Hello Everyone,
I am working on updating the old kitchen cabinets in honey oak. I just got this house and I suspect the cabinets are original cabinets (built 1994)

I have done plenty of research and actually have done some work too. However I am trying to find out what is the best way to hide the grain on these cabinets. I plan to paint the cabinets white.

The google/youtube speaks of mixed results with different ways. I have seen this thread here as well but I am still confused on which way to go.

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/pa...-compound.html

The two options I see are...

- Use a wood grain filler for oak? I have seen Behlen grain filller (Natural) in a local store but I decided not to pick it up until I am sure I want to use this. There is CrystaLac Wood Grain Filler on Amazon but reviews of the product suggest it may not work great on Oak wood.

- Use a Spackling Compound using a gift card or putty knife (DryDex Spackling) ?

Any help is greatly greatly appreciated. This is really first time I am messing around with any wood work.


------- At this point

- I have taken all cabinets off
- Cleaned them up with TSP cleaner
- Sanded all the cabinets to take old stain/etc off
- I have primed them using a water based primer. I wanted to use a bonding primer but the HomeDepot guy gave me some primer which I used


- I did two coats of a primer over two days and painted one of the doors using foam roller and I am not pretty much happy with it. The grain is bleeding through the paint. I can try more coats but I suspect it will not fix the issue.


so seems like I need to go back and find a solution for Oak grain. I also plan to switch gear and get a HVLP sprayer off amazon/lowes to help speed up final painting process but that is a little far off right now.

 

What I normally do when trying to hide the oak grain prior to applying paint is to apply an ultra thin skim coat of joint compound and then after it dries - sand it all off. That will leave the j/c just in the open grain, filling it. You'd then need to remove the sanding dust and reprime.

almost forgot welcome to the forums!

 

Thanks for replying.

When you say joint compound is there any specific thing I need to be careful about? My paint and primer are both water based so can I just pick up any of these compounds off local hardware store and use it? And what is your general application process for applying? Using putty knife or something?

One last thing I have a hand sheet sander, is it a good call to use it sand it with 220 grit?

Appreciate your help in it sir

 

Joint compound is what is used to finish drywall, the mud you use for taping and covering nails/screws. It can be found anywhere drywall products are sold. Use a broad knife [wide flexible putty knife] to apply the j/c.

Joint compound is easy to sand, I normally sand it by hand but a sander would work. 150 grit will be more effective than 220. I'd sand the the j/c with 150, remove the dust, prime and then sand the primer with 180 or 220 grit.