How to Refinish Kitchen Cabinets
Anthony Carrino, who co-hosts HGTV’s “Kitchen Cousins” with his cousin John Colaneri, co-founded Brunelleschi Construction with his father in New Jersey in 2004. As a part of his job, Carrino supports on-site operations, manages project timelines and negotiates with vendors and subcontractors. He also learned a thing or two about remodeling kitchens. eHow spoke to Carrino, whose show airs at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time Wednesdays on HGTV, about the finer points of refinishing kitchen cabinets.
eHow: What is the first thing people need to know before tackling a project like refinishing their kitchen cabinets?
Anthony Carrino: There are so many different ways you can refinish your cabinets. The important thing to do first is to identify if you’re going to be staining your cabinets or if you’re going to be painting your cabinets. Once you understand which direction you want to take, you should consider how much work it takes. If you’re doing it yourself, staining is much easier and better to do than painting your cabinets. As far as painting your cabinets, we just don’t recommend doing it yourself. Period.
eHow: Why is that?
AC: It’s not going to turn out well. The professionals are going to do it with an air gun. They’re going to get a clean, even finish in a controlled, dust-free environment. The paint is going to adhere properly. It’s going to dry properly. You’re not going to have any brush marks or roller marks. They’re going to put on two or three air gun coats where they’re going to really build up the thickness of the paint, thereby building up the durability. I can’t tell you how many times people have come up to us at home shows and job sites and said, 'I repainted my cabinets and they’re chipping already and it’s been under a year.' It’s not something we recommend doing by buying a gallon of paint and a roller and a brush and doing it.
eHow: Which one is better – paint or stain?
AC: Neither one is better or worse. It depends on the look you’re going for. Paint is going to give you many more color options and it will cover wood grains and give you a flat surface. Stains are going to make your wood cabinets either lighter or darker and essentially expose the existing wood grains.
eHow: Do you have to know what kind of wood you’re working with before you refinish your cabinets?
AC: The type of wood doesn’t matter as much as stripping and sanding the wood. It’s all about the preparation of that wood so the surface is ready for the stain. If you were going to paint it yourself, you have to scratch up the surface really good so the paint has something to adhere to.
eHow: If you do stain your cabinets, should you go with a stain that’s similar to your floors or an existing stain color in your house, or should you mix it up?
AC: You should definitely mix it up. If you try to match the stain on your cabinets to the stain on your floors, that’s not going to look good at all. With stains, you want to be three or four shades away, minimum. You want to create visual separation between your cabinets and your floors without a doubt.
eHow: Is the project labor intensive? Do you need a whole weekend and several people to help you?
AC: The time and amount of help you need really depends on the size of your kitchen. The more people you have helping you, the faster you can get it done.
If you’re going to be staining the cabinets, you can do it yourself. Before you take all the doors off the hinges, we recommend that you put tape on the back of each door and tape on the inside of each cabinet. Then you should number where each door goes. You also can’t stain your doors inside your home. The fumes are pretty dangerous. You should take them outside to a garage (or other) area where you’re not going to be sleeping in the environment or where you can smell the fumes and get headaches or anything like that. Stain everything, let them dry and reattach all the doors the next day.
