Original bungalow kitchens are small, closed rooms with solid wood or plywood cabinets that have often been painted several times already. Cabinet painting in these houses starts with the old layers, because what is under the top coat decides how the job is done.
Applewood Acres was built by G.S. Shipp and Son on former apple orchards south of the Queen Elizabeth Way, starting in 1952. The streets carry apple names like Russet, Melba and Harvest, and many of the houses are one-floor bungalows and side-splits with the kitchen tucked at the back. Applewood Heights followed later in the 1950s around Dundas Street and Tomken Road.
Many owners of original Applewood bungalows like the size and shape of their kitchen and simply want it to look fresh. Bungalow cabinet painting keeps the layout, the window over the sink and the built-in character while giving the room a clean, modern colour.
Soft whites, warm creams and pale sage suit these smaller rooms, since they bounce light from the single window around the space. A deeper colour on the lower cabinets works too. We usually suggest a satin sheen for bungalow cabinet painting, because it hides the small dents and old repairs that sixty years of use leave behind.
Most original bungalow cabinets were built in place by carpenters. The boxes are plywood or solid softwood, the face frames are nailed on, and the doors are flat slabs or simple panels. That construction is strong, and it is the main reason cabinet painting makes sense here.
The problem is the finish, not the wood. Many of these doors have been painted by three or four owners, with brush marks, drips and chips stacked on top of each other. Hinges have been painted over, and doors no longer close flush because the paint is too thick on the edges.
Houses built before 1960 were often painted with lead-based paint at first. The first Applewood Acres kitchens date from 1952 to the mid-1950s, so an original layer may still sit under the newer coats. Paint made for indoor use in Canada has been almost lead free since the early 1990s, but that does not help the bottom layer.
We test before we sand. A quick test kit or a paint chip sent to a lab tells us what we are dealing with. If there is no lead, the job runs as normal. If there is lead, we skip dry sanding and heat guns, keep dust contained, clean with a HEPA vacuum, and seal sound old paint under the new finish rather than grinding it off. Doors with thick, failing lead paint may be better replaced than stripped.
Painting over sound old paint is the faster route. If the layers are tight, we clean, scuff and prime them, then spray the new enamel on top. The finish looks new, and the old paint stays sealed underneath.
Stripping makes sense when the build-up is so thick that doors will not close, or when the layers are cracking and lifting. Stripping is slower and costs more, and on doors with lead it must be done with contained chemical methods, never by dry sanding. For badly damaged doors, a new matching door is often cheaper. Compare the routes under refacing and new doors.
A bungalow kitchen looks small, but the openings add up. Uppers run to the ceiling, there are narrow doors beside the window and often a broom closet or pantry cupboard at the end. Twenty to thirty pieces is common, so the cabinet painting quote can read higher than the room looks.
Many of these kitchens also have a built-in pantry, a linen cupboard in the hall or shelves in the basement rec room with wood panelling. Doing them while our gear is already in the house saves money, and pantry and built-in cabinet painting shows how.
Many original doors have one small knob or old surface-mounted hinges. Fitting modern pulls means drilling new holes from a template and plugging the old ones before primer. Old painted-over hinges are cleaned or replaced, and some doors are drilled for hidden hinges.
Each knob, pull or hinge change shows up as a separate cabinet painting quote line. Choices are listed under hinges and hardware.
We visit, count the doors, test the old paint and tell you plainly whether painting over, stripping or replacing makes the most sense. The bungalow cabinet painting quote is written and free. Call +1 (289) 206-9979, send us the address or read about everything else we do.
Bathroom vanities, pantry cupboards, laundry cabinets and basement bars in side-splits get the kitchen's primer and enamel.
We unhang every door and drawer front, strip off the grease, scuff and prime it to suit its material, spray on a tough enamel and put it back up. Kitchen cabinet painting recolours the whole room while counters, sink and flooring stay exactly as they are.
See Kitchen Cabinets
Oak lets brown tannin seep up through water-based primer, and its open grain telegraphs through colour unless it gets filled. So the first coat in oak cabinet painting is always a shellac-based primer that seals the tannin in.
See Oak Cabinets
With refinishing, the worn topcoat comes off by stripping or sanding, new stain balances the colour, and a sprayed clear layer protects the wood. It is our pick over paint when the timber is the most attractive feature of the kitchen.
See Refinishing
Spray equipment breaks the enamel into a fine mist that settles into one even film, with no brush lines or roller texture. That is the difference between cabinet painting that looks factory-made and a finish that looks homemade.
See Spray Painting
Shiny factory doors call for a bonding primer built to stick to slick faces, since an ordinary one just lets go. Sound melamine and laminate accept cabinet painting well, while thermofoil that has started lifting needs stripping or replacing first.
See Thermofoil and Melamine
With refacing, fresh doors and drawer fronts go onto the boxes you already have, and the frames are sprayed to match them. We can also swap just one or two damaged doors and finish them with everything else during cabinet painting, so the fix blends in.
See Refacing and New Doors
Two-tone cabinet painting puts one colour on the uppers and a deeper one on the lowers or the island. Plenty of people paint only the island, which is usually the simplest way to give the room a fresh centrepiece.
See Two-Tone and Islands
Painting a bathroom vanity usually takes one or two days, and the room is back in use quickly. We treat vanity cabinet painting as a full job, with primer and enamel chosen for daily steam and splashing.
See Bathroom Vanities
A condo galley usually has ten to fifteen doors and turns around quickly. Condo cabinet work depends on planning the elevator booking, the parking and the odour control with the building before any work starts.
See Condo Kitchens
Pantry cupboards, laundry cabinets, closet doors, bookcases and rec room bars go through the same steps as a kitchen. Since nearly all of them are fastened to walls, they are coated where they stand inside a plastic enclosure.
See Pantries and Built-Ins
We plug old knob holes until they disappear under the new colour and bore new ones through a jig so pulls line up exactly. While doors are off for cabinet painting, worn hinges are replaced with soft-close hinges.
See Hardware and Hinges
Our most requested shades are white, cream, greige, sage, navy and charcoal, but a tiny paper swatch rarely predicts how any of them will look at home. Our cabinet painting colour process sprays one of your real doors and leaves it with you for a few days.
See Colour ConsultationWe come out, count every opening, name the material and put the job in writing, free of charge.
Any detail helps, from door style to the year the house went up. We will call to pick a time, and only a name and phone number are required. If you would rather talk, call +1 (289) 206-9979.
