Issues With Painting DIY IKEA Doors | Dendra Doors
Since Dendra Doors was founded by Designers & Contractors we understand the joy of designing and completing a remodel and we are happy to provide DIY options. Though, we also know exactly how expensive a custom IKEA Kitchen Remodel is and how costs can skyrocket when mistakes are made. In this post we cover some of the issues people encounter when they choose to paint DIY cabinet doors themselves.
In this week’s post we hope to clear up some misconceptions regarding the cost of painting your own cabinet doors. Additionally, we cover mistakers people make regarding the materials they choose and how they choose to paint their doors.
The Cost of Painting Your Custom IKEA Doors
In a recent post we covered How to Paint DIY Cabinet Doors. It’s important that homeowners understand that without help from a skilled painter, DIY Painted cabinet fronts will not have the same durability or look as custom painted doors from the manufacturer.
DIY Painted Doors and Durability
DIYers often cut corners on the time they take to cure their paint and polyurethane coats. That, and they often skimp on the paint and sometimes even leave out the polyurethane coat. The end result of cutting corners is a soft finish that takes damage far too easily. For such high-traffic items these mistakes get costly very fast.
The difference in durability between a factory painted versus a DIY painted IKEA door can be night and day. From the factory our finished doors are closer to being car-paint durable while cabinet doors painted based on Hobbyist Tutorials often feel like wall paint. That means they preserve every dent and scratch you throw at them.
the Actual Cost of DIY Cabinet Doors
By far, one of our most inquired about custom fronts for IKEA cabinets is our Painted Shaker Slim door. Though, when folks with a more restrictive budget see that painted doors are a bit more expensive than laminate doors, they start looking at DIY options that they can paint themselves.
Our DIY Shaker Door | Our DIY Slab Door
But, to achieve that same level of quality what does it end up costing them? To have a Contractor paint the doors for them will always cost more than ordering them from the shop. And, to paint their own DIY doors will cost them quite a bit of time if they don’t skip any important steps.
What does that time cost a Contractor or DIYer? What we do know is that to do a professional on-site setup and paint unfinished doors takes about 3X as much time as painting and curing them in the shop.
Problems With Painting DIY Cabinet Doors
What unfinished DIY cabinet doors do provide is freedom. If a client is looking for a more whimsical finish and not concerned about a professional finish, DIY doors do work. We’ve had plenty of Designers and General Contractors that have done some pretty sophisticated custom paint jobs that came out looking amazing. What those successful jobs have in common are the right materials, tools, and setting up a good workspace.
Choosing the Right Kind of DIY Door
For several reasons we recommend starting with an MDF door. As Midland Park Designer Craig Allen points out, with wood doors you have seams and joints that are prone to at least a little separation as the rails and stiles expand and contract. Even when you fill in those gaps as best you can when prepping the doors, it’s difficult to avoid those seams eventually showing up.
Painting Your Existing Doors
Our friend Jeff at HS Design Studio put together a great project outline video when he refinished IKEA cabinet doors (Painting your kitchen cabinets | RENO on a BUDGET!). They turned out looking pretty great. Though, it’s important to point out how he setup his workspace and what type of finish these IKEA doors originally had.
Despite what some folks might tell you, painting over laminate won’t work. If you have laminate doors that you want to paint you will need to remove the laminate, any trace of adhesive, sand, and clean all of those surfaces. The Picky Painters list Not having a furniture grade smooth finish as one of the Top 5 problems with painting your own doors.
Painting Ornate Door Profiles
DIY Slab doors are definitely the easiest to paint, no matter how experienced you are. It is important to point out that the more ornate the profile, the more time consuming it will be to paint them correctly. As you might imagine, the more curves and creases there are the harder it will be to apply the necessary coats of primer, paint, and polyurethane.
DIY Cabinet Door Painting - Materials
As we pointed out in our original post on How to Paint DIY Cabinet Doors, using the right materials to create your desired finish is crucial. Considering that you are applying 3 distinct, complex chemicals to achieve your finished surface finish, it is crucial to:
- The quality Primer, Paint, and Polyurethane used are designed to go together.
- You allow enough time for these materials to do what they are designed to do.
Written by Todd Zimmerman
Producer of the John Webbccast
