I need Tips for painting my Kitchen Cabinets

[Astyle954]

I have to agree with many others. Painting is a mistake. Id at least get a other appraiser to verify what I was being told. Painted cabinets rarley look good. Good luck.

[dean c]

How much could white cabinets possibly affect an appraisal if at all?

[Roddy]

prime with oil base primer or zinnsers BIN water base primer ( Actuallya shellack product ). Top coat with Benjamin Moore Advance. Clean up with water. Use a small mohair 4 inch roller , it will flow out almost as good as a spray job. Like said earlier remove door from hinges and do one side at a time for best results. Or paint in place to save drying time, then clean each hinge one at a time. Also sand well before and in between all coats. 220

I just did this, but sprayed my doors. Real good advice and Advance is great paint.

[starman971]

I've seen 4 sets of wood kitchen cabinets painted(my daughter and 3 of my buds). None of them would pass as top notch cabinets you would see at a cabinet shop. The closest ones were a maple finish and they were spray painted grey. The other 3 were oak. Two were sprayed and one was with a quality roller. Two to four weeks time was the minimum time spent and the grain of the oak showed through on each of them. It changed the appearance of the kitchen overall, until you got close to the cabinets. Like others, I'd give them a good cleaning and treatment and let well enough alone. Chances are the buyers are going to want to upgrade the outdated things anyway. Just my opinion.

[flyingwillie]

Houses are selling well beyond appraisal value in most areas. I’m betting the cabinets will look worse after you do them given your experience. You are being very naive IMO.

[DanR]

So I've helped a few people tackle this job and it's BRUTALLY slow. Done properly by a professional on-site, they'll be at it for a week. DIY for the first time and not too familiar with painting? More like two weeks+ because guaranteed you'll redo some stuff as your first door will look horrible vs your last as you get better at doing it and it will be very frustrating. You'll be sanding like crazy, dust everywhere... just overall it's not a fun project. And the faster you try to to do it, the worse it gets. I also would not recommend doing this with a brush or roller... Any home inspector the potential buyer gets is going to point out the cabinets have a cheap coat of paint on them if the buyer didn't see it themselves.

As others have mentioned, chances are your buyers will gut the entire kitchen unless you had ceramic floors, fresh granite or quartz countertops, modern backsplash etc. But if the entire kitchen is as dated as the old style built-in oak cabinets, the paint won't help... the buyer is going to shred it.

Btw I also DETEST all white kitchens... makes me think of a hospital or something and I shudder at the though of keeping it clean. I have a huge classic style kitchen with reddish brown cherry cabinets and very elaborate wood work that anyone that comes over says WOW! I wouldn't dream of painting it white and my wife hates that style as well. Although I do think those 70s/80s style built-in oak cabinets in that yellow/orange color are pretty brutal as well.

I would just clean everything up and sell as is.

This thread brings back memories! Here's my first kitchen rebuild I ever did... at this point I had ripped out the wall of the small bedroom that was next to the kitchen. After this, I ripped out all the parquet flooring and ceramic and subfloor so I could sister some of the floor joists and re-level the floor. Note the cabinets ;)

[Fx20 2011]

Looks like everyday contractors grade cabinets. Not my taste but the counter tops would go as soon as I moved in. With that said I don't see it making a big impact on anything to a future buyer. Except maybe the hardware.

You did get some good information on painting. It is a lot of work and not all that fun.

The real question is how much how much of an increase do you expect from an amateur paint job? The bottom line, is it worth the time? I just don't see it? What numbers are you being promised on the return?

[Upstate Gamecock]

We are moving but not up-dating anything . Our realtor said you won't get your $$ back from up-dates because you don't know what potential buyers want . They may prefer the wood grain look over painted . If that is the case , can't take paint off . All the HGTV and DIY tv shows say is up-date . I'll take my chances.

[retiredmechanic]

I think the numbers are in the realters head. He's trying to get you to spend your money and time to make it easier for him to sell and not showing you anything that says you will get that money back.

[Duece22]

We are moving but not up-dating anything . Our realtor said you won't get your $$ back from up-dates because you don't know what potential buyers want . They may prefer the wood grain look over painted . If that is the case , can't take paint off . All the HGTV and DIY tv shows say is up-date . I'll take my chances.

The difference is, you sound more realistic and not expecting updated and move in ready price. He seems to think painting the kitchen will make up for the 30-50k short appraisal.

[JStew]

My wife & I are realtors. I’d never suggest painting your cabinets. Nothing against oak, just too much pronounced graining. You paint maple, birch, or poplar - not oak. The issue is the colors of the stain / varnish vs. today’s popular colors. Without changing out flooring, countertops, backsplash, lighting, sink, faucet - it’s just an old kitchen with owner painted cabinets. That won’t sway an appraiser’s opinion of value. As it is - they match the wall trim.

We do routinely work with sellers on updating. Anything spent that won’t return substantially to the net proceeds is best left to the buyer to be creative with their money and imagination. Appraisers aren’t stupid. They put in 2500-3000 hours of schooling and apprenticeship, another 1000 hours to be FHA certified, and another 750 +/- to be VA certified. This all before they can work independently. The house is what it is, and will be valued accordingly. $100 in paint won’t add anything without all the other items upgraded. Unfortunately appraisers can’t value the house because of what life’s dumped on you. They have to be completely objective. The overall housing market depends on accurate objectivity and true valuations. They’re the hall monitors. I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it is the truth.

[rboren]

It does not matter much to value but if the woman involved likes the kitchen the house is sold!

[Crankin]

Hey Guys, Thank you all for the comments. I have decided to not paint the kitchen and do a few little things that might help. I'm adding a backsplash, refreshed the cabinets with a wood refinisher, and removed and replaced the hardware. I will just hope that the new appraiser won't give me the lowest rating on upgrade.

[Fx20 2011]

That sounds like a decent plan to me. What ever you do I hope every thing works out for you.

[Justfishing]

People are willing to pay. But modern kitchen and bathrooms appraise higher. It's on the buyer to pay the difference if that's what they want to do.

Thing is, the higher it appraises the more you're going to get.

In the OPs case will he get more given the age of the other items in the kitchen ie counters flooring etc. He didnt say if he had a prepurchase appraisal from an appraiser or was it a market analysis. Appraisers have a client, in the case of a mortgage it is the lender. The appraiser is not allowed to give any information to anyone other than his client that is the lender. So where is this information coming from to paint the cabinets? The appraiser doesnt report to the lender and say hey if they paint the cabinets I can up the appraisal another $15K. It doesnt work that way.


I dont think a licensed appraiser was involved. When an appraiser gives a value whether its verbal or any other format he has done an appraisal. He is required to have a file with analysis and market data to back his "appraisal". An appraiser is subject to liability when they give an opinion of value. He can be sanctioned by his state licensing board or in some cases sued.


Will redoing a kitchen, bath etc ad value. The Association of Realtors put out a list of home improves and the increase in value. It is never a multiple of the cost but rather a percentage, usual the range of 50-70%. I looked up a minor kitchen remodel. The cost was $26k and increase in value is $19K for a 72% return. Painting cabinets is not even a minor remodel.

The best advice is give the buyers a clean, well maintained property. If the kitchen, bathrooms and mechanicals function then the buyers can changes thing as they see fit when their budget allows. If a bathroom or kitchen doesn't function for its intended purpose then fix it or suffer a hit in value.

[bassboogieman]

I can't imagine that painting those cabinets will gain much of anything. They look just fine to me. Your time and effort to paint, and if you haven't done it before, may not result in a great look - then what are you going to do? I'd leave it as is and with the housing market you should do just fine. If a prospective buyer doesn't like the kitchen they can remodel it to their taste. My inlaws sold their home about a year ago and their realtor told them they had to paint the entire interior. They worked hard doing it themselves with some help from family in a couple weeks. House sold first weekend, $25k over asking price and what did the buyer do? Right, had painters in there painting the whole house before they moved in. All that work was a wasted effort.

[Roddy]

I didn’t see they were oak. The grain will show and they won’t look good.