Birch Cabinets - Re-finishing


  #1  
Old 06-15-07, 10:28 PM
M
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 2
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Birch Cabinets - Re-finishing

I have solid birch cabinets with a white stain or glaze on them. The glaze is very transparent - it is a finish that was popular about 15 years ago when the house was built and was apparently an expensive upgrade (we're 2nd owners). I don't hate them, but want somethine that is more "me" and updated. My husband and I have seen some beautiful treatments that are a sagey green color with a black glaze. This would look fabulous with our Emerald Pearl granite, which is basically black with big green sparkly chunks in it. I have also seen looks similar to what we want done in both paint with a glaze and with two colors of stain. I have painted just about everything that doesn't move, but have never done any real large staining or glazing projects and am a little nervous. I do luckily have a large extra door with which to practice. I don't really care if the new finish is transparent so that the wood grain shows through or a solid painted finish with a glaze on top. I just like the look of the green with the black and want the easiest method of the two.

I'd also like to either paint the island glossy black or a very deep emerald green and distress it a bit - is it imparative to use oil based paint for this?

The finish on the cabinets is pretty worn. I replaced the hardware and the finish is a completely different color where the old plates were removed - the finish seemed to fade with time. I don't think the finish is poly, or it wouldn't be wearing off so much - at least I hope.

What is the best way to prepare the cabinets for re-finishing? I abhor major sanding and avoid it as much as possible - but will bite the bullet if I have to. I have refinished cabinets before by degreasing and coating with tinted poly to darken and refresh the wood color. It looked really nice, but that easy way out won't work with what I have now.

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. I would really just like to hire someone to do it, get a perfect outcome and forget about it, but I don't want to spend the fortune that I know it would cost - there are LOTS of cabinets and they are extra tall. No wonder painters get paid so much. Truly an art.

Oh, I also live in Houston with really high humidity so the drying time for glazes, stains and/or oil-based paints is a little longer, if that matters.

Thank you.
 
  #2  
Old 06-26-07, 09:42 PM
M
Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 8
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Not sure if I understood everything that you wanted, but one thing you might consider is using a black paint, then sanding it down so only the paint in the grooves of the grain remains, then paint over with a green milk paint which let's the wood below show through. You could try this on a small piece of your test door to see if you like the effect. I ran across a good article on distressing techniques at http://www.generalfinishes.com/tips/waterbase-finishing-tips/Faux-finishes.htm.

I'm afraid whatever you do will be labor intensive. Good luck!
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: