Cabinet Painting Questions From Guelph Homeowners

In 2026 most Ontario kitchens come in somewhere from $2,500 to $5,500. A small kitchen can start near $1,500, and a large or two-tone kitchen climbs to $6,000, $9,000 or beyond. By the door, the market sits around $130 to $250. None of those are our prices; the only figure that applies to your kitchen is the quote written once we have visited.

Yes, by a wide margin. Refacing runs $3,000 to $10,000 for an average kitchen and a replacement kitchen runs $15,000 to $40,000 and beyond once counters and plumbing are counted. Cabinet painting keeps the boxes, the counters and the layout, which is where the saving comes from.

Yes. The boxes are finished in the first two or three days and can be used as open shelving that same evening. The doors are at the spray booth for one to two weeks, and the kitchen is fully back together when they are hung.

A sprayed coat is thinner, more even and free of brush marks, and thin coats cure harder and flex with the wood. Sprayed cabinet painting is expected to last a decade or more where brushed work often fails in three to five years.

2K polyurethane is a two-component coating that gets its hardener mixed in right before spraying; it hardens within about a day and beats every other cabinet finish for wear and water resistance. Waterborne alkyd enamel has one component, sprays and levels well, but needs a week before normal use and a month to fully harden. Both are low-VOC, and the quote states which product is specified.

Gently for the first week and normally after that. 2K polyurethane is hard in a day, while waterborne enamel wants about a week before normal use and roughly a month to cure fully. Soft cloths and mild soap only during that first month.

Yes, provided a grain filler goes on over the primer in two or three passes and gets sanded level ahead of the topcoat. Oak also wants shellac primer so its tannins cannot bleed through as pink or yellow patches. Some people prefer to keep the grain, and the quote prices both.

Melamine and laminate can, over a bonding primer made for slick surfaces. Thermofoil can be painted only while the vinyl film is still stuck down everywhere. Once a door has begun peeling near the dishwasher or stove, it must be taken back to bare MDF or swapped for a new door, since paint cannot glue the film down again.

It changes the prep. Paint older than 1980 can carry lead, so it gets tested before anyone sands it, and if the test is positive the loose paint is removed wet or with a shrouded sander and the sound layers are sealed under primer. Chipped edges are feathered smooth so they do not show through the new finish.

Not unless you ask, because interior cabinet painting adds time and cost that most people would rather not pay, and the insides of closed cabinets are rarely seen. Open pantries and glass-front uppers are the exception. Interiors are always a separate line on the quote.

Yes. Any major deck colour can be tinted into the cabinet products, then a door from your kitchen gets sprayed in that colour and sheen so the decision happens on a real door under the room's light.

Yes, the work is fully insured. The written quote lists every step and product, so you can see what was specified for each door and drawer.