Finally. It took almost 2 weeks for me to get all the MDF strips done. I was working in the basement and the cool temperatures made the drying time for the Liquid Nails take forever.

I had stumbled across the original post where the paint choice and instructions had come from at Ask the Paint Gurus http://paintgurus.typepad.com/blog/2011/01/the-right-way-to-re-finish-kitchen-cabinets.html. It’s a Benjamin Moore site. It’s a good write-up and I’d recommend a read for anyone planning to paint their cabinets.

Set up

I had saved a wooden door (I replaced a wood interior door that led to the garage with a steel door and dead bolt) for a large work surface and also used a cutting table I have for sewing. I have a room full of doors. The drawer fronts were in the bedroom to the side. I had to remove the drawer glides from the bottom so they would sit flat for painting.

The backs were already sanded so I just needed to wipe them down before painting.

I wanted to start with the backs to iron out any painting problems I might run into before doing the more visible fronts.

Priming

I’m using the Fresh Start primer from Benjamin Moore and a wool roller to apply to primer. I primed the 3/8″ inset with a foam brush and rolled the backs applying only a very thin, but thorough coat of primer using the lightest touch possible with the roller.

The point of primer here is to provide a good adhesion surface between the door and the new paint. The purpose isn’t to blot out any sign of the former color. 2 coats of primer to completely cover the previous color is a waste of time. One well applied coat is all that’s needed.

When all was said and done I thought it looked a little blotchy from the roller tufts and was worried the blotches would translate to lumpy when it dried. It smoothed out fairly well when dry, but I threw out the roller. I didn’t want to risk a lumpy appearance with the paint.

I sanded the primer with a 320 sanding block and wiped the sanding dust off with a rag dipped in mineral spirits. The doors felt smooth to the touch.

Two coats of paint

I switched to a different roller and still thought the paint looked a little lumpy after rolling, but this paint is incredible — it levels as it dries and by the time it had dried a few hours the alkyd paint looked really good.

Since I was working on the backs of the doors I wanted to experiment a little before doing the fronts. After rereading http://paintgurus.typepad.com/blog/2011/01/the-right-way-to-re-finish-kitchen-cabinets.html I decided to try rolling and then doing a final full length brush strokes all the way across each door (what they call back brushing) . I had basically back rolled each door on the first coat after getting the initial coverage I did slightly overlapping strokes the full length of the doors.

So far I think the back rolling with the roller gave better results than the back brushing after rolling. The doors have only been drying for 5 hours, so I’ll see how they look in the morning.

Drying time

Drying time is an issue with Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint. Since it’s an alkyd paint the standard drying time is 16 hours. Add cool temperatures and humidity and that drying time will be longer. 

I let the doors dry for 2 days before flipping them over to do the fronts. I wanted the paint to be really dry so it wouldn’t stick to the wood blocks I set them on. I do not want paint to pull off when I lift the doors off the blocks.

I the doors and drawers dry for a week before hanging/replacing them since I’m working on them in a cool basement, I want to make very sure they are thoroughly dry before handling them.