# kitchen cabinet make over project



## MR. evil (Apr 23, 2010)

With Randi back in school full time for the next year or two, our planned kitchen gut / renovation is on hold. But seeing how our kitchen is just plain nasty I really need to do something to spruce it up until the full blown renovation. It really sucks that I have already designed the new kitchen and every time I look at the existing kitchen I can see clear as day what it should be. 

Anyway, seeing how I am a pretty handy guy with a decent selection of tools so I decided to make some new cabinet door and drawer fronts for the existing cabinets. After searching for several weeks I finally found a shaker style cabinet door cutter set for my router table. The bits arrived last weekend and I got right too it. Using some cheap scrap wood I already had I made a couple of doors to get an idea for size, proportion and finish.

The first door has clear pine for the styles and rails, and a ¾” thick MDF recessed panel. I used my table saw to cut shallow kerf cuts in the MDF to simulate bead board paneling. I then used some antique white spray paint to give it a quick finish.









The next door is solid wood, and a real pain in the ass to make. Not really hard, just very time consuming to glue up the recessed panel from individual boards. I won’t get into details, but it takes many steps to prep boards to get them flat & square so they can be edge glued / biscuited together to make a panel. I took this picture before the frame was glued up.








Randi prefers the solid wood version, only she wants it in cherry or maple. I prefer the paint grade version because it easier, cheaper and a painted finish will allow me to hide any minor mistakes. I am really anal and a stickler for details, I am worried that every other solid cherry door will get trashed because is some minor flaw on the back side of a door that only I know exists.


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## tjf67 (Apr 23, 2010)

I think you should do it in whatever wood you like best.  If you use cherry and are not spot on in a few places it oks. My dad builds me furniture and although not perfect they are still/my coolest pieces.


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## tjf67 (Apr 23, 2010)

Oh and nice job.  If you line up the tops perfectly and make the bottoms longer you can rip a nice clean edge with all the measuring.


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## severine (Apr 23, 2010)

How long will these doors be in use? Is the plan to remodel the kitchen to your design once Randi is out of school? If that's the case, then my recommendation is to go with the cheaper and less time-consuming route--after all, you're just looking to buy time until you can do what you *really* want. If, on the other hand, these fronts may stay after the renovation, then it's probably better to go for the quality finish, even if it's more expensive and more work, overall.

Nice job, regardless!


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## MR. evil (Apr 23, 2010)

tjf67 said:


> I think you should do it in whatever wood you like best.  If you use cherry and are not spot on in a few places it oks. My dad builds me furniture and although not perfect they are still/my coolest pieces.



I love natural wood, and all of the wood trim / doors in our house are natural. But painting the new cabinet doors will also allow me to paint the existing cabinet boxes to match. If I use stain grade doors then I will need to reface the boxes with matching 1/4" hardwood plywood. Seeing how we plan on gutting the kitchen in a couple years I am not sure I want to go through all that.


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## MR. evil (Apr 23, 2010)

Spent some time tonight making a jig to aid in making the end cuts or coping cuts on the rails ( horizontal frame pieces ). I just
gave it a test run and it makes things much easier.


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## MR. evil (Apr 23, 2010)

I am pretty sure I am going to make new drawers as well. Guess that means a trip to WoodCraft to get a new bit for the router table


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## severine (Apr 24, 2010)

It doesn't sound like you're complaining!  Enjoy the process, Tim!


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## smitty77 (Apr 24, 2010)

You do some really nice work.  I dabble a bit in carpentry - wish I could find the time and money to get serious.  I would go with the MDF version for time and money's sake because it's all coming out in a 2-3 years anyway.  You need to keep the improvement level at "adequate" for this project.  If you pull off a "WOW" transformation she may NOT want to rip it all out in two years for a remodel.


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## MR. evil (Apr 24, 2010)

smitty77 said:


> You do some really nice work.  I dabble a bit in carpentry - wish I could find the time and money to get serious.  I would go with the MDF version for time and money's sake because it's all coming out in a 2-3 years anyway.  You need to keep the improvement level at "adequate" for this project.  If you pull off a "WOW" transformation she may NOT want to rip it all out in two years for a remodel.



Thanks for your kind words. Those are the first two cabinet doors I have ever made. Already learned alot, and they will only get better. I am not too worried about making it too nice. I already designed the future kitchen and it rocks. When I get a chance I will post up some renderings and 3D models of the design.


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## MR. evil (Apr 25, 2010)

We have decided to go with the painted version, though we are unsure of the bead board panel. So I am going to make a couple new doors today. We are leaning towards and old school milk paint finish. The stuff is easy to apply and durable as all hell. If it's cheap enough I may have them proffesionaly sprayed.


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## Hergini Coop74 (Apr 26, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> I already designed the future kitchen and it rocks. When I get a chance I will post up some renderings and 3D models of the design.



Doors look great. Love to see the renderings.


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## MR. evil (May 1, 2010)

Project underway. Picked up the materials for the doors (20 of them) yesterday afternoon, 200 linear feet of 1x3 birch for the styles and rails and 3 sheets of 4x8 mfd bead board. Spent a majority of the day cutting the stock to rough lenght and running it through the router table. I'm beat but I will post more later along with some pics.


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## o3jeff (May 1, 2010)

Norm would of been done by now.


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## MR. evil (May 1, 2010)

o3jeff said:


> Norm would of been done by now.



Norm is OK, but I prefer David Marks. He had a show in DIY called WoodWorks. It may still be on TV bit I have not seen it I'm  a while. Anyway Dona search for 'David Marks Wood Works' on YouTube or check out his web site. They guy is simply amazing! I'm not as good as Norm, but the quality of Norms work is well with in my reach. Not so much with David Marks, I will never come close to what he can do with wood. The guys work has been in Museums. But I have learned a ton watching the guy.


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## smitty77 (May 2, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> Norm is OK, but I prefer David Marks.



David is good, but he puts me to sleep, more so than Norm.  And Norm does stuff I can actually do.  Well, I can do most of it if I invest another $3k in shop tools.

Actually all I'm really lacking is a nice, cabinet-style table saw.  My $200 Craftsman has performed admirably, but it just doesn't have the accuracy.  I think I could make that next step and start producing some nice stuff if I had: 
a) the time to practice, I'm usually rushed during a project (which is when mistakes happen most) and the family gets annoyed when I spend hours on end in the shop.

b) the money to actually buy nice plywood and 1x stock.  Hard to make chicken soup out of chicken sh!t.

Good luck on the project.  Post some photos as you go.


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## MR. evil (May 2, 2010)

I have used David's go to trick of MDF templates and flush trim router bits to make alot of stuff, works great for making multiple pieces with complex shapes.

I have a Delta 10 contractors saw with a BenchDog router table wing attached to my table saw, similar to the set up Mark's has but no where near as nice. The only thing I would really like is a nicer fence for my table saw. The stock one is pretty good, but I would really like a Bessimer fence. I have a bunch of pics, just need ringer them off my phone and post them.


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## MR. evil (May 2, 2010)

The other tool I would like is a surface planer. I have a jointer but no planer. I ussually have my wood supplier joint and plane any wood I buy from them for a small up charge. It also saves alot of time having them do it. I don't even want to think how long it would have taken me to plane / joint 200 linear feet of 1x3 stock. I spent all day yesterday running it through the router table cutting he sticking for the doors and cutting it to lenght.


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## Paul (May 3, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> The other tool I would like is a surface planer. I have a jointer but no planer. I ussually have my wood supplier joint and plane any wood I buy from them for a small up charge. It also saves alot of time having them do it. I don't even want to think how long it would have taken me to plane / joint 200 linear feet of 1x3 stock. I spent all day yesterday running it through the router table cutting he sticking for the doors and cutting it to lenght.



Where's your supplier? I used to go to Highland Hardwoods up in Brentwood, NH. Long-haul, would like to find somewhere closer than that, other than Harris in Manchester, CT (which is pretty-good)

DeWalt 12" planer, saved a ton'o'cash.


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## o3jeff (May 3, 2010)

Paul said:


> Where's your supplier? I used to go to Highland Hardwoods up in Brentwood, NH. Long-haul, would like to find somewhere closer than that, other than Harris in Manchester, CT (which is pretty-good)
> 
> DeWalt 12" planer, saved a ton'o'cash.



I would stay away from Dave Harris....


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## MR. evil (May 3, 2010)

I use Connecticut Wood Group in Enfield CT 860-253-0444
www.cwghardwoodoutlet.com


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## MR. evil (May 3, 2010)

o3jeff said:


> I would stay away from Dave Harris....



Really? That shop does awsome millwork and casework. I love it when they are on any of my projects at work.


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## MR. evil (Jul 8, 2010)

Its been a while since I posted anything on my kitchen face lift project. Its coming along really nice, but its been a lot of work and I have a lot more to go.


Picture of the main cabinet wall






The upper and base cabinets to the far left I  made…for the most part. This is where the refrigerator used to be, and it really blocked off access to the main hallway. The uppers I made from scratch, the doors have wood frames, but will have glass panels different from the rest of the doors. We are going to display pottery and stuff in here. The base cabinets are ready-to assemble cabinets from HD. Only I put them together with wood glue and biscuits, not the crap screws they came with. Still need to make the face frame for these base cabinets and some drawers / slide out shelves for pots, pans, ect…. I went with ready-to-assemble cabinets instead of building custom because each cabinet cost less then the materials for me to make them. But the way I put them together is almost as good as custom would have been. I have already made the doors and drawer fronts for these cabinets, just need some face frames to attach them to. Also need to replace the range hood with a stainless steel one and replace the fugly light fixture with a nice ceiling fan to match the other one in the kitchen,

Adjacent wall





All the base cabinet doors are made, just need to hang them and sand / prime the base cabinets. Also going to build a custom base cabinet between the dish washer and fridge to hide the trash bin.


Close up






Trim close up





I took my time with the trim…coping cuts really suck BTW. Still need to caulk some small gaps before I paint.


My current plan it to hire a painter to spray all the doors and drawer front, while I paint the cabinets. Still working on finding a painter. Right now all the white is just a high grade primer.


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## Trekchick (Jul 9, 2010)

that is sharp!  
You have a good eye for this.


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## MR. evil (Jul 9, 2010)

Trekchick said:


> that is sharp!
> You have a good eye for this.



Thanks

Maybe I should look into designing professionally. I wonder if I’m qualified to be a kitchen designer at HomeDepot or Lowes .

If I had a larger budget that would allow me to move plumbing fixtures and major appliances it would be much better. This whole endeavor is pretty much an eye wash job with a few improvement just to get us through the next couple of years until Randi is finished with school. Then this all gets gutted, and the real work starts. 

When the Cabinets are done we are going to tile the backspash and I am also going to try and make my own concrete counter tops. Luckily I train with a guy that owns a concrete counter company and has given me lots of advise and offered to help.


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## o3jeff (Jul 9, 2010)

If you want more practice, let me know.

Looks good!


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## tjf67 (Jul 9, 2010)

Looks great.


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## MR. evil (Jul 9, 2010)

o3jeff said:


> If you want more practice, let me know.
> 
> Looks good!



Practice doing what?


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## o3jeff (Jul 9, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> Practice doing what?



Making cabinets


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## MR. evil (Jul 9, 2010)

o3jeff said:


> Making cabinets



I am getting pretty good at that part. Already designing a new bathroom vanity that will be all solid / stain grade wood. Thinking natural cherry.


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## ctenidae (Jul 9, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> When the Cabinets are done we are going to tile the backspash and I am also going to try and make my own concrete counter tops. Luckily I train with a guy that owns a concrete counter company and has given me lots of advise and offered to help.



I poured our concrete countertops myself. Labor intensive, messy, and touchy, but for a basic poured-in-place U with no fancy curves, it was totally doable. I would highly recommend renting a mixer though- hand mixing 20 bags of concrete was a royal pain, and by the time you get the last bag mixed the first bag has started to set.

Cabinets look good- nice job on the molding. I hate working with that stuff- I just can't think in compound angles, for some reason.


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## MR. evil (Jul 9, 2010)

ctenidae said:


> I poured our concrete countertops myself. Labor intensive, messy, and touchy, but for a basic poured-in-place U with no fancy curves, it was totally doable. I would highly recommend renting a mixer though- hand mixing 20 bags of concrete was a royal pain, and by the time you get the last bag mixed the first bag has started to set.
> 
> Cabinets look good- nice job on the molding. I hate working with that stuff- I just can't think in compound angles, for some reason.



I am not going to pour mine in place, going to template and make forms. I also have a 'Pro' concrete recipe just for counter tops. The ratios are different than anything I have seen online or on DIY TV. I have already made a 12” wide x 36” long X 1-1/2” thick test piece. It came out really smooth, no voids, nice sheen. The hard part is going to be getting the color I want. But my buddy Dan ‘aka the pro’ said he would help with that. I am already looking in the classified ads for a used concrete mixer.

Molding is pretty easy if you know a few tricks.

edit - I wouldn't be using pre-mixed bags of concrete. You reallt need to make your own concrete from Portland cemenet, sand and aggregate in the ratios needed for counters. You use alot more portland cement & sand, less aggregate in concrete for counters than standard concrete so you get more cream and a smoother surface.


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## ctenidae (Jul 9, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> I wouldn't be using pre-mixed bags of concrete. You reallt need to make your own concrete from Portland cemenet, sand and aggregate in the ratios needed for counters. You use alot more portland cement & sand, less aggregate in concrete for counters than standard concrete so you get more cream and a smoother surface.



We did use a "special blend" for the top layer- base was bag mix, edges and top was home-style. Worked well.


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## Trekchick (Jul 9, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> Thanks
> 
> Maybe I should look into designing professionally. I wonder if I’m qualified to be a kitchen designer at HomeDepot or Lowes .
> 
> ...


I have a friend who just did her kitchen, planning on using concrete counter tops but the guy who was making them was so busy, she had to settle for something different because the counter was the only hold up in the kitchen.

If done right, Concrete counter tops are gorgeous!


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## smitty77 (Jul 10, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> The base cabinets are ready-to assemble cabinets from HD. Only I put them together with wood glue and biscuits, not the crap screws they came with. I went with ready-to-assemble cabinets instead of building custom because each cabinet cost less then the materials for me to make them.



Isn't that sick?  I was going to build the cabinets in my previous house with help from my Grandpa who was a carpenter/cabinet maker.  Instead we put in a whole bunch of those ready-to-go cabinets for about $1500 instead of the $2500 it would have cost me just for the materials.  And with a little bracing and some extra care in hanging/shimming/aligning they are fairly decent for what you pay.

Nice work by the way.  It's coming along nicely.


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## MR. evil (Jul 10, 2010)

Today’s project was to make a face frame for the new base cabinets and start on some drawers

Face Frame





This went pretty smoothly. The only hitch was a quick trip to HD to pick up more pocket screw…….my new pocket hole jig made assembling and installing this face frame a snap. All blind connections, no holes to fill

Drawer #1





The drawer was pretty easy to build. If I didn’t have so many to make I would have done dove tail joinery. I ended up using a combination half lap joints, dado joints, glue and wood screws. The hard part was installing the full extension drawer slides and getting everything level. Only 4 more drawers to build and install in THIS cabinet, and a couple more for the other cabinets.


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## MR. evil (Jul 10, 2010)

smitty77 said:


> Isn't that sick?  I was going to build the cabinets in my previous house with help from my Grandpa who was a carpenter/cabinet maker.  Instead we put in a whole bunch of those ready-to-go cabinets for about $1500 instead of the $2500 it would have cost me just for the materials.  And with a little bracing and some extra care in hanging/shimming/aligning they are fairly decent for what you pay.
> 
> Nice work by the way.  It's coming along nicely.



Ya, I was kind of shocked it was going to cost me more to make the cabinets carcasses than to buy / modify the RTA cabinets. I had to cut off about one inch from the front of each panel to accommodate the face frames I made. The RTA cabinets are flush overlay or what some people call European style meaning they don’t use a face frame. While at HD today I found a 15” RTA base cabinet that will be perfect for the cabinet to hold the trash. Going to pick that one up later this week once I finish the base cabinet I am currently working on.


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## smitty77 (Jul 13, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> This went pretty smoothly. The only hitch was a quick trip to HD to pick up more pocket screw…….my new pocket hole jig made assembling and installing this face frame a snap. All blind connections, no holes to fill.



Hands down the greatest woodworking invention in the last 20 years.  Pocket holes have been around a long time, but the new jigs are (almost) fool-proof.  You can cobble together some really strong pieces rather quick with that jig.

Nice work on the face frame - that alone will strengthen those cabinets ten-fold.


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## MR. evil (Dec 20, 2010)

*update*

It’s been a while since I have posted any updates to this thread….mainly because I have either been too lazy or too busy to actually do any work on the kitchen. Spent some time this weekend and primed all the upper cabinet doors with my new HPLV paint sprayer. Much faster and better quality than using a brush & roller. I have one more door to make at the pull out trash bin (not in pics) for the lower cabinets, and all of the drawer fronts. The rest of the lower doors are made and currently waiting to be primed and hung. Hoping to get to that one night this week. Those two nasty looking drawer fronts in the first picture are temporary. The finished drawer fronts for those 2 large pull outs will be similar to the doors. The smaller upper drawer fronts will be solid wood with some sort of edge treatment.


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## o3jeff (Dec 20, 2010)

Tell the dog he's doing a great job on them!


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## bvibert (Dec 20, 2010)

Looking good Tim!


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## MR. evil (Dec 20, 2010)

bvibert said:


> Looking good Tim!



Thanks Brian.


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## Glenn (Dec 20, 2010)

Looks good! What kind of HVLP sprayer did you use?


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## MR. evil (Dec 20, 2010)

Glenn said:


> Looks good! What kind of HVLP sprayer did you use?



Its a Porter Cable HPLV conversion sprayer, its the kind that uses a standard air compressor. But you need a compressor with a large tank to paint a large area. I had to borrow my friends 30 gallon compressor becuase my 10 gallon didn't have enough air to spray more than one side of a door before it re-charged.

http://www.deltaportercable.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=11579


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## Warp Daddy (Dec 20, 2010)

Nice work !  Guess Architecture school paid off


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## Mildcat (Dec 20, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> Its a Porter Cable HPLV conversion sprayer, its the kind that uses a standard air compressor. But you need a compressor with a large tank to paint a large area. I had to borrow my friends 30 gallon compressor becuase my 10 gallon didn't have enough air to spray more than one side of a door before it re-charged.
> 
> http://www.deltaportercable.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=11579



Did you have a problem with moisture from the compressor? I own some really nice spray guns for automotive use (Sata & Devilbiss) but I've been toying with the idea of buying a hvlp turbine system for spraying cabinets.


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## MR. evil (Dec 20, 2010)

Mildcat said:


> Did you have a problem with moisture from the compressor? I own some really nice spray guns for automotive use (Sata & Devilbiss) but I've been toying with the idea of buying a hvlp turbine system for spraying cabinets.



No problem what so ever. While I was doing research on HPLV spray guns I read that a big problem with the turbine setup is that they generate heat. During extended use the excess heat from the turbine causes the air in the system to heat up which can have a negative impact on the paint. Most of the professional cabinet makers I talked with all prefer the conversion guns over the turbine units for that reason.


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## Mildcat (Dec 20, 2010)

MR. evil said:


> No problem what so ever. While I was doing research on HPLV spray guns I read that a big problem with the turbine setup is that they generate heat. During extended use the excess heat from the turbine causes the air in the system to heat up which can have a negative impact on the paint. Most of the professional cabinet makers I talked with all prefer the conversion guns over the turbine units for that reason.



I did hear that about the turbines heating up the air, especially with oil based paint. I should just buy a better water separator for my compressor and use my Sata when I paint some trim in my living room. 

How far did you have to cover the floors, walls, etc to keep the overspray off?   Oil or water based?


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## MR. evil (Dec 20, 2010)

Mildcat said:


> I did hear that about the turbines heating up the air, especially with oil based paint. I should just buy a better water separator for my compressor and use my Sata when I paint some trim in my living room.
> 
> How far did you have to cover the floors, walls, etc to keep the overspray off?   Oil or water based?



The primer I used was shellac (sp?) based, nasty stuff. But its really the option when priming MDF. The bead board in the doors is MDF. The finish coat will be Sherwin Williams Pro Classic (acrylic latex). Over spray was not an issue, the paint is so well atomized that the over spray falls to the floor as dust.


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## severine (Dec 20, 2010)

Nice job!


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## Glenn (Dec 21, 2010)

Did you have to thin the paint out at all? I have a repaint the shed next year and using a gun would be a lot easier than roller...


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## Mildcat (Dec 21, 2010)

Glenn said:


> Did you have to thin the paint out at all? I have a repaint the shed next year and using a gun would be a lot easier than roller...



A small airless sprayer would get that done in a few minutes with very little to no thinning required.


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## MR. evil (Dec 21, 2010)

Glenn said:


> Did you have to thin the paint out at all? I have a repaint the shed next year and using a gun would be a lot easier than roller...





Mildcat said:


> A small airless sprayer would get that done in a few minutes with very little to no thinning required.





I agree with Mildcat,  an airless sprayer would be the way to go. You can rent them from HomeDepot for about $75 for the day. I rented one a couple of years ago to stain my fence. HPLV sprayers are for fine finish work, and would take FOREVER to paint a shed. IMO you could actually paint your shed faster with a brush that an HPLV sprayer.


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## MR. evil (Jan 6, 2011)

What I did this weekend………….almost done with fabrication


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## MR. evil (Mar 4, 2013)

Reviving this thread from the dead.

The kitchen renovation project just won't end. Every time I think we are wrapping up we change or add something. Newest addition is a large peninsula cabinet and tall pantry cabinet both built from scratch. Though instill haven't finished the doors for either. Also finishing up on the concrete countertops. 2 or the 4 sections of counter have been polished, sealed and installed. The last 2 sections are in the garage halfway through the polishing stage.


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## MR. evil (Mar 4, 2013)

Some pics of the counter making process



This big guy weight about 500lbs



What they look like before grinding and polishing


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## MR. evil (Mar 4, 2013)

After polishing and sealing


The movers I hired to carry the peninsula counter up from the garage to the kitchen. Two guys carried this 500lb monster like it was nothing....best $125 I spent this whole project


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## MR. evil (Mar 4, 2013)

Next on the list is new flooring and backsplash. Just need to pick the colors and get the stuff ordered.


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## o3jeff (Mar 4, 2013)

Looks good!


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## ctenidae (Mar 4, 2013)

Those counters look great. I poured mine in place in our place in Boston a while back- lesson learned was that a cement mixer would have been great.


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## MR. evil (Mar 5, 2013)

ctenidae said:


> Those counters look great. I poured mine in place in our place in Boston a while back- lesson learned was that a cement mixer would have been great.



How did you end up finishing your counters?

I used a water fed polisher and it made a real mess, threw water everywhere. I originally tried making a 'Dexter room' out of plastic sheating in my basement but there was just too much water. Ended up moving to polishing operation into the garage. This was one of the main reasons I didn't cast them in-place like you did. I just didn't know how I would be able to polish them without making a total mess.


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## hammer (Mar 5, 2013)

Wish I had the time, talent, and tools for this kind of work...ordered semi-custom cabinets for one of our bathrooms a month ago, and with paint-grade doors a 48" cabinet and toilet topper plus hardware came out to about $1500.


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## ctenidae (Mar 5, 2013)

MR. evil said:


> How did you end up finishing your counters?
> 
> I used a water fed polisher and it made a real mess, threw water everywhere. I originally tried making a 'Dexter room' out of plastic sheating in my basement but there was just too much water. Ended up moving to polishing operation into the garage. This was one of the main reasons I didn't cast them in-place like you did. I just didn't know how I would be able to polish them without making a total mess.



I didn't do any polishing at all, actually. I had to grind the edges and corners smooth to eliminate marks from the forms, but the top was just trowled smooth. When I poured them we did a terra cotta-ish color to match the cinnamon maple cabinets, but then decided we din't like the color, so I did a skim coat in a darker grey color. Didn't like that so much, either, so we stained them black, which we did like. I sealed/polished them with beeswax, which looked pretty good, I think. 

The multiple layers were a serious pain around the sink and edges, but it worked out OK, I think. We sold the place a few years ago, but I'd love to go back and see how it's stood up.

Found a picture:


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