It's best to hire a professional painter to handle the job. You will save time and your cabinets will look amazing. Painting laminate requires special care, or you will run into problems with paint chipping, peeling, streaking, and not adhering to the surface.
The paint needs the primer to help it bind to the cabinets. Use a bonding primer, a stronger product than a regular primer, to ensure it sticks to the laminate. If you don't prime laminate candidates, the paint may quickly flake or peel.
Yes! It's easier than you think to transform your laminate kitchen with paint. If you use the right products and follow this step-by-step guide you'll end up with a durable and long-lasting finish that will look great for a long time. Even after years of daily use, our cabinets still look perfect.
Although professionally painted cabinets should last 8-10 years there are a few factors that can drastically impact your cabinet's lifetime, requiring repainting only 3-4 years later. How long your kitchen cabinets will last depends largely on the way the paint was applied, and with what tools.
Although they're overall more durable than wood cabinets, laminate cabinets' coating can peel away and weaken over time, and it can be challenging to repair them. This means you may need to replace them after some time.
Tip: Latex paint is recommended for laminate surface painting projects because of its durability and smooth finish. Try ProClassic® Waterborne Interior Acrylic Enamel for lighter colors, and All Surface Latex Enamel Base for deeper hues.
'If you prefer not to sand to rough up the surface before you paint, you still have options that will work great. One option is to use a product called liquid sandpaper. It will chemically interact with the surface of the furniture to dull it and make it ready to paint.
A couple things to note for the laminate cabinet makeover; You could get away with 1 coat of primer, 2 coats of paint, and 1 top coat and it will look great.
Painting laminate wasn't difficult, but I did find it more time-consuming than painting wood. To sum it up, the most important steps are to sand and prime all the surfaces before painting. If you were to skip those two steps, your paint would have nothing to adhere to and would most likely peel right off.
You may need to use paint thinner or paint remover to get it off. In either case, start with a simple homemade solution that gets the job done most of the time. Don't bring out the big guns (caustic chemicals like paint thinner) until you absolutely have to.
And, with that final layer of topcoat dry, you've given a fresh new look to an old laminate countertop. The painted surface is durable, but not quite as resistant to water and scratches as the laminate, so be sure to wipe up spills quickly and avoid scratching the paint as much as possible.
A sure way to recognize wood laminate is when the grain does NOT follow through your piece. Wood Veneer is a sheet or thin layer of 'quality-natural-hardwood' that is adhered to a lesser quality wood surface. Wood Veneers give the impression of a more desired quality wood without being as costly.
The BIN shellac-based primer, Cover Stain primer, and clear shellac primer mentioned above all come in aerosol spray paint cans and are SO good at getting paint to stick to laminate cabinets or furniture.
Can you paint laminate? Yes — and it's actually quite simple. Follow our step-by-step guide on how to paint laminate furniture, including project-specific tips for painting laminate cabinets, desks, coffee tables, bookshelves and dressers.
Go for a self-priming paint that's formulated for use on glossy, laminate surfaces. This cuts out the need for special primers, reducing both expense and time.
Clean the laminate furniture with Krud Kutter to remove all of the dust and any grease or oil from the surface. Repair any scratches or chips in the laminate. Prime with a shellac based primer. Let primer dry before painting.
If your old floors are in bad shape, any new flooring will help. While solid hardwood flooring would add more value, laminate will give your home the look of hardwood at a much lower cost, will look good for years, and your return on investment should be solid.
The laminate material is very durable and scratch-resistant, making it an ideal material for kitchen cabinets. However, it is not indestructible.
Some people are concerned that laminate could look 'cheap', but in fact high quality laminates are now widely available, which feature realistic designs, and even register embossing where the wood grain is mirrored by imprinting on the surface of the plank.