Paint sprayer for a novice?

[Greg Urwiller]

My wife and I have considered redoing our kitchen by painting our kitchen cabinets. They're basic big box oak cabinets with arched doors. I thought we'd replace the doors with a shaker style and have them painted and paint over the cabinets themselves. I've never painted before so we'd hire it done. Well, now my daughter and her husband just bought a house and want to paint their cabinets. So, guess who everyone's looking at to do the two jobs?!!!! What would be a decent sprayer for me? I've never sprayed before so this will be a first. Help! Thanks. Greg

[Curt Harms]

Do you have a decent sized compressor? Can you get the compressor and cabinets close to one another? Guns that work with a compressor are less $ than turbine HVLP units and put out less air so less dust kicked up. I've only ever used a Porter-Cable conversion gun (works with a compressor) and Earlex HVLP so don't have enough experience to say one type is better than the other. Conventional wisdom is that to spray 'latex' an airless system is preferred. Something like tinted lacquer is likely to work better with traditional spray guns and might be a better choice for cabinets. I've sprayed 'latex' with the Earlex but I diluted it with floetrol and distilled water more than what's recommended. It was a utility application where quality of finish wasn't all that critical. I did overcoat the thinned 'latex' with slightly thinned water based poly. So far so good on durability.

Edit: Are you planning to paint the cabinets in place? If so I'm not sure spraying would be the way to go, and certainly not airless.

[Greg Urwiller]

Well, yes kind of figured on it. We've painted vanities before with brushes/rollers and never liked the results. We were under the impression that most redo jobs were done this way.

[Curt Harms]

Well, yes kind of figured on it. We've painted vanities before with brushes/rollers and never liked the results. We were under the impression that most redo jobs were done this way.

I've thought about spraying with the Earlex in a finished space, never had the courage (or good sense) to try it though. I've used the Earlex in a semi-finished garage and could find no evidence of overspray. A finished room might be a different story. A good HVLP setup may have 90% transfer efficiency, e.g. 90% of the material ends up where you intend. Where does the other 10% end up? Perhaps if everything nearby were masked well it would work work but I wonder if it would be easier to remove the cabinets, clean them well, paint them and rehang.

[Mike Wilkins]

I repainted our kitchen cabinets using a roller. I sanded the old finish to give the wood some 'tooth', and then used the 4" foam rollers from Lowes. The finish worked well, only needing a tough-up once a year around the knobs. Use a good quality paint that is made especially for cabinets.
A sprayer is on my wish list for a future purchase.

[John TenEyck]

Oak will show the grain through the paint unless the finish that's on them was done so that it filled the grain. I like grain showing through on painted oak, but many people don't.

I would spray them in place. If you are going to the trouble of repainting the cabinets you probably are doing other remodeling in there as well. Just mask off and cover what you don't want to get overspray onto and spray the faceframes and sides in place. The doors and drawer fronts you can remove and do flat somewhere else. There is going to be overspray, no way around it, but if you use a water borne paint it will be just about dry by the time it lands on anything and easy to vacuum up. The top end Earlex should do a good job for you, and you can easily justify the price vs. hiring the work done. Find your paint first, and then match the needle/nozzle you need for the paint's viscosity when you buy the sprayer. Most of all, get some scrap and practice spraying until you are satisfied with your results.

Cleaning and surface preparation are keys to success, especially with a painted project.

Which paint. BM Satin Impervo is well regarded. SW's alkyd Pro Classic is very nice, too, though not water borne. Their water borne version requires an airless sprayer.

John

[Steve Obarowski]

The paint used, and the prep you do prior to painting is as much (if not more) important then the application.

When it comes to paint I personally like Cabinet Coat by Inslx. It levels like no other and dries rock hard. It also does not require a primer but I have always primed with Ben Moore Fresh Start N02300.

For a sprayer I recommend the graco truecoat sprayer which you can pick up at lowes. It has a dial which allows you to spray all kinds of paints, varnishes, lacquers, etc without thinning. I have done many kitchens over and built cabinets from MDF and maple using these products without one complaint.