Bathroom and Kitchen Cabinet Finish Selection - Help Needed

[Bob Elliott]

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I am making a vanity and medicine cabinet for a bathroom remodel I plan on doing this winter in our house. Soon after I plan on making cabinets for our laundry room and finally the kitchen. We bought this house 3 years ago and everything inside looks like 19890.

I want to put a durable finish on these cabinets. I am looking for suggestions on what I should use. I have a friend that swears by conversion varnish. I read articles online that said it is difficult to apply and expensive.

What finish do you apply to kitchen and bathroom cabinets? I want to apply a finish that will be durable and easy to work with.

Thanks,

Bob Elliott

[Jim Becker]

I don't finish these things any different than I do furniture projects. Dye (if appropriate), oil, shellac and then water borne top coat. There are a number of different options for the latter that offer increased performance including alkyd emulsions, high performance urethanes and conversion varnish type finishes...all are easy to use.

[John TenEyck]

Easy to work with means waterborne to me, plus it's a lot safer to use. Durable means you want something that is KCMA rated. There are quite a few choices from General Finishes, Target Coatings, and of course, Sherwin Williams and the other large finish companies. I've never found one at a big box store, however. Of the ones I've used I find GF's EnduroVar to be the most durable, and their Enduro Clear Poly is a close second. I've never used conversion varnish. I know it's durable, but I've read several stories about it being difficult to use. It's also really expensive.

John

[Prashun Patel]

I have had Enduro Clear Poly on my master bath cabinets for a year+ now and I am impressed. I cannot speak to how they would fare in the kitchen, but the finish was easy to apply, and has not had any problem with moisture. Granted, we do not clean it with chemicals.

[jack duren]

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I am making a vanity and medicine cabinet for a bathroom remodel I plan on doing this winter in our house. Soon after I plan on making cabinets for our laundry room and finally the kitchen. We bought this house 3 years ago and everything inside looks like 19890.

I want to put a durable finish on these cabinets. I am looking for suggestions on what I should use. I have a friend that swears by conversion varnish. I read articles online that said it is difficult to apply and expensive.

What finish do you apply to kitchen and bathroom cabinets? I want to apply a finish that will be durable and easy to work with.

Thanks,

Bob Elliott

There's nothing special in kitchens and bath finishing. i use to spray a lot of polyurethane, but because of time i moved to Pre cats. A bit dangerous thou...

[Andy Giddings]

Finished our cabinets with General Finishes Milk Paint and a couple of top coats of GF High Performance. No issues at all with wear.

[Wayne Lomman]

I use pre-cat lacquer for most things and 2 pack polyurethane for bench tops of if special durability is required. Conversion varnish is a halfway two pack that I gave up on years ago. It has low solids as well as being expensive. By comparison, 2 pack polyurethane has twice the solids and is easy to use. John is right on when he says you won't find the good stuff at a big box. Cheers

[Bob Elliott]

No big box buying here...unless there is a tool on clearance I can't live without.

I tend to go to local lumber yards and hardwood dealers. I also like specialty paint stores. I'll check with these types of places to see what's available. I am leaning toward the GF EnduroVar. It sounds like what I am after but I am open to other options.

I have a big compressor and a decent spray gun so I can use those tools to apply the finish. I am also open to using a brush if that will work too.

Thanks for the advice.

Bob Elliott

[John TenEyck]

Bob, EnduroVar sprays best through a pressurized cup. If you don't have a pressurized cup, you may want to add about 5% water so you can use a smaller orifice which will help it atomize better.

Just a note on GF's HP Poly. That is an incredibly easy product to spray and it looks great. However, it's not KCMA rated, and for good reason. Anything with ammonia in it chews right through it; anything greasy will destroy it if left on it for an extended period of time. How do I know this? I'm repairing some lower doors of a kitchen rehab I did about 5 years ago where I used HP Poly. Some grease drippings slowly dissolved the finish and the owner's efforts to remove the grease with Fantistic or 409 added to the damage. Same thing around the door knobs on the cabinet holding the garbage basket.

Now when I want the look of HP Poly I use Enduro Clear Poly. Sprays just as easily, looks just as good, and is very durable. It doesn't have the UV stabilization package, however, which is why I used it on that job.

John

[Bob Elliott]

Bob, EnduroVar sprays best through a pressurized cup. If you don't have a pressurized cup, you may want to add about 5% water so you can use a smaller orifice which will help it atomize better.

Just a note on GF's HP Poly. That is an incredibly easy product to spray and it looks great. However, it's not KCMA rated, and for good reason. Anything with ammonia in it chews right through it; anything greasy will destroy it if left on it for an extended period of time. How do I know this? I'm repairing some lower doors of a kitchen rehab I did about 5 years ago where I used HP Poly. Some grease drippings slowly dissolved the finish and the owner's efforts to remove the grease with Fantistic or 409 added to the damage. Same thing around the door knobs on the cabinet holding the garbage basket.

Now when I want the look of HP Poly I use Enduro Clear Poly. Sprays just as easily, looks just as good, and is very durable. It doesn't have the UV stabilization package, however, which is why I used it on that job.

John

What is the full name of General's HP Poly? I want to look it up on thier web site and need the name. What does HP stand for?

Will their EnduroVar handle grease and ammonia?

[Jim Becker]

HP = "High Performance"...

[John TenEyck]

What is the full name of General's HP Poly? I want to look it up on thier web site and need the name. What does HP stand for?

Will their EnduroVar handle grease and ammonia?

Yes, better than any other WB product I've tested or used, and better than several oil based products I tested it against. Ammonia containing cleaning products had no effect with several hours of exposure.

John

[Bob Elliott]

Here's a question I wondered about for a long time: How would floor finish work on cabinets? It is very durable. I would be concerned about runs in the finish. No, I haven't tried it but always wondered if anyone has and what results they got.

[Jim Becker]

Here's a question I wondered about for a long time: How would floor finish work on cabinets? It is very durable. I would be concerned about runs in the finish. No, I haven't tried it but always wondered if anyone has and what results they got.

There's a good chance that it will not look nearly as appealing as a finish designed for the purpose will. Floor finishes tend to be thicker and also "less clear" due to the abrasion resistance properties designed into them for obvious reasons. (Polyurethane came about from floor finishing...)

[Bob Elliott]

I figured there were reasons why floor finish wasn't used for woodworking projects. I put down Bona waterborne finish on maple flooring that I put down throughout my last house and I was amazed at how well it held up to foot traffic. I wondered if it could be used for cabinets because it wore so well.

Thanks for the advice. I think I am going to look into getting some General EduroVar for my cabinets.

Bob Elliott