Questions About Kitchen Cabinet Painting In Vancouver

I decided to cut and paste an email that I got and replied to since it contains some important questions about painting kitchen cabinetry.

Thank you for your thoughtful questions.  Washability, in fact, *scrubability is extremely important so we use products that are very scour proof.  In terms of rolling vs spraying we in fact do both all the time.  As professional applicators who are experts in both approaches and can make brush and roll look like its been sprayed…no brush or roller marks and perfect glass-like uniformity of sheen, we generally reserve the right to use either method.  Having said that;  some customers have expressed to us that that is all well and good but would prefer a sprayed finish just the same, because in their estimation, and perhaps experience and maybe statements made by friends not excluded by the hearsay rule..the sprayed look gives more of a ‘factory finish’.  That observation is not entirely without merit which is why we continue to spray out cabinetry more than ox tail brushing and high density foam rolling…. notwithstanding our perceived ability to make a brush and roll application look like a sprayed finish.   In short, if you want them sprayed we will happily spray them…the pricing is the same regardless of methodology.

We do not prefer semi gloss latex over lacquer at all.  Both can work out quite well.  One challenge with the lacquer is the fact that its more translucent and therefore requires more coats which bumps up the price on both the labour and material side.  Also, white lacquer can amber (turn yellow) over a number of years whereas the latex semi always remains true to its original colour.  This issue doesn’t really come into play with off whites and darker colours.  Lacquer, in my experience is more scour proof than latex semi although you will find a ton of people telling you otherwise.  Retailers will tell you this untruth because they want to sell a user friendly product and painters will say its so because they lack the requisite experience with lacquer.  And again, lacquer tends to influence the overall price to do the job in a disproportionately high way.  The solution we have found is in the product known as Melamine, which definitely looks like a lacquer finish.  The cabinets depicted on our site were all done in Melamine.  The one downside with Melamine that we don’t have to address too often at all is that it only comes in semi gloss..which is only a downside if you prefer more of an eggshell finish.  95% of the cabinetry we do has a semi gloss finish.  So, if you like a glossy finish then you’re almost home free and no, Melamine doesn’t amber like lacquer does, which in your case seems like a non issue anyway.

In terms of timing we can paint any time you wish and the whole process will take approx 5 days.  We have at our disposel what seems like every colour under the sun and I would be happy to show you what *I believe to be ‘expresso’ and a white or an off-white that will compliment it.  It also might behoove you to visit a paint store or two and pick out what you like and then we can compare notes and take it from there.

Your last point is well taken and I can assure you that your cabinets will look every bit as immaculate as the ones depicted on our site.

Thanks again for your discerning questions.

Regards,

Rick Anderson

www.vancouversbestpainters.com

cell: 604-PAINTER

From: Loni Johnston [mailto:Loni_Johnston@shaw.ca]
Sent: Saturday, January 30, 2010 8:27 PM
To: Vancouver’s Best Painters
Subject: Re: Painting

Hi Rick,

Thank you for the quote and reference letters.

I have a few questions:

Does the paint you use work well in kitchen?  For example, does it wash well.

Why do you roll and brush the kitchen carcasses instead of spray them? (is it visibly obvious the difference between spray and roll/brush)

Why do you prefer semi-gloss latex over lacquer?

When will you be able to paint our kitchen and how long does it take?

Do you have standard white and espresso color you normally use or do we provide the paint chip?

We spoke of a kitchen you have on your web site.  You mentioned that the kitchen was painted to a high standard for $5,000.  I understand that kitchen is bigger but I just want to make sure that you are quoting us a price that would make my kitchen painted to a high standard.  (for example, we would expect both sides of the doors to be painted well).