Painting cabinets

Aug 31, 2012
173
150
43
Need help from the pack. Our kitchen was ruined a couple of months ago because of a plumbing issue.
I have settled with insurance, and my question is, the cabinet painter wants $4500 to paint. Mind you not pricing for all cabinets, just paint.
I have a medium sized pantry, 12 doors and 6 drawers
Is this out of line
What ye say?
 

dorndawg

Well-known member
Sep 10, 2012
7,008
5,105
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Sounds pricey but everything does these days. I do know cabinets aren't going to be easy to paint to where they look right, and there's a WIDE gulf in quality from painter to painter. I'd of course get another quote or two.
 
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soccerdad

Member
Apr 16, 2019
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I just got an estimate on a 15 x 12 bedroom, 10 ft ceilings, double closet and bath at $1600, 2 coats, no paint. I would get another price but if that includes paint, it is $85 a gallon, contractors price $70, get the very best paint that's only a $100 difference overall. Your going to look at it every day so get a good painter, ask around.
 
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DAWGSANDSAINTS

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2022
1,674
1,426
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It’s high but not too bad.
You can save some money by taking off the cabinet doors yourself and the hardware and putting them back on.
 

Eleven Bravo

Active member
Aug 31, 2018
614
273
63
Need help from the pack. Our kitchen was ruined a couple of months ago because of a plumbing issue.
I have settled with insurance, and my question is, the cabinet painter wants $4500 to paint. Mind you not pricing for all cabinets, just paint.
I have a medium sized pantry, 12 doors and 6 drawers
Is this out of line
What ye say?
That’s a little pricey to me, especially considering I just finished paying to pay someone to paint a huge part of the inside of our house. They painted a 14x16 bedroom, master bedroom (22x16), den, living room (with one entire wall of cabinets/bookshelves), large master bath (lots of cabinets), pantry, two hallways and a large foyer. Ceilings are 9’ minimum and 22’ vaulted ceilings in living room and master bedroom. Our kitchen is large and the painters removed over 40 cabinet doors and took them to his shop to paint the doors and drawer fronts. He sprayed them at his shop as he is set up for spraying there. When he finished them they look like an auto paint job-smooth as glass. He bought the paint my wife picked out from either Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore. He sold to us for exactly what he paid for it. We didn’t go cheap on the paint-we bought what he recommended. I’ve known this guy and his wife for as long as I can remember. They work together, and when we built our house 22 years ago they did the original painting. They have about 40 years experience painting. They painted our ceilings, walls, cabinets-everything. Our total cost, including paint came in at about $5100. Yes, I think you owe it to yourself to get additional estimates based upon what we just had done here.
 

MSUGUY

Member
Oct 11, 2020
346
199
43
Need help from the pack. Our kitchen was ruined a couple of months ago because of a plumbing issue.
I have settled with insurance, and my question is, the cabinet painter wants $4500 to paint. Mind you not pricing for all cabinets, just paint.
I have a medium sized pantry, 12 doors and 6 drawers
Is this out of line
What ye say?
That’s really high, keep looking
 

MSUGUY

Member
Oct 11, 2020
346
199
43
That’s a little pricey to me, especially considering I just finished paying to pay someone to paint a huge part of the inside of our house. They painted a 14x16 bedroom, master bedroom (22x16), den, living room (with one entire wall of cabinets/bookshelves), large master bath (lots of cabinets), pantry, two hallways and a large foyer. Ceilings are 9’ minimum and 22’ vaulted ceilings in living room and master bedroom. Our kitchen is large and the painters removed over 40 cabinet doors and took them to his shop to paint the doors and drawer fronts. He sprayed them at his shop as he is set up for spraying there. When he finished them they look like an auto paint job-smooth as glass. He bought the paint my wife picked out from either Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore. He sold to us for exactly what he paid for it. We didn’t go cheap on the paint-we bought what he recommended. I’ve known this guy and his wife for as long as I can remember. They work together, and when we built our house 22 years ago they did the original painting. They have about 40 years experience painting. They painted our ceilings, walls, cabinets-everything. Our total cost, including paint came in at about $5100. Yes, I think you owe it to yourself to get additional estimates based upon what we just had done here.
That’s more like it, similar experience for me.
 

thatsbaseball

Well-known member
May 29, 2007
16,605
4,079
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All paint jobs aren't the same. What are your cabinets made of, what surface prep (sanding etc) do they need/intend to do and are they going to spray or brush and how many coats ? $4,500 sounds like a lot but your cabinets may take a lot of work to be done right.
 
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Shmuley

Well-known member
Mar 6, 2008
22,288
5,182
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Need help from the pack. Our kitchen was ruined a couple of months ago because of a plumbing issue.
I have settled with insurance, and my question is, the cabinet painter wants $4500 to paint. Mind you not pricing for all cabinets, just paint.
I have a medium sized pantry, 12 doors and 6 drawers
Is this out of line
What ye say?
Small job. No return business. Good f’n luck.
 
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Uncle Ruckus

Well-known member
Apr 1, 2011
11,863
2,019
113
new cabinets? repainting? Are they stained? Are they using a lacquer? Just really depends on what is going into it. If it’s just a repaint, then that’s ridiculous. I painted in college and ended up doing estimates and supervision towards the end. I can give some advice on what you should do if you need
 

TaleofTwoDogs

Well-known member
Jun 1, 2004
3,547
1,208
113
I had an enclosed panty ( 8' x 5') added to my kitchen about six months ago. The job included finish out of base and ceiling boards and raised panel door. He charged me $2,000 all in. Other bids were as high as $5,000. Home improvements is definitely the one area that the owner needs patience and an understanding of work involved. Like other posters said get at least 3 bids unless you have a history with this contractor and trust him.
 

horshack.sixpack

Well-known member
Oct 30, 2012
9,063
5,065
113
Need help from the pack. Our kitchen was ruined a couple of months ago because of a plumbing issue.
I have settled with insurance, and my question is, the cabinet painter wants $4500 to paint. Mind you not pricing for all cabinets, just paint.
I have a medium sized pantry, 12 doors and 6 drawers
Is this out of line
What ye say?
It's not hard to do yourself. It's tedious if you do it with brush/roller, but just takes time/patience. I highly recommend Sherwin Williams ProClassic Interior Waterbased Acrylic-Alkyd. It cleans up with water but it provides a finish like oil based.
 

Boom Boom

Well-known member
Sep 29, 2022
1,942
1,091
113
Need help from the pack. Our kitchen was ruined a couple of months ago because of a plumbing issue.
I have settled with insurance, and my question is, the cabinet painter wants $4500 to paint. Mind you not pricing for all cabinets, just paint.
I have a medium sized pantry, 12 doors and 6 drawers
Is this out of line
What ye say?
New cabinets for my kitchen redo ran about $20k. I believe we got quotes for redoing the cabinets and it was like $15k. If it's quality work resulting in like new cabinets, then it's not out of line. A quality job involves a lot more than just slapping some paint on it. I would imagine he's taking them down and transporting them to his shop where he can precisely paint them, then transporting back and reinstalling. If he's painting them in place, it's high, both in terms of labor involved and quality of work.
 

vhdawg

Well-known member
Sep 29, 2004
3,898
890
113
I just got an estimate on a 15 x 12 bedroom, 10 ft ceilings, double closet and bath at $1600, 2 coats, no paint. I would get another price but if that includes paint, it is $85 a gallon, contractors price $70, get the very best paint that's only a $100 difference overall. Your going to look at it every day so get a good painter, ask around.
Damn my wife needs to pay me better.
 

ronpolk

Well-known member
May 6, 2009
8,117
2,609
113
I don’t know if that is a fair price or not but it’s a high enough price that I’d probably just do it myself
 
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Crazy Cotton

Well-known member
Aug 26, 2012
3,034
770
113
Painting kitchen cabinets is a very different process than slapping flat paint on a sheetrock wall. If they're oak, then there's a multi-step filling process because of the pores in the wood. For that price I'm gonna assume he's doing some kind of a 2-stage spray process, which is about the only way to get something that doesn't look like some chucklehead rolled on some latex. And that's the only thing that's going to last any amount of time; kitchen cabinets get a ton of abuse. Quite a few contractors have YouTube videos showing the process.

You might be better off ordering prefinished doors and drawer fronts, and painting or veneering the the carcass of the cabinets. That would give you a lot of options in terms of updating the look and hardware because doors and drawer fronts are pretty much the main thing you see with cabinets. There's quite a few door specialty manufactures and the big advantage is they'll apply a better finish in-house that is more likely to be consistent and long lasting. All you have to do then is hang them.
 
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Aug 31, 2012
173
150
43
new cabinets? repainting? Are they stained? Are they using a lacquer? Just really depends on what is going into it. If it’s just a repaint, then that’s ridiculous. I painted in college and ended up doing estimates and supervision towards the end. I can give some advice on what you should do if you need
They are brand new cabinets raw wood
 
Aug 31, 2012
173
150
43
Painting kitchen cabinets is a very different process than slapping flat paint on a sheetrock wall. If they're oak, then there's a multi-step filling process because of the pores in the wood. For that price I'm gonna assume he's doing some kind of a 2-stage spray process, which is about the only way to get something that doesn't look like some chucklehead rolled on some latex. And that's the only thing that's going to last any amount of time; kitchen cabinets get a ton of abuse. Quite a few contractors have YouTube videos showing the process.

You might be better off ordering prefinished doors and drawer fronts, and painting or veneering the the carcass of the cabinets. That would give you a lot of options in terms of updating the look and hardware because doors and drawer fronts are pretty much the main thing you see with cabinets. There's quite a few door specialty manufactures and the big advantage is they'll apply a better finish in-house that is more likely to be consistent and long lasting. All you have to do then is hang them.
Yes it is primed, painted, sanded, and painted again
 

WrapItDog

Well-known member
Aug 23, 2012
4,273
650
113
I had some paint and drywall repair done on a property in Gulf Shores last month due to a pex plumbing leak in the attic. The painting and remodling guy charged me $55 per man hour plus materials. Job took 67 man hours ($3685) plus paint & materials for a total of $4100ish. 1st two days was one guy doing the ceiling drywall repairs. Then a crew of 2 or 3 guys days 3 & 4 moving furniture, covering stuff, and painting.
 

Treemydawg

Member
Sep 29, 2013
272
43
28
He’s not out of line with the price if he is a good painter. Painting cabinets is a process and done correctly takes time. There’s always someone who could do it cheaper, but you also get what you pay for.
 
Last edited:

Dawgbite

Well-known member
Nov 1, 2011
6,216
4,631
113
Mr Bite worked for Sherwin Williams for 35 years. I'll ask her tonight but based on my tornado recovery and reconstruction, if you can get someone to work at any price, it's a bargain.
 

Dawgbite

Well-known member
Nov 1, 2011
6,216
4,631
113
She says that's not out of reason. If done properly they should remove the doors and spray them and brush the styles.
 
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