Cabinet painting in Grand Junction is the best-value change you can make to a kitchen: a fraction of the cost of replacement, finished in under a week, and close to a factory finish when it is sprayed rather than brushed. We have been doing it here since 2011, and every kitchen carries a nine-year written guarantee on workmanship.
Your estimate is free and itemised by door and drawer count, and it includes a full hour with a colour designer who tests colours on your own doors in your own light.
What every cabinet job includes
- A free on-site estimate, counted door by door and drawer by drawer
- One free hour with a trained colour designer, colour and sheen written down
- Every door, drawer front and hinge numbered and bagged per opening
- Full degrease, scuff sand and a bonding primer matched to the existing finish
- Tannin blocking on stained or lacquered oak
- Doors and drawer fronts sprayed flat, boxes masked and sprayed in place
- Three to four thin coats of cabinet-grade enamel, Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore
- Interiors of the boxes masked so overspray stays out of your cupboards
- Written product, colour code and sheen record for future touch-ups
- A final walkthrough with you before any payment is due
- A nine-year written workmanship guarantee, issued with your paperwork
How our cabinet process works
Label and remove
Every door and drawer front comes off and gets numbered so it goes back exactly where it came from. Hinges and hardware are bagged per door. Soft-close mechanisms and any damaged hinge get noted so they can be replaced before rehanging.
Degrease
A purpose-made degreaser, worked into the profiles and the areas around the cooker and the bin, then rinsed. Cabinet coatings bond to clean substrate, so this is where the durability of the whole job is decided.
Scuff sand
We knock the sheen off every surface so the primer has a mechanical key as well as a chemical one, then vacuum and tack off the dust before priming.
Bonding primer
A bonding or shellac-based primer, chosen for the existing finish. On previously stained and lacquered oak we also block tannin bleed, which otherwise comes through white paint as a yellow-brown shadow within weeks. Open oak grain gets filled first if you want a smooth face rather than a grain-through look.
Spray
Doors and drawer fronts sprayed flat in a controlled space so the coating levels under gravity. Boxes are masked and sprayed in place, with the cupboard interiors and the worktops sealed off. Three to four thin coats rather than one heavy one, sanded lightly between coats.
Cure
Cabinet enamels are touch dry in hours and fully cured in days. We give you the number for the product we used, and we ask you to keep doors open a crack and stacked items off the shelves until it passes, because a cured film is what resists the handle edges.
Rehang and walk through
Hardware back on, doors levelled and adjusted so the gaps line up, bumpers fitted, then we walk it with you and hand over the colour codes.
Why cabinets are different from walls
Harder wear than any wall
Kitchen cabinets carry cooking grease, get touched dozens of times a day, and get wiped down with cleaners. No other painted surface in your house takes that combination, so the coating has to be harder, better bonded and smoother than anything on a wall.
Grease has to come off first
Grease has to come off chemically before anything bonds to the door. That is why a purpose-made degreaser is the step the durability of the whole job rests on.
Slick finishes need a bonding primer
A factory finish or a laminate face is too slick to hold paint on its own, so it needs a bonding primer to key into.
Doors have to be sprayed
A door face is flat and lit from the side by kitchen light, so it needs to be sprayed: brush texture on a flat panel stays visible for the life of the finish.
This is exactly what the free colour hour is for. We test on your actual doors, in your actual kitchen, at more than one time of day. It costs you nothing and it prevents the most expensive mistake in the job, which is repainting a kitchen twice.
Painting versus replacing your cabinets
- Painting makes sense when the boxes are sound
- Painting makes sense when the doors are solid wood or a good laminate
- Painting makes sense when the layout already works for you
- Replacement makes sense when the boxes are water damaged or sagging at the shelf line
- Replacement makes sense when the layout itself is the problem
- Replacement makes sense when a thermofoil skin has lifted from the board underneath
- We tell you what we find at the estimate, because a coating is only as sound as the substrate under it
There is also a middle option. New doors on existing boxes, or a mix where we paint the boxes and you replace two failing doors, is often the cheapest route to the kitchen you want. Most kitchens we look at, though, are straightforward paint candidates.
Paint and technique we actually use
Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore cabinet lines.
Waterborne alkyd or urethane-modified acrylic enamel, sprayed. These level to a hard, smooth film on cabinetry; standard wall paint stays soft and prints under a fingertip.
Shellac-based or bonding primer to block tannin, plus grain filler if you want a smooth face.
Bonding primer, because the surface is too slick for a mechanical key alone.
Satin or semi-gloss. Satin is more forgiving on older doors with minor imperfection, semi-gloss wipes down more easily around the cooker and the bin.
Usually left as they are, or sprayed to match if you want the insides done.
Days, not hours, before heavy use. We give you the figure for the exact product on your kitchen.
Satin and semi-gloss both clean well, and we will set out the trade-off so you can pick the one that suits how your kitchen gets used. Our crews work to Painting Contractors Association standards throughout.
What cabinet painting in Grand Junction costs
Priced mostly by door and drawer count rather than kitchen square footage, because the labour is in the doors. What else moves your number:
- Door and drawer count. The count, not the floor area, is the main driver. An island and a pantry add openings.
- Existing finish. A previously painted door needs less bonding work than a lacquered oak or a laminate face.
- Colour change. Going white over a dark stain needs more coats and more blocking than refreshing a similar shade.
- Door profile. A raised panel with mouldings takes far longer to spray and sand than a flat slab door.
- Grain filling. Optional on oak, and it adds a full day or more.
- Hardware. Refitting existing handles is quick; new hardware with a different hole spacing means filling and drilling.
See what it costs to paint kitchen cabinets. Your estimate is itemised, so you can see each part and adjust the scope.
Talk to Us About Your Painting Project
Common questions
How long does it take?
Usually three to five days. The kitchen is usable for most of it, though you will be without doors for part of the job. The sink, cooker and fridge stay in use.
Can you match an existing colour?
Yes, including matching an island, trim or a piece of furniture. We spray a sample door and check it in your kitchen before committing the rest.
Will it chip?
Cabinet enamel that is degreased, primed, sprayed and fully cured holds up to daily handling. That is what the nine-year written workmanship guarantee sits on top of.
Do you spray or brush?
Spray. A door face is flat and side-lit, and brush texture on a flat panel stays visible.
Can you paint laminate or thermofoil?
Laminate yes, with the right bonding primer. Thermofoil we look at first and tell you what we find, because a thermofoil skin that is already lifting off the board underneath needs the door replaced rather than coated.
Do you replace hardware?
We can fit new hardware you have bought, or refit the existing. If the hole spacing changes we fill and re-drill as part of the job.
Can we still use the kitchen?
Yes for most of the job. Boxes are sprayed one run at a time, and we tell you the evening before which cupboards need emptying.
Where we do this work
Across Grand Junction and Mesa County, and out to Montrose. Same pricing, same crews, same nine-year written guarantee wherever you are.
