Spraying the Trim and Cabinets

Welcome back to the kitchen build. This time I am hopefully getting through the rest of the trim detail, and then painting everything.  

I am on day six of paint prep, and I’m already sick of it. All of the nail holes, screw holes, and gaps get filled. Then I’m sanding, cleaning, masking, pre-caulking, and caulking every single inside corner seam. I wasn’t planning on re-painting any of the cabinets, but they either got damaged, the paint color was wrong, or you could tell a difference in my paint skills as I have painted these things over a full year. 

A day later, and now I’ve gotten the floor covered, this front section of the sink base covered, and the window sills and glass masked off. 

Next thing on the list is to get the great room enclosed. I need to make a little housing thing that allows me to spray the casing but keeps the great room from getting sprayed as well. 

That takes care of the prep! Now I can spray my first coat.

Today ended up being a longer day of prep than I was hoping. I figured it would be a spraying day, but it became a sanding day. At least I am basically done with all of that, so tomorrow should be more of a spray day. 

There is a bit of a process to get the paint ready. This is the top coat, which is a conversion varnish, that I’ve been using for everything. It requires a catalyst to be mixed into it before it’ll cure. Once the catalyst goes in, the paint has a 24 hour pot life. 

Then I thin out the paint for the gun. Today I will be using a 2mm tip, which should give me a very fine atomization for a thinner coat, so I am thinning the paint by 50%. 

I’m using a pressure pot, which allows me to take the fluid off the gun. That way I can spray in any position and it’s a little less fatiguing to the wrists. Downside is that I have to keep that pressure pot within six feet of me at all times. It would be much better with a longer hose on it.  

I’ve let everything sit and cure for a few days, and now I am getting ready to go through and do my recoats and touch ups. I got a couple of runs here on this cabinet, and in some places the coating is a little light. Part of the hard part, for me, is coming up with a decent stop point for the spray. I can’t really fade in or out a touch up spot because the sheen will be different, and then the touch up is obvious. So I have to find a good stop point to get a full on, consistent run of spray without having to spray literally everything all over again. 

After letting everything sit and cure for another few days, I don’t see any more touch ups that need to be done. So I’m going to start taking all of the masking down. 

I’m really happy to report that that is it for paint! (At least for inside this space). I was really worried about having to paint everything in place, and I tried my best to avoid having to do it in the first place, but I’m happy that it all looks good now. It doesn’t change too much of the overall appearance, but all the gaps and seams are gone, and everything looks really even. 

Now that the sink is finalized, I can caulk it in. Then I can caulk in the window sills where the stone meets the jambs and casings. 

While those are curing, I am going to take care of some of the hardware. 

Next I am going to get the cove mold that goes underneath all of the countertop installed. 

With all that painting behind me, that was the last behemoth part of this build. Everything from here on out is a little less daunting and intimidating. But I’m really happy with the way this room has come together! Thank you as always for joining, I really appreciate it. For any questions or comments, please feel free to make a comment. As always, I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have. And until next time, happy woodworking!