, disbelief and frustration way higher than the level of simply being perturbed that “aiyaa” is meant to capture and embrace.
13. Materials Used Should Always Affect The Fee Involved To Repaint Kitchen Cabinets
A huge factor that affects the overall price to get your cabinets refinished are the materials used. A real professional kitchen cabinet painting company will use the best products so that will cost some money. And it SHOULD! This is not an area you want a professional kitchen cabinet painting company cutting corners in. With so many people resurfacing cabinets these days there seems to be as many types of products as there are applicators. The type of cabinet coating used to refinish your kitchen cabinets is not the area you want to save money in. A $35.00 gallon of “paint” would be the low end of the scale with $80-120 a gallon for some products being the upper end. So the question: How much does it cost to paint kitchen cabinets? had better include some decent money for some respectable cabinet coatings.
14. Two Tone Most Assuredly Adds To The Charge To Resurface Kitchen Cabinets
Two tone is not to be confused with “two colours” although two tone uses two colours. Two tone refers to two colours being applied to each and every cabinet door and drawer versus “two colours” where half the kitchen is sprayed white (usually the top) while the lower section is painted using a second colour. Two tone is more of a decorative technique and prices can increase significantly if your cabinet refinisher has to tape off a section of a cabinet and spray it out while protecting the rest of the cabinet and then removing the paper to then protect what was just painted and then spray the second area not sprayed the first time around. What da? In other words, if you want to get all cutzie with your cabinet refinishing job by having your professional kitchen cabinet painting company get all artistic then the cost of doing your cabinetry will pretty much double. Aiyooooo!
Two-tone cabinets. Two colours on each cabinet.
15. Fill Handle Holes And Drill New Ones Obviously Adds A Little Something To The Valuation When Painting Kitchen Cabinets
If the exact same handles and knobs go back on after the end of getting your cabinets resurfaced then there won’t be any added costs but if you are getting new knobs and handles and they don’t fit into the existing holes due to being different sizes / lengths then the holes will have to be filled and new holes measured and drilled by the professional kitchen cabinet painting company you hire. It typically takes more than a single fill of wood filler to fill a hole properly and make it flush with the surface. Expect to pay anywhere between $300-$800 to fill and drill new holes for a 40 piece kitchen. So, ‘how much does it cost to paint kitchen cabinets?” Factor in something if you’re getting new “pulls”….aka: cupboard handles.
16. Trim on Ceiling Quite Understandably Affects The Value To Paint Kitchen Cabinets
It doesn’t happen often but when it does it an add significant cost onto the bill when you hire a professional kitchen cabinet painting company because now we’re actually not painting “cabinets” per se but areas that ought to be painted to ‘complete the look’ of getting a whole new kitchen without actually going through the trouble of replacing everything. Even with the added cost of ceiling trim it’s still very much worth it to paint your cabinetry as the overall price will be 1/3 the price of replacing. Again, here’s the match. Pay $6,000 (or so) to refinish your kitchen cabinets and get your ‘dream kitchen’ OR spend $40,000 and go through heck for months on end while turning your home into a war zone. Hmmmm, geeeeee…that’s a clos call. NOT! ;>
Extensive trim on ceiling requiring painting.
17. Glass insets In The Cupboard Doors For Sure Affects The Price To Paint Kitchen Cabinets
Mama mia, look at all that glass that has to be taped.
For a professional kitchen cabinet painting company to protect all that glass is time-consuming to say the least. Instead of just spraying the entire pane, or multiple small panes, easy peasy like they ALL have to be meticulously covered so as to not allow a single bit of overspray to go where it doesn’t belong. And if that wasn’t enough then it all has to be removed after the painting is all done. Holy Time Consuming Task Batman! While removing the tape you can’t just start pulling randomly or the tape will ALSO pull off the paint on the cabinet so all areas that have been tapped have to also be ‘scored’ as well prior to removing the tape. “Scoring” is when you take a razer blade and cut along the tape where it meets the glass to break the seal which then allows for a worry-free removal of the tape.
18. A 2nd Colour Adds A Bit To The Project Fee To Paint Cabinetry
Expect to pay anywhere between $400 to $1000 more for an additional colour when you hire a professional kitchen cabinet painting company. Taking your natural cabinets and painting them all white is one thing but the second colour slows up production a few different ways. 1) having to clean out one spray machine perfectly in order to switch over to a different colour 2) the second colour is typically darker and darker colours take a lot longer to dry and cure (due to the extra amount of colourant). This fact alone will add a full day of production, and associated costs, that would not otherwise occur but for the fact that a second colour was used.
19. Decorative Crown Increases The Rate To Refinish Kitchen Cabinets
One of the ways to keep costs down, already discussed, is to have the on-site fixed pieces brush and rolled instead of sprayed. Even if thats your plan your kitchen may have other plans for you. Most kitchens have either no crown moulding regular crown moulding that is oftentimes affixed to the top of the cabinets and runs along just above the upper doors. If this moulding is particularly fancy and decorative then it should really be sprayed for best results. Sure it can be brush and rolled but the cost would be disproportionately high and the job itself would be sketchy due in large part to the inevitable brush marks left by the brush. These areas are virtually a ‘must spray’ area for a professional kitchen cabinet painting company nothwithstanding the fact that the rest of the fixed pieces may not be getting sprayed.
Decorative crown molding must be sprayed.
20. Sub Zero Fridges With Affixed Cabinet Panel Could Add To The Cost To Paint Kitchen Cabinets
Google the phrase “pain in the butt” or “cabinet refinishing sucker” and check out the images Google gives you as a result to your search query. Chances are that the first image they show you will be either a picture of a kitchen cabinet refinisher trying to take that panel off the Sub Zero fridge or even worse, he got it off and sprayed it at his shop only to find out, much to his chagrin and dismay, that it’s almost impossible to put back on. “It , should be easy” you say out loud to the “misses”. Cool, love your confidence (you do it then) but everyone is much further ahead by having those panels stay put and spayed on site.
 Sub Zero fridge getting prepped for spraying |  Sub Zero fridge getting spray primed with lacquer primer sealer |
Minor Considerations That Affect Cost To Paint Cabinetry
21. Size of The Cabinets Can Sometimes Affect The Fee To Refinish Cabinets Professionally
Large pantry doors.
Most cabinet painting companies have an “average price per piece”, irrespective of size. There is an exception to this rule though when dealing with pantry doors. Pantry doors are typically disproportionately larger (in comparison) to the other cupboard doors so they can sometimes be counted as 2 or 3 “cabinets” (instead of 1) when getting an “Official Count” of the doors and drawers.
22. Wine Racks Add To The Amount Paid For Cabinet Refinishing
Most wine racks are exceedingly difficult to paint well and some simply impossible and as such most kitchen cabinet refinisher will not include wine racks as part of their initial quote. “It’s one of the only areas that we can make less than perfect” many a cabinet refinisher has said prior to forging ahead after bumping up the overall cost of painting the kitchen cabinets commensurate to the difficulty of the actual painting.
23. Weight of The Doors Might Affect The Fee Involved When Refacing Cabinets Professionally
Bigger doors are harder to handle and if they’re much heavier as well then that will affect the price. At least thats how most professional kitchen cabinet painting companies feel about it.
24. Type Of Cabinet Substrate Does NOT Affect The Cost To Paint Kitchen Cabinets
Some type of cabinets simply require more work. For example, oak has a very grainy substrate and as such requires a different method of application than laminate or maple. If you spray the primer on oak it won’t seep down into the grain and seal the oil and resins in so the primer has to be brush and rolled in order to push the product deep into the pores. Two coats of brush and rolled primer takes a lot longer than what would normally be one simply spray primer application. Avoiding this method of application and instead choosing to spray the primer instead will lead to ambering (yellowing) as the resins can easily escape as they’re not sealed in due to the spray coat sitting loosely on top of the substrate.
Different types of cabinet doors to be refinished.
25. Painting Behind Fridge
“Out of sight out of mind” is the best way to keep costs down when dealing with the cabinet panels behind the fridge and dishwasher. Particularly the dishwasher in which you actually can’t see behind at all. You can usually see a couple inches of the side panel beside the fridge if you look over the fridge and if you feel that area needs to be painted in order to complete the look then be be prepared to pay a bit for that.
26. Adding Crown Inescapably Adds To The Market Price To Repaint Cabinets
Rick Anderson from Vancouver, BC painting some crown molding. Lots of it! #extra
There is some basic crown molding that is affixed to the top of cabinet boxes who’s cost is part of the “painting of the fixed pieces” pricing. Adding some crown molding *other* than that will add a bit to the pricing. The specific amount will be directly proportional to the amount of crown that needs painting.
27. High Gloss Adds To The Valuation When Painting Cabinetry
The higher the gloss the more of the substrate you can see which means that the higher the gloss the more the flaws in the substrate of the cabinetry will be pronounced. That means more preparation due to more scrutiny from both up close and further distance away. High glosses emphasize EVERYTHING, for better or for worse. Trust me, there are a lot of knicks, indentations and (natural) irregularities you really don’t want to see. It’s your kitchen though so if you insist on high gloss good luck finding a cabinet refinisher who will actually want to do the work and if you find that person then be prepared to pay a bit more. It’s not a *major factor* but it’s a consideration none-the-less. About those “knicks”. One little knick that doesn’t really sand out nor can it be filled, if left alone with a mid-sheen eggshell, velvet or satin sheen will not be as noticeable as the very same knick is if a semi or a high gloss is put on. Now multiple that by thousands of knicks since that’s how many knicks an average kitchen has accumulate over the years of wear and tear. Don’t believe me when I say “thousands”? No problem…hundreds then.
Laminate cabinets are less prone to knick so higher glosses will typically be ok for that substrate. Oak, with it’s undulating grain….even if sealed properly will highlight every single undulation that the grain pattern makes. This is neither “good” nor “bad” but rather a “it is what it is” kind of thing. If you love having the oak grain POP out at you then by all means go with a higher gloss. Most people however find this particular look distasteful. The best approach, psychologically speaking anyway, is to simply reconcile yourself that the cabinet refinishing job won’t look “perfect”. That’s not to say though that you’re still not getting amazing value when the cabinets score a 98/100 as thats *almost* perfect. ;> You’re still light years ahead in terms of pricing as the cost to refinish all your kitchen cabinets will always work out to be 1/3 what it would cost to replace everything.
28. Time Travelled To And From Jobsite Could Occasionally Add To The Market Price To Paint Kitchen Cabinets
Expect to pay $200-$500 more if your kitchen cabinet refinisher has to travel more than an hour to reach the jobsite…in this case, the kitchen in your house. And it’s not just for a single trip. It’s for 4-5 trips.
- Trip #1: Uninstall
- Trip #2: Prepping the fixed pieces
- Trip #3: Priming the fixed pieces
- Trip #4: Painting the fixed pieces
- Trip #5: Installation
Every cabinet painting job is a dream job to a real cabinet refinisher Even if they have to drive forever to get there.
29. Drawer Faces That Don’t Come Off Unfortunately Might Add To The Overall Figure To Refinish Kitchen Cabinets
Most drawer faces just screw off which enables your cabinet refinisher to simply carry the little faces back to their shop to prep and spray them. In some of the older kitchens though the face doesn’t come off so the entire drawer has to be taken back to the shop. Since the inside of the drawer is not getting done is has to be covered in order to spray just the face and not get any overspray onto the drawer.
This is a huge hassle for any professional kitchen cabinet painting company as they are moving around entire drawers instead of little drawers covers and doing all that extra work to protect a bunch of surfaces that should not be part of the equation. Depending on the deal you made with the cabinet painter it can sometimes add $400-$700 onto the job if they call it an “unforeseen condition”.
30. Using Dark Colours Adds A Bit To The Sum To Refinish Kitchen Cabinets
It takes much longer for darker colours to cure than lighter ones so if you’re taking your natural look or the original look of your kitchen and painting the cabinets an espresso or a colour equally dark than that entire kitchen (assuming it’s an average 35 piece kitchen) will take a few days longer than had you chosen all white. This is because most cabinet refinishers spray each cabinet one side at a time and then place the cabinets in racks to dry.
If the cabinets are flipped then sprayed on the other side too soon…as in, before the side facing up has a chance to cure properly then when the cabinets are placed back on the drying racks again to dry (after spaying the back side) then the drying racks will leave indentations or marring on the (front side) coating due to the non-cured product coming into contact with the drying rack. (So, when trying to figure out how much does it cost to paint kitchen cabinets ask yourself whether you’re going with a dark colour.)
The solution is simple.
Simply wait an extra day or two for the one side to cure properly but since time is money, this waiting-game (for the coating to cure) inevitably adds costs onto a cabinet refinishing job as each side of the cabinets has to be sprayed top coat at least two times. Essentially, 3-5 days can be added onto the entire process simply due to waiting for the paint to dry…or cure rather.
Some kitchen cabinet refinishers way of dealing with this waiting game opt to hang their cabinets on a clothesline of sorts and spray both sides at once thereby avoiding altogether this whole notion of marking up the coating due to resting the cabinets on drying racks. This method works out wonderfully for the cabinet refinisher, financially speaking, as they can fly through your order and make more money in less time than cabinet refinishers who opt to spray each piece horizontally while it’s laid flat. Having your cabinets sprayed individually with each one laid flat is an infinitely better method though to ensure a long lasting life of the newly resurfaced cabinets. Here’s why. It’s simple. By spraying the cabinets while they are lying flat the kitchen cabinet painter is able to apply a coating that is 4 times thicker than the cabinet refinisher who sprays them all vertically as he (the vertical spraying guy) has to be very concerned about his epoxy paint or lacquer sagging. He is forced, by this methodology to do very light coats which means over the course of two full spray applications: coat #1 and coat #2 the vertically spraying refinisher has in fact, applied two thin coats and called it “done” versus the horizontal spraying cabinet refinisher who after two spray applications has essentially sprayed on 8 coats; or 6 more coats (in terms of mil thickness) than the vertically-let-me-make-as-much-money-off-Mrs-Jones-as-possible-sprayer-guy. So, one spraying refinisher takes a lot longer but delivers a much better product due to no fear of his coating sagging thanks to his chosen methodology versus again, the spray painter who (it would appear) seems to be more interested in getting it done the fastest way possible. Quality be damned.
31. Getting A “Reaction” Is Rare But Could Certainly Add To The Amount To Resurface Your Cabinets
A professional kitchen cabinet painting company will categorize this as an “anomaly” (a deviation from the common rule) for sure. A “reaction” in the kitchen cabinet refinishing occurs when an applied primer or topcoat ‘reacts’ with the substrate of the cabinet and causes the coating to instantly fail. The result is cratering or a wrinkled look with the solution being a complete removal of existing cabinet coat prior to applying any new coating. These reactions typically occur when the applicator is spraying a hot solvent based coating like a pre catalyzed solvent based lacquer primer overtop of a weaker coating. There can be a significant increase in the cost of the cabinet refinishing job if the applicator insists on continuing to use their solvent lacquer instead of switching to a less toxic coating that would be more suitable for cabinetry that is causing the reaction since the only way that they could continue to use their product of choice would be to strip the entire existing coating prior to applying their own. Most shops or cabinet refinishers who use hot solvent lacquers will typically do a test spot on the back of one drawer before they commence spraying a whole order to see if there is any sign of any reaction.
32. How The Refinished Cabinets Are Transported Has Little Affect On The Price
Protective foam used during transport of finished cabinets
There are about 10 different ways to transport the refinished cabinets and some ways affect the overall pricing very little and some ways…not a lot but certainly something. About $25.00. The cabinets in the picture below have been finished and are on the way to be installed and this is the #1 way in which kitchen cabinets can be transported. It’s $25.00 well spent and is virtually an insignificant pricing factor.
33. More Than One Kitchen Logically Adds More To The Rate To Repaint Kitchen Cabinets
Hey, if you want to throw in a second kitchen into the mix, from the same house no less, then you’re going to be saving some money so feel free to factor that in if you’re trying to figure out if it’s cheaper to paint your kitchen cabinets or replace them. So, the price to paint kitchen cupboards could be seriously reduced by a good 20%-40% if you ask your cabinet refinisher to also paint the kitchen in the downstairs suite.
34. Having To Match Existing Colour In Kitchen Inevitably Adds To The Payment To Reface Cabinets
Having to match an existing colour perfectly is no small task for a professional kitchen cabinet painting company. You may want your newly refinished cabinets to match your existing crown moulding or or entry doors for a consistent look. After all….nobody likes the old ‘hodge podge’ affect where there are varying shades of the same colour. Typically variations of white.
And even though you know your existing colour is “Cloud White” from Benjamin Moore do you know for a fact that the previous painters BOUGHT Benjamin Moore or did they say they did but actually bought a competing brand (for a lot less money that the expensive Benny Moore stuff) and the other company labelled it “Cloud White (match)”.
Even IF you know for a fact that you have CC-40…aka: Cloud White, because maybe you applied it yourself then how long ago was it? Paint fades so when you ask the cabinet refinishers for a “Cloud White” do you mean Cloud White mixed today or Cloud White, your faded Cloud White? Getting concerned right about now? Good, you should be.
The ONLY way to match your existing trim PERFECTLY is to take a piece off, give it to the kitchen cabinet refinisher, have him match it up….spray out a sample….show it to you…THEN you give the “go-ahead”. That all takes time. Like about a week. So budget at least $500 for all the running around. You can, however, save yourself $500 by saything these magic words to the kitchen cabinet refinisher:
“Listen dawg, I’m easy to get along with. Just get it close. A 7/10 is fine…perfection, ain’t nobody got time fo dat”
It’s exactly because of the neccecity of the above routine that 9/10 kitchen cabinet refinishers will politetly decline or not answer your email or calls if your specific cabinetry painting project consiste of :
“only matching up a couple damaged drawers beneath the sink”. (it’s only a couple doors right? How hard can it be?)
The chances of matching the existing cabinetry PERFECTLY in terms of sheen and colour are next to nil. Sure it can be done and there ARE some cabinet refinishers who do this type of work but it takes time. And typically lots of it. And if you call ME up and ask if I can do this for you I have only one thing to say:
“Me no spake Tonglush”….evidence of me standing there in this picture doing that very thing I say I won’t do notwithstanding.
Rick Anderson Holding Up Sample To See If It Matches
35. MacGyverism – Aka: Blowing Up Your Kitchen
MacGyver + -ism, after the US television show MacGyver (1985-1992) in which the secret agent resolves crises through practical application of scientific knowledge and inventive use of common items. An ingeniously improvised solution to a problem.
Richard Dean Anderson as “MacGyver”
So, how did MacGyver make it onto the list as one of the possible variables that helps a cabinet refinisher determine how much it costs for someone to refinish their cabinets? This is how. It’s more of a ‘heads up’ to a customer as a potential cost that will be added during uninstall if they opt to metamorphosize from their mild mannered (insert occupation here) into a MacGyver.
But MacGyver solves problems so what on earth kind of “problem” could possibly arise during a customers uninstall of their cabinets?
It goes like this. There is a price to paint the “on-site fixed pieces”….usually around $700.00 for a 40 piece kitchen as there are two separate trips involved (sometimes 3 trips). Then there is a separate price to paint the doors and drawers at the shop. The price per piece is typically around $75.00.
So, imagine if you will the cabinet refinishers showing up to remove 40 pieces (since that’s what was quoted over the phone or by email). During the uninstall Mr. Jones gets the brilliant idea to shave some price off the painting of the ‘fixed pieces’ by removing the fixed pieces to have them spayed at the shop. WAIT A MINUTE….how can he remove “fixed” pieces if they’re fixed? “Fixed” means they are pieces to the kitchen that can’t be removed…right? Typically, but I will get to that in a minute.
The newly transformed “Mr Jones”…now parading around in his kitchen as MacGyver figures that he doesn’t have to pay any shop fees ($75.00 per piece) for the bunch of new pieces he just manufactured because he just (allegedly) saved the cabinet painter SO much time by not having to paint ALL those fixed pieces when they show up for a couple days to paint all the fixed pieces. He has (by his math) just got the ‘fixed piece’ painting price down from $700.00 to $200 (in his mind) due to decreasing the amount of actual work that has to get done on-site.
What Richard Dean is not accounting for is the fact that the price you charge the “painting of the on-site fixed pieces” (in this example, $700) is NOT based on the number of fixed pieces you have. It’s based on simply having to drive across town back and forth 2-3 times and the actual amount of work done on site is not entirely relevant. In FACT…it’s not relevant at all! WHAT!? Sorry, not sorry Richard Dean and by the way the 80’s called and it wants its hair back. Whether there is a lot of on site painting or a little on site painting is not relevant to the issue of charging for “mobilization”. Want to see this mobilization concept in full affect? Try having us paint just one cabinet for you. First of all we won’t do it and IF we did we would charge $1000. That’s $999.00 to mobilize our labour and $1.00 to paint the cabinet. Wait…I thought you said it costs $75 per piece. OK, thats clever, you got me….how about $900.00 for mobilization and $100 for the cabinet. Now back to your kitchen. So, blowing up your kitchen to dislodge a bunch of pieces in NO WAY saves you money for the painting of the fixes pieces but in fact causes you you to PAY MORE since you DIDN’T get a rebate for the fixed pieces YET you introduced another 10 pieces that have to be sprayed in the shop. So, blow things up all you want Richard Dean but you get jack for your efforts AND you increase the costs (shop fees) all the while unwittingly depleting your budget for the hair salon. After all, you STILL have nice hair. Now, does a cabinet refinisher factor in AT ALL the actual amount of on site painting for their price? Sure, but, for all the reasons stated above, not nearly as much as a customer could ever realize. Until now that is.
Associated Costs With Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing
36. Replacing Old Hinges 37. Replacing Handles and Knobs 38. Getting Soft Closing 39. Getting The Cabinet Refinisher To Get All of The Above 40. Hiring Carpenter To Reconfigure Existing Layout of Cupboards
36. Replacing Old Hinges Increase The Price To Resurface Kitchen Cabinets
Replacing old Euro style hinges is not a big deal as most hinges come off easily and go back on easily and on occasion a few have to be replaced because it’s rusty. No problem. The challenge comes in though with the older kitchens and the ‘old style’ hinges / plates that can be found with older oak kitchens. It sounds easy enough to say to the cabinet refinisher ‘just go to Home Depot and replace those’ but that typically turns out to be a sucker play with the cabinet painter being the sucker. Here’s why. The chances of getting an “identical” hinge with the 3 holes in the same part of the plate so that the hinge can easily go back into the existing holes is almost zero. Moreover, the actual configuration of the hinge may look exactly like the ones you’re replacing but oftentimes they’re slightly different with the difference not being easily noticed to the naked eye.
To simply forge ahead with these hinges because they’re “close enough” will come at a cost and most professional kitchen cabinet painting companies won’t get involved in this aspect of the process as they don’t want to become a partner in your misery. WHAAT?
37. Replacing Handles Adds To The Sale Price To Reface Cabinets
When you’re deciding how much it costs to hire someone in Vancouver, British Columbia to refinish your kitchen cabinets you might have to factor in the price to buy new handles and new knobs. Most professional kitchen cabinet painting company’s don’t supply new hardware so be prepared to do a little shopping yourself. I personally recommend Home Depot, Lee Valley, Richelieu and of course Amazon. Amazon Prime if you want to have the package delivered to you from the other side of the world in 7 minutes.
38. Getting Soft Closing Unavoidably Increases Price To Refinish Cabinets Professionally
Although it’s not part of the cabinet refinishing itself and so your cabinet refinisher won’t charge you for it you can add ‘soft closes’ to make the doors and drawers close more softly.
39. Having The Cabinet Refinisher Run Around Increases The Sticker Price To Resurface Kitchen Cabinets
Time is money and no professional kitchen cabinet painting company will include in their initial quote to paint your cabinets the cost to go out and get new handles or hinges. They have one million other things they would rather be doing than going to Home Depot to get half your order and then driving over to Lee Valley to pick up a few more with another trip to Richelieu to complete the order only to find out they can’t in fact complete it.
If, for whatever reason you can’t do that for yourself then budget $800 for a days running around. That would be $400 for the running around and another $400 for the psychological stress and don’t forget the other $700 + for the handles and hinges themselves.
Thinking about replacing your cabinets at this point instead of refinishing them? Don’t, you’re still way further ahead by refinishing them. Psychological stress notwithstanding. Who’s this runner guy here. That’s the cabinet refinisher going out to get stuff for you not moving fast enough.
40. Hiring Carpenter To Reconfigure Existing Layout Will Add To The Price To Professionally Repaint Cabinets
Most professional kitchen cabinet painting companies will not be able to reconfigure your kitchen by taking down a few cabinets here and there and then making and installing new ones. That’s the job of a cabinet maker. For repair type work you can hire a carpenter and not the cabinet maker. Either way, your budget should allow for these modifications and although these costs are not part of the kitchen cabinet painting price, per se, they are nonetheless a very real cost towards the overall process of getting your kitchen cabinets refinished.
Who is Rick Anderson and why listen to him?
Does he have the trustworthiness to be talking about the pricing for kitchen cabinet painting?
Does he have the authority to speak on the subject about the costs involved in kitchen cabinet refinishing?
Does he have the expertise to be writing information on the internet about the pricing for painting kitchen cabinets?
Does he even have permission to be on the internet?
Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness of Rick Anderson
1980-1981: Marik and Stuart Painting: Toronto, Ontario, (Painter)
1981-1982: College Pro Painters: Oakville, Ontario (Painter)
1982-1984: College Pro Painters: Toronto, Ontario (Painter)
1985-1986: College Pro Painters: Oakville Ontario (Franchisee)
1986-1987: Anderson & Maloney Painting: Toronto, Ontario (Owner)
1987-1990: Certa Pro Painters: Toronto, Ontario (Painter)
1990-1994: Pro Beach Painters. Toronto, Ontario (Beaches). (Owner)
1994-1995: Certa Pro Painters. Toronto, Ontario (Painter)
1995-1996 Certa Pro Painters. Ottawa, Ontario. (Painter)
1996-1998 Certa Pro Painters. Vancouver, British Columbia (Painter)
1999-2010: Vancouver’s Best Painters, Vancouver, British Columbia (Owner)
1999-2010: Vancouver Industrial Painting. Vancouver British Columbia (Owner)
2010-2021: Vancouver Kitchen Cabinet Painting, Vancouver British Columbia (Owner)
2010-2021: 1-800-PRO-PAINTER, North America (Founder)
2016-2021: America’s Best Painters, North America (Founder)
2015-2021: Painters Chatroom, World Wide (Creator)
