Back to an age old question about painting kitchen cupboard.
Should I use Crown Extreme Primer, or Owatrol Easy Surface Prep.
Then for the top coat, should I be looking at an oil or water based paint? Some people seem to suggest Dulux Satinwood, or Little Greene. Which is more durable, and how are the issues with discoloration with oil paints?
Should I be using Owatrol or Floetrol with the top coat?
Are the doors previously painted?
If yes then I would wash them with meths or isopropyl alcohol to degrease them.
I would then sand them with 180/240 grit (assuming that they are in a reasonable condition).
Waterbased Vs Oilbased?
The more expensive "bespoke" kitchens doors are normally delivered to site with a 2-pack undercoat finish. The on site painters then use waterbased finishes, primarily because of the speed of drying. Some will use ESP over the 2-pack undercoat to improve the adhesion of the waterbased eggshell.
Personally I am not a fan of waterbased eggshell. They don't flow as well as oil based eggshells, are more difficult to sand between coats and are less durable (oils from your skin, cooking fats will soften the finish). However, they smell less, don't yellow and dry faster. If you go for waterbased then I would definitely recommend adding a little bit of Floetrol. It will help to reduce tramlines (brushmarks) and maintain a wet edge.
Oil based satinwood- I would recommend oil based eggshell instead. The sheen level is a little bit lower than satinwood which helps to hide any imperfections. Yellowing will be a problem, especially if you have little natural light and want to use white paint. I use Dulux Trade oil based eggshell. I add a tiny bit of white spirits to thin it and then add Owatrol oil to help it flow. It the existing paint work is in decent condition after sanding, you might not need undercoat. It really does depend on the final colour and door condition.
Do the doors have butt hinges or concealed hinges? Butt hinges, you can paint the doors in situ. If the latter and you are painting the insides of the doors, you are going to need quite a lot of free space. You will need to remove each of the hinges, number them so that you know where they went (saves on hinge re-alignment). I paint the inside of the door first, then the edges. I then use 3 screws- 2 go in to the hinge holes, the other into the knob hole. I then carefully turn the door over and paint the face. If you are using waterbased, you can just wait for the back to dry and then turn it over to paint the front.
I have no idea what you plan to paint with. I use a 2 or 2.5 "
Wooster Ultra Pro Firm brushes and
Anza paint pads. The paint pads are not cheap but i find them much faster than using a roller and then brushing out the stippled finish. If you are using oil based paints buy a BrushMate 4 to store the brushes over night it uses vapours rather than liquid. You hang your brush inside it overnight and then take it out the next morning, No mess, no faffing about. Oh, and you can store the paint pad in it as well (i drop the pad's packaging bag into the brushmate so the the wet pad doesn't rub against the brush).
Good luck
