#woodworking
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
Paint Grade Vs Stain Grade Cabinets
woodworkerexpress.com has put together a series of videos designed to help walk you through the whole process from start to finish. In this episode, we will be discussing everything that you need to know about paint grade and stain grade cabinets for your kitchen. Let’s get started!
First, let’s talk about Paint grade cabinets. Paint grade cabinets are constructed of materials not suitable for staining such as MDF. Paint grade cabinets are built out of a few different materials depending on the manufacturer. MDF is a very popular material choice for drawer fronts and doors that are painted. MDF takes a paint finish very nicely and the one piece mdf door and drawer front will not show all of the hairline cracks that generally show up when a wood such as maple is used as you see here. (pic of hairline cracks)
Although Maple is a great and more durable material choice for paint grade cabinets and does indeed take paint very well, the natural movement of real wood that occurs over time usually leaves the paint finish with hair line separations. This usually shows up mostly on the lighter colors, especially on white cabinets.
Now if you do decide that you would like your cabinets built out of maple and then painted, you may also want to consider pairing it with a glaze or an antiqued finish. This finish option is great for hiding imperfections that occur over time and are especially great for a family with kids that enjoy driving their hot wheels car across the face of your cabinets. (During this paragraph I will show these types of finishes)
For the paint, you usually have an endless variety of color options, especially if you are choosing a custom cabinet manufacturer. The cabinet maker can match their paint finish to almost any paint color no matter the brand. So for an example if your existing trim is some sort of white dove or sea grass green, all you would need to know is what paint company made it and the color code. Then the cabinet maker can have that color matched and mixed for the paint used on your cabinets.
For stock and semi-custom cabinets, you generally have just the paint color options that the cabinet company offers and this variety can vary based on the manufacturer.
Now let’s go over stain grade cabinets. Stain grade cabinets are cabinets that are made from a specific type of wood and then the natural color of the wood is wiped or sprayed with stain. Often stain is used to deepen or change the natural color of the wood. Here are a few important notes on stain grade cabinets:
Some companies will call the wood of the cabinet the stain color of the cabinet.
What this means is that even though the wood material used in the cabinet is let’s say maple, the company may refer to the wood of the cabinet as walnut based on the color of the stain that is used. This is important to be aware of because semi-custom cabinet companies tend to do this and I personally feel it’s not fair and doesn’t compare the cabinet’s apples to apples. If you are purchasing actual walnut cabinets from a custom cabinet maker and they are using actual walnut material, the cost will most likely be greater than a semi-custom cabinet manufacturer using maple with a walnut finish. But if you asked the semi-custom company to quote you actual Walnut, the pricing may be much closer to the custom cabinet makers quote and at that point going with the true custom cabinet option may be more justifiable. This works in reverse as well, you can usually save a little money by having the custom cabinet shop use a less expensive wood choice such as oak or maple and then just have them stain the wood the color that you are looking for.
Another thing to be prepared for is the finish or top coat options on the stained cabinets. After the company stains the cabinets they will apply a clear coat over the stain. This coating is very important because it is what actually will be protecting the wood and stain from changing colors or fading over time. You will also have control over the sheen of the finish from gloss to satin. This is what gives the cabinet a nice rich smooth look or a glossy reflective look. This will have a lot to do with the overall theme you are after.

So as always, thanks for watching and if you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments, I would be happy to help and be sure to hit that subscribe button and smash that bell icon to be notified when a new video comes out and don’t forget to visit woodworker express dot com for all of your woodworking needs, I’ll see you next video!

свернуть