Cabinet painting means cleaning and degreasing, sanding and masking, then applying durable finish coats to doors, drawer fronts and usually the boxes. A typical Carson Valley kitchen runs several working days. Price depends on door and drawer count, cabinet material, existing finish, number of colors and access. Every kitchen is quoted on site in writing.
What is cabinet painting, and who is it for?
Cabinet painting is refinishing the cabinets you already have instead of tearing them out. We clean the surfaces, prepare them properly, and apply finish coats built to take daily handling. Layout, boxes and hardware stay where they are, so you keep your kitchen and change how it looks.
It suits homeowners whose cabinet boxes are solid and whose layout still works, but whose doors look dated or tired. If the boxes are failing, the drawers no longer run, or you want a different layout, painting is the wrong tool. We wrote a short piece on that decision in cabinet painting versus replacement.
J&R Painting has been family-owned since 1989. Randy Moore handles the walkthrough and the estimate himself, so the person who priced the job is the person who answers your questions about it.
What happens at the estimate?
When Randy walks a kitchen in Gardnerville or Minden, he counts doors and drawer fronts first, because that count drives most of the labor. Then he looks at what the cabinets are made of: solid wood, wood veneer, or a factory surface like laminate or thermofoil. Each one is prepared differently.
He also checks the existing finish. A clear-coated wood cabinet, a heavy factory sheen and a previously painted cabinet all take different prep. He'll look at how greasy the surfaces near the range are, whether any doors are loose or delaminating, and how much working room there is around the kitchen.
You'll get the paint and material details written into your estimate, along with the scope: which surfaces are included, whether the boxes and interiors are painted, and how many colors. Every kitchen is quoted on site after that walkthrough — we don't price cabinets over the phone from a square footage number.
Why does cleaning come before anything else?
Kitchens are different from walls. Years of cooking leave a thin film of grease and smoke on cabinet faces, especially above the stove and around handles. Paint will not bond to that film no matter how good the product is, and the failure shows up months later as peeling around the spots you touch most.
So the first real work is degreasing. Surfaces get cleaned and rinsed before a single piece of sandpaper comes out. It isn't glamorous and it isn't visible in the finished kitchen, but it is the step that decides whether the finish is still intact in five years. The same logic applies everywhere in the trade, which is why preparation matters as much as the finish coat.
What does the preparation stage look like?
Doors and drawer fronts come off and get labeled so every piece goes back to the opening it came from. Hinges, pulls and knobs are removed and bagged by location.
Then we sand. The goal is to knock down the existing sheen and give the new coating something to grip, not to strip the cabinets to bare wood. Dings and open joints get filled where it makes sense. Dust is cleaned off before priming, because dust in the primer becomes texture in the finish.
Masking is a bigger job in a kitchen than in a bedroom. Countertops, backsplash, appliances, floors and the openings themselves get covered. In a smaller Carson Valley kitchen with limited clearance, masking and setting up a clean spray or spread area takes real time, and that's part of what you're paying for.
Do the boxes get painted too, or just the doors?
That's your call, and it changes the estimate. Doors and drawer fronts are what you see most, and painting only those is the lighter scope. But if the boxes keep their old color, the face frames and the edges around each opening will still read as the old kitchen.
Most homeowners who want a full change paint the face frames and exposed box sides along with the doors. Cabinet interiors are a separate decision again; many people leave them alone, since nobody sees them with the doors shut and it keeps the shelves available during the job.
Two colors — say, a lighter upper and a darker island or lower run — adds masking, extra setup and extra dry time between stages. It looks good when it's planned, and it costs more than one color.
How long is the kitchen out of service?
A cabinet job runs several working days for most kitchens, longer for large ones or two-color schemes. During that time the doors are off, so the shelves are reachable but open. Plan to clear the countertops completely and to empty at least the cabinets whose interiors or shelf edges are in scope.
The part people underestimate is cure time. Paint is dry to the touch long before it has hardened. Doors go back on once the finish can handle handling, but we'll tell you how long to wait before you load heavy stacks of dishes onto shelves, let doors close hard against the frames, or scrub a surface. Rushing that window is the most common way a good cabinet finish gets marked up in its first month.
What drives the price up or down?
Door and drawer count is the biggest factor — a galley kitchen and a large kitchen with an island are different jobs even at the same color. After that: cabinet material and existing finish, how much surface repair and preparation is needed, whether boxes and interiors are included, the number of colors, access and working room, and the product selected.
We don't publish a flat per-door figure, because the same number of doors can be a straightforward job or a difficult one depending on everything above. What you get is a written estimate with the scope and materials spelled out, so you can compare it line for line against anyone else's.
If you also want trim or walls done while the kitchen is apart, say so at the walkthrough. Combining work into one setup is usually cheaper than two separate visits.
When painting isn't the right answer
Most cabinets can be painted, but the material and existing finish should be inspected first. Thermofoil that is lifting at the edges, water-swollen particleboard under a sink, or doors that have already been painted over a failing coat are all cases where we'd rather tell you up front than hand you a finish that won't hold.
That's the honest version of this service. If your kitchen is a good candidate, cabinet painting is the highest-impact change you can make without a remodel. If it isn't, we'll say so at the estimate.
To set up a walkthrough in Minden, Gardnerville, Carson City or the rest of the Carson Valley, call (775) 450-5012 or use the quote form on our contact page. You can see the full scope on our cabinet painting service page.
Frequently asked questions
Can laminate or thermofoil cabinets be painted?
Often, yes, but they need different preparation than wood and the surface has to be sound. If a thermofoil face is lifting or bubbling at the edges, paint won't fix that — the door needs replacing. We inspect the material and existing finish before quoting.
Do you take the doors off site?
We talk through where the doors will be finished at the walkthrough, based on your kitchen, the access and the working space available. Either way, doors and drawer fronts are labeled by opening so each one returns to exactly where it came from.
Do hinges and hardware get replaced?
Hardware comes off during the job and goes back on afterward. Replacing hinges, knobs or pulls is a separate decision — if you want new hardware, mention it at the estimate so the new pieces are on hand when the doors go back up.
Can I keep using the kitchen during the job?
You can use the appliances and sink, but countertops and the cabinet faces will be masked or in process, and the doors will be off for most of the job. Plan on cleared counters and simple meals for several days.
Which towns do you cover for cabinet painting?
We're based in Minden and work throughout the Carson Valley and Northern Nevada, including Gardnerville, Carson City, Dayton, Smith Valley and Reno. Hours are by appointment, Monday through Saturday.