11/01/2023
Long read but if you are or have ever considered having your cabinets painted, please read.
While working on a couple of cabinet bids today I started thinking about a conversation with a customer a few weeks ago.
This customer and I were talking and I’m not even sure how it got brought up but I told her I’m always curious how my pricing compares to others. She told me she got 5 bids and asked if I would like to know what the others quoted. Of course I said,”absolutely”. She didn’t give me names and I would have never asked.
3 quotes were very close to mine, within $100-$300 higher or lower. This reassured me that my prices are on point and competitive.
The 4th quote was $900 and the guy said he could have them done in 2 days.
Y’all if you ever get a quote that seems to good to be true, it’s likely because it is. It someone quotes you $900 to paint your kitchen cabinets and says they can have the job completed in 2 days, please run!!
This is not a cabinet painter! Even if he had a crew, he could not have prepped and painted an entire kitchen for $900 in 2 days properly!
It took Sommer Staton and a full day (8-9 hours) to remove drawers, hardware, clean and sand the boxes, mask this kitchen and prime the boxes. Had the customer not removed the doors and hardware, it would have taken us longer.
It took another full day to paint the boxes (2-3 coats and sanding between each). Then you have a day of cleaning, sanding and priming doors and drawers, allowing proper dry time before lightly sanding and spraying a second coat. Another day of painting doors and drawers, allowing proper dry time and sanding between each coat. We are easily at 4 days now and that’s if everything goes smoothly. A day or 2 to allow plenty of dry/cure time prior to transporting. If proper time isn’t allowed your doors will stick to whatever you wrap them in and ruin the paint. Then you’ve got another day to install.
1st of all , please do not trust anyone that says they can do a kitchen cabinet paint in 2 days!
At the least, you should expect a full week and sometimes longer for a larger kitchen.
2nd do not trust anyone that says they will do it for $900.
ALWAYS ask what products will be used, their process and duration. Expect it to take at least a week.
When painting cabinets I ALWAYS include a very detailed description of my process, how much time will be spent in their home, how much time will be spent at my shop and the products I will be using.
