Cabinet Painting in Ottawa
Doors and drawer fronts removed and sprayed in our shop, frames sprayed on site, finished in a cabinet-grade enamel that cures hard.
Paint Experts provides professional kitchen cabinet painting throughout Ottawa, Ontario. Painting is the right call when you want a colour change or a clean painted look over doors that are structurally sound; if what you want instead is to keep the wood grain visible, our cabinet refinishing service strips and restains rather than covers.
Why cabinets get sprayed and not brushed
A cabinet door is the most closely inspected painted surface in a house. Brush and roller leave stipple and lap marks that catch every bit of under-cabinet lighting, and a brushed film sits thicker at the edges where it chips first. Spraying lays down an even film with no texture, which is both what makes it look like a factory finish and what makes it last, because a uniform film thickness wears uniformly.
Removal, tagging and shop finishing
Doors, drawer fronts and hardware come off and get numbered against a map of the kitchen, so every door goes back on the opening it was hung and adjusted for. Doors travel to our shop and are sprayed horizontally on both faces in a controlled space, which is the only way to avoid dust and sags. Frames are sprayed in place with the kitchen fully masked and filtered.
Degreasing, sanding and bonding primer
Kitchen cabinets carry years of aerosolized cooking oil, heaviest around the range and above the sink. Any coating applied over that film releases with a fingernail. We degrease with a solvent cleaner rather than dish soap, sand every surface to a mechanical key, then apply two coats of a bonding primer formulated to grip a previously finished surface. This stage is most of the labour and all of the durability.
Questions about your project? Talk to us directly.
(613) 801-7316Grain filling on oak and open-pore doors
Ottawa has a very large stock of 1980s and 1990s red oak kitchens, and oak has an open pore structure that will read through a painted finish as a series of fine channels. If you want a smooth painted door rather than a painted-oak look, the grain has to be filled and blocked back with a high-build primer before the topcoat. We will show you both options at the quote so the choice is yours rather than a surprise.
Cure time and living with a fresh kitchen
Cabinet enamel is touch-dry in hours but continues hardening for weeks. Doors go back on when they are safe to handle, and we ask you to be gentle with them for the first two weeks — no hard closing, no wet cloths left lying on a surface, nothing taped to a door. After the full cure the finish takes daily kitchen use, including the cupboard beside the stove, without marking.
- Doors and drawer fronts removed, tagged and shop-sprayed
- Frames sprayed on site with full masking and filtration
- Solvent degrease, full sand and two-coat bonding primer
- Grain filling available on oak and open-pore doors
- New hinges and pulls installed on request
- Touch-up kit left with you at handover
Where we spray cabinets across Ottawa
Kitchens differ by neighbourhood more than most people expect, because the cabinetry that came with a house is a function of when the house was built. Oak and maple in Nepean, MDF and thermofoil in Barrhaven, custom joinery in Manotick and The Glebe — the pages below cover what is behind your doors.
- Cabinet painting in Barrhaven, for builder kitchens, MDF slab and thermofoil doors
- Cabinet painting in Hearts Desire, for compact original kitchens
- Cabinet painting in Stittsville, for large kitchens with islands and pantry banks
- Cabinet painting in Manordale, for original subdivision kitchens
- Cabinet painting in Manotick, for custom joinery and high door counts
- Cabinet painting in Nepean, for solid oak and maple that needs grain filling
- Cabinet painting in Hintonburg, for older kitchens and flat-slab infill
- Cabinet painting in The Glebe, for custom and repeatedly painted joinery
Common questions
How much does cabinet painting cost in Ottawa?
A typical Ottawa kitchen runs $3,500 to $6,500 sprayed, covering doors, drawer fronts and frames. Larger kitchens with an island and a pantry run higher.
How long is my kitchen out of action?
Five to eight working days from removal to reinstall. Doors are being sprayed in our shop while we prep and spray the frames at your house, so the kitchen stays usable for most of that window.
Can you paint over stained oak cabinets?
Yes. Oak grain will telegraph through unless it is filled, so we use a grain filler and a high-build primer when you want a smooth painted door rather than a painted-oak texture.
Should I paint or replace my cabinets?
If the boxes are square, the doors are sound and you like the layout, painting is the better value. If the boxes are failing or you want a different layout, painting a bad kitchen just gives you a bad kitchen in a new colour.
Price your cabinet painting
Send us a photo of your kitchen and a rough door count. We will come measure and put a written quote in your inbox.