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Refinishing

9/20/22       
J

Hey all
I was wondering what everyone's experiences have been regarding the refinishing aspect of the finishing industry?
I currently do finishing on brand new cabinets/doors/etc and am a reface component supplier.
I'm looking to pick up more work and was wondering if I'm leaving refinishing off the table unnecessarily.
From the outside it sounds like a whole new beast in terms of cleaning and prepwork, not to mention how to do it onsite for the non removable aspects of a kitchen.
Is it worth it to try to get in to that line of work?
Appreciate any advice.
Thanks

9/20/22       #2: Refinishing ...
RichC

I've not done it, but you are absolutely correct about the cleaning process. You'd have to drop the range hood on most of them to remove all the cooking grease that builds up in the cracks and corners. Toe kick would be miserable work too. Probably just apply a new piece over the old. Pulling the refrigerator and dishwasher could be a possibility too.

9/20/22       #3: Refinishing ...
Mastercabman

Hello J
This is the kind of work.i do
Not full time but keeps me busy
I'm going to give it to you straight up
It's a lot of prep work!
It's not a bad job but it can be stressful
So you need to price accordingly
You also need to know what products to use
I typically use pre-cat and post cat when I can
If not I play it safe and use something like BM Advance
It took me a long time to get good at it
Experiment with different equipment and products
I have a 6X12 trailer that I turned into a spray booth
I spray all my doors and drawer fronts
Works really good!
One tool that I'm so glade that I invested on is the surfprep sanding system
There's so.much I need to say but it will take me all night to write about it
All I can say is,there's a demand for guys like us
So good luck and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask

12/19/22       #5: Refinishing ...
J

Hey Mate
Mastercabman
When it comes to refinishing options, do you only offer painting over existing. Or do you offer stains too?
Assuming you just do a toner coat over existing (sanded and prepped) doors.

Do you ever dunk tank strip old finish back to raw wood? Seems like more of a pain than just buying new.

I don't have any field equipment. All in shop equipment.

My main concerns would be dealing with on site tasks since I've never worked on site before, just shop work. (I'm a wholesaler)

12/19/22       #6: Refinishing ...
Mastercabman

J

So most request this days is paint,paint,paint!!!
Of all painting jobs I ever done it has been over a stain except for 1 job where it was painted but the client wanted different color
You're right about cost of stripping old finish
It's not really worth it
The only time that I can see of doing it is if the cabinets have a custom look to it that it would cost too much to remake or hard to remake or maybe sentimental value
I usually suggest to get new doors/drawer fronts since the shaker style is hot right now
I also suggest to replace hinges to soft close and replace drawer box and soft close glides
When working on site it's a totally different ball game
You need to tape everything off
Protect flooring, and so on
You also need to make sure you have adequate ventilation
Wether you use solvent or waterborne
ZipWall is a must!!!
Exhaust fan,vacuum, etc...
You also need to make sure you have the appropriate equipment to spray
You can't just show up with a 5HP compressor that runs on 220v
I use AAA pump with a portable compressor
On small jobs I would just use a gravity feed spray gun
Lots of people like the turbine spray system
Personally I don't care for that set up
So you have a lot to learn and experiment!

12/19/22       #7: Refinishing ...
J

I guess so. I love my AAA pump I use in shop right now. But like you said it's drawing air from a 100 gallon 220v compressor haha.

I've only ever sprayed in my booth never on site.

I supply reface materials to another company who performs the on site work.

The market niche in trying to target in my area is to see if there actually is a market for refinishing where the client may find refacing too expensive.
Thinking i could keep costs down by refinishing client's doors instead of buying new to install on existing cabinets.

Is there a cost point that will allow me to operate at a sales price for the client that is less than new refacing but still worth it for me to refinish.

Don't want to step on my current client's toes.


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