TLDR: How do I tell a good cabinet painter from a cheap one?
Ask about prep, primer, and cure time. Those three answers separate a finish that lasts from one that chips at the handles inside a year, and they are also where cheap quotes quietly cut corners. This guide gives you the specific questions and tells you what a good answer sounds like. If you want a proposal that spells all of this out, here is our cabinet painting service in Shelby Township.
Why cabinets punish shortcuts more than walls
A painted wall gets touched rarely. Kitchen cabinets get opened with wet hands, bumped by dishes, wiped down with cleaners, and grabbed at the same spot on the same door several times a day.
They also start dirtier than any other surface in the house. Years of cooking grease settles into the finish around the range, and paint does not bond to grease. Not with a better primer, not with more coats.
So the questions worth asking are not about paint brands. They are about what happens before the paint.
Ask: how will you clean the cabinets before sanding?
What you want to hear: a degreasing step, named specifically, before any sanding.
Why it matters: sanding greasy cabinets drives the grease into the scratch pattern you just created. Every cabinet failure we get called to repair traces back to either this or cure time.
If the answer is “we scuff them up and prime,” that job will fail around the range first.
Ask: which primer are you using on my surface, and why?
What you want to hear: a primer choice tied to what your cabinets actually are.
Different surfaces need different primers. Raw or stripped wood, previously painted wood, slick polyurethane over oak, and laminate or thermofoil are four different bonding problems.
Why it matters: thermofoil and laminate specifically need a bonding primer rated for slick surfaces. Use a standard primer and the finish can peel in sheets. If you have thermofoil and the quote does not name a bonding primer, that is a real gap, not a technicality.
A painter who answers “we use the same primer on everything” is telling you they do not adjust for your kitchen.
Ask: are you spraying or brushing, and where?
What you want to hear: doors and drawer fronts sprayed, frames sprayed with proper containment where possible.
Why it matters: spraying is most of what you are paying for. It produces the even, furniture-like surface people picture. Brushed cabinet doors show strokes, and on a flat slab door they show badly.
Frames attached to the wall are the honest complication. Some painters spray them with masking and containment, some brush them carefully. Either can look good. What you want is a straight answer about which, not a vague one.
Ask: how long between coats, and before hardware goes back on?
What you want to hear: real dry time between coats, and cure time before reinstallation and normal use.
Why it matters: this is the corner cheap jobs cut, because time is the one cost you cannot see on the invoice. Cabinet coatings need to harden, and hardware reinstalled onto a soft finish leaves impressions and chips at exactly the spot your hand goes.
Be suspicious of a large kitchen promised finished overnight. That timeline is not physically compatible with a durable cabinet finish.
Ask: if I have oak, how are you handling the grain?
What you want to hear: either grain filling included as a named step, or an honest statement that grain will show.
Why it matters: Shelby Township is full of 1980s to 2000s kitchens with open-grain oak. Paint does not fill that grain. Both choices are legitimate, but you should pick, not find out later.
If a quote promises a glass-smooth painted oak finish and contains no grain filling step, the math does not work. Ask directly.
Ask: what exactly is included?
Get these on paper before work starts.
Door and drawer count the price is based on
Cabinet interiors included or not
Hardware removal, reinstallation, and whether new hardware means filling and drilling
Number of coats
Protection for floors, counters, and appliances
Final walkthrough and touch-up
Timeline with the days your kitchen is disrupted
A verbal scope is where disputes come from. A written proposal is not a formality.
Ask: are you licensed and insured, and can I see recent cabinet work?
What you want to hear: yes to both, and photos of cabinet jobs specifically.
Why it matters: cabinet painting is a different skill from painting walls. A contractor with an excellent interior portfolio and no cabinet photos may be learning on your kitchen.
Ask for recent local work. A painter who works in your area regularly can show you kitchens near you.
Questions worth asking that are not about paint
Who is actually in my house? Employees or subcontractors, and the same crew throughout or rotating.
What happens if something gets damaged? A clear answer before the job beats a negotiation after.
How do you handle color selection? Cabinet color behaves differently than wall color in the same light. We have sent a paint consultant out to help homeowners with exactly this, and it is the room where the help matters most.
What does the finished walkthrough look like? Someone should walk it with you before the job is called done.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the cheapest quote always the worst?
Not always, but find out where the money came out. Compare interiors, grain filling, and coat count first. A quote that is cheaper because the scope is smaller is honest. A quote that is cheaper because prep was shortened will cost you a repaint.
Should I supply the paint?
Generally no. Contractors work with coatings they know the behavior of, and warranty conversations get complicated when the homeowner supplied the material.
How soon can I use my kitchen normally?
You will have counters and appliances throughout. Cabinet doors come back after the finish has cured, and normal daily use follows shortly after. Any painter should give you specific days, not “a few.”
What if I do not like the color once it is up?
Cabinet color reads differently at scale than on a chip. Ask about a sample on an actual door or an inconspicuous piece. Changing course after a full kitchen is sprayed is an expensive correction.
Do I need to empty my cabinets?
Yes, at least everything behind doors being painted. Most painters will tell you what needs to come out and when. Ask so you are not doing it the morning the crew arrives.
Cabinet painting in Shelby Township, MI
Ask us every one of these questions. We would rather answer them up front than fix a finish that failed because somebody skipped the degreaser.
Get your free written proposal. Call 586-991-6555.
