Hello,

I'm trying to find a very inexpensive way to freshen up my kitchen cabinets by repainting, however I cannot seem to achieve a professional look with the paint job. Maybe cause I'm not a professional!

The finish is coming out very bumpy if I roll or with lots of brush strokes if I brush. Here is what I tried...

1) Remove thermofoil. Easy enough
2) Prime with Zinsser cover stain primer.
3) Sand and 2nd coat of primer
4) Sand again and paint with Sherwin Williams Solo semi-gloss with Floetrol additive
5) Wait 24 hours, sand and add 2nd coat

The attached picture shows the door I did with a mini foam roller. It was better than the brush (a good quality Purdy) which had very prominent brush marks. It doesn't have to be a mirror finish, but I am looking for a very smooth texture when I'm done. Any help?

 

Foam rollers are awful because they can put air into the paint. And latex paints dry so quickly they sometimes tack up before they flatten out. Did you sand your coats of primer? The trick is using a primer that sands to a powder. Don't know if that one does. A 1/4" nap mohair roller might give better results.

 

Rollers will always give a stipple finish. Spraying is the only way to get a completely slick finish. While I've used 1/4" mohair rollers with oil base enamel I've never used it with latex. With oil [which tends to level better than latex] it still leaves an orange peel surface.

You might try tipping off the paint with a brush after you roll it on. That means taking the tip of the brush and lightly going over the rolled on paint while it's still wet. Often a rolled finished works best for a novice painter ... and most will get used to the orange peel after a while.

 

Probably one of the nicest finishes is white lacquer, sprayed, of course.