Sound boxes, dated look
If the cabinet boxes are solid wood or plywood and doors still close well, painting changes the whole kitchen for far less than replacement.
Interior Painting in Quincy
Kitchen cabinet painting in Quincy with a sprayed, hard-cured finish
Dated oak or worn white cabinets, chipped edges by the sink, and a finish that feels tacky months after someone rolled latex on: painted cabinets only last when they're treated like furniture, not walls.
- Phone answered 24/7
- Walk-throughs across Norfolk County
- Interior Painting
$4,140 to $7,965Typical per kitchen in Quincy. The walk-through sets your number.
Brands we work with: Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, California Paints, Farrow & Ball, PPG, Fine Paints of Europe, Cabot, Zinsser, York Wallcoverings, Thibaut, Schumacher, Phillip Jeffries, Graham & Brown, Roman.
Quick answer
Kitchen cabinet painting in Quincy means removing doors and drawer fronts, degreasing every surface, sanding, applying a bonding primer, filling grain where wanted, and spraying two coats of a waterborne alkyd or urethane-modified enamel. Boxes are brushed and rolled on site. A typical kitchen runs about $4,140 to $7,965 depending on door count and style. The walk-through sets the real number.
What kitchen cabinet painting covers with us
Cabinets get handled more than any other painted surface in a house. Hands with cooking oil, steam from the kettle, wet sponges and the constant knock of pots against door edges all wear on a finish. That's why ordinary wall paint fails on cabinets: it stays soft, sticks to itself when doors close, and chips at the corners within a year.
Our painters approach kitchen cabinets as a finishing job. Doors and drawer fronts come off, get labeled, and go to a dust-controlled area where they can be sprayed flat and cured. The cabinet boxes, face frames and end panels stay in place and get brushed and fine-rolled. The result is a smooth enamel finish that cures hard, wipes clean and costs a fraction of new cabinets, whether the kitchen is a split-level in West Quincy or a condo galley near Marina Bay.
What cabinet prep involves before any enamel goes on
Kitchen grease is the number one reason painted cabinets peel. We clean every door, frame and drawer front with a degreasing cleaner made for pre-paint prep, then rinse, because grease left in the corners of a raised panel will push primer off later. Hinge holes and hardware locations are noted, and if you're changing pulls, old holes get filled with a two-part wood filler that won't shrink.
Next comes scuff sanding with fine grit pads to dull the factory finish, followed by tack cloth and vacuum. Most stock cabinets carry a catalyzed lacquer or conversion varnish that very little sticks to, so we use a high-adhesion bonding primer. On oak, the open grain shows through paint as a texture; if you want a smooth look, we apply a grain filler or extra build primer and sand it back flat.
- Label and remove doors, drawer fronts and hinges
- Degrease with a pre-paint cleaner and rinse
- Fill old hardware holes with two-part wood filler
- Scuff sand and apply a high-adhesion bonding primer
- Optional grain fill on oak for a smooth finish
Choosing the cabinet enamel: waterborne alkyd, urethane or oil
We usually spray a waterborne alkyd enamel or a urethane-modified acrylic. Both level out well, resist blocking (doors sticking to frames), and cure much harder than wall paint while staying low in odor. Traditional oil enamel is still an option for some kitchens, but it yellows over time, especially whites in darker rooms, and takes longer to dry between coats.
Sheen matters on cabinets. Satin hides small flaws and fingerprints; semi-gloss is easier to wipe but shows every dent. Whatever the product, enamel takes weeks to reach full hardness even though it feels dry the next day. We tell you how to treat the doors during that cure period so the finish doesn't mar while it's still setting.
Keeping your kitchen usable while cabinets are being painted
Countertops, floors and appliances are covered with heavy paper and plastic, and the open boxes are masked so shelves inside can stay loaded if you only want exteriors done. We set up an exhaust fan in a window to pull spray drift and odor out. Most families keep using the sink and fridge during the job, with a short break on the days the boxes are coated.
Many Quincy kitchens sit in houses built before 1978, and some older built-in cupboards and pantries in two-families were painted decades ago with lead-containing paint. For those, we presume lead, contain the area, mist before any scraping, sand with HEPA-connected tools only, and wet clean at the end of each day. In condo buildings we also plan around elevator reservations and building rules on spray work.
How a kitchen cabinet painting job runs over about a week
Walk-through and door count
We count doors, drawers and panels, check the cabinet material and existing finish, talk through color, sheen and hardware, and send a written estimate.
Removal and labeling
Doors and drawer fronts come off and get numbered to their openings, and hinges and pulls are bagged so everything returns to the right place.
Clean, fill and sand
Every surface is degreased and rinsed, old holes are filled, and the existing finish is scuff sanded with dust extraction.
Prime and spray doors
Doors get bonding primer and two sprayed enamel coats on racks in a dust-controlled area, with light sanding between coats.
Coat boxes on site
Face frames, end panels and toe kicks are primed and finished by brush and fine roller with the kitchen masked and vented.
Rehang and adjust
Once doors have cured enough to handle, we rehang them, adjust hinges so gaps line up, install hardware and walk you through care during full cure.
What kitchen cabinet painting costs in Quincy
Typical range in Quincy$4,140 to $7,965per kitchen
This typical range covers a kitchen of about 18 to 30 doors and drawer fronts, painted on both sides, with boxes and end panels finished on site. Islands, glass doors, two-tone schemes and grain filling add to it. The walk-through sets the real number.
What moves the number
- Total count of doors, drawer fronts, end panels and filler strips
- Door style, since raised panels and beadboard take longer than flat slab or Shaker
- Grain filling on oak to get a smooth finish instead of visible texture
- Two-tone schemes, such as a different color on the island or lower cabinets
- Interior painting of cabinet boxes and shelves in addition to exteriors
- Repairs to delaminated veneer, damaged edges or water swelling at the sink base
Compare every service side by side in our painting and wallpaper cost guide, or call (617) 576-8235 to set a walk-through.
Are your kitchen cabinets ready for painting instead of replacement?
Chipped corners near the sink
Edge wear and peeling around the sink base usually mean the old paint was rolled latex without a bonding primer under it.
Doors that stick when closed
Tacky finish that grabs the frame is blocking, a sign of soft wall paint used where a cabinet enamel was needed.
Yellowed white cabinets
Old oil-based white enamel ambers with age, especially away from windows. A waterborne alkyd stays closer to its original white.
Orange oak from the 1990s
Honey oak cabinets with a sound clear finish, common in South Quincy and Braintree split-levels, are good candidates, with an optional grain fill for a smooth look.
Grease that won't wipe off
Built-up residue on doors above the stove means the finish is breaking down and needs deep cleaning and recoating before it gets worse.
Cabinet painting in Quincy kitchens, from two-family galleys to Marina Bay condos
Kitchens in Quincy run from narrow galley layouts on the second floor of a Wollaston two-family to remodeled kitchens in Merrymount Colonials with full-height cabinets and islands. Rental units near the North Quincy and Quincy Center Red Line stops often have builder-grade oak or laminate-door cabinets that owners want refreshed between tenants. For those, we focus on durable satin enamel and tight hinge adjustment so the doors hold up to heavy use.
In older houses on Wollaston Hill and in Milton, we sometimes paint original built-in pantry cabinets and butler's pantries with multi-pane glass doors. Those are hand-brushed in place because the joinery is too delicate to remove. Summer humidity off Quincy Bay slows enamel cure, so in July and August we run dehumidifiers in the drying space and allow longer between coats before stacking or rehanging doors.
Where we do kitchen cabinet painting
Quincy neighborhoods and nearby towns we cover most often, with ZIP codes:
- Quincy02169
- Wollaston02170
- North Quincy02171
- Squantum02171
- Montclair02171
- Merrymount02169
- Houghs Neck02169
- Adams Shore02169
- West Quincy02169
- South Quincy02169
- Quincy Point02169
- Braintree02184
- Milton02186
- Dedham02026
- Needham02492
- Wellesley02482
- Norwood02062
- Canton02021
- Stoughton02072
- Newton02458
- Natick01760
- Framingham01702
- Waltham02451
- Watertown02472
- Weston02493
Kitchen Cabinet Painting questions from Quincy homeowners
How long does kitchen cabinet painting take in a Quincy home from start to finish?
A typical kitchen takes about five to eight working days. That includes removal, cleaning, priming, two coats on both sides of every door, finishing the boxes and rehanging. Humid weather and dark colors that need an extra coat can stretch it. The kitchen stays mostly usable, with the heaviest disruption on the days the boxes are coated.
Can laminate or thermofoil cabinets in a Quincy condo be painted?
Laminate can be painted if it's firmly stuck down, using a high-adhesion primer made for slick surfaces, though it won't wear as well as painted wood. Thermofoil that is peeling or bubbling usually isn't worth painting, because the vinyl film keeps lifting from heat near the stove. We'll tell you at the walk-through whether cabinet painting makes sense for your material.
Is kitchen cabinet painting in Quincy sprayed or brushed?
Both. Doors and drawer fronts are sprayed flat on racks, which gives the smoothest finish with no brush marks. The cabinet boxes stay in your kitchen and are brushed and fine-rolled, because spraying in place requires masking the entire room. A good brushed enamel on face frames levels out well and is hard to tell from sprayed.
How should I care for freshly painted kitchen cabinets during a humid South Shore summer?
Enamel feels dry within hours but takes several weeks to harden fully, and humid air slows that. During the cure, close doors gently, avoid hanging damp towels over them, run air conditioning or a dehumidifier if you have one, and clean only with a soft cloth and mild soap. We'll leave touch-up paint labeled for your color and sheen.
Will cabinet painting show the wood grain on oak doors in a South Quincy split-level?
Yes, unless the grain is filled first. Oak has deep open pores that read as texture through paint, and some people like that look. If you want a smooth, furniture-like finish, we add a grain filler or high-build primer and sand it level before the enamel coats. It adds time and cost, which we list separately on the estimate.
Do you swap hinges and hardware during cabinet painting in Quincy kitchens?
We can install new pulls, knobs and hinges you've picked out, and we'll fill old holes if the new hardware spacing is different. Concealed European hinges can be swapped like for like. If you're switching from exposed to concealed hinges, that requires drilling the doors, which we'll price at the walk-through.
Related work we often pair with it
Interior Painting
Walls that crack again a month after painting, flat paint that scuffs when you wipe it, and old oil layers that peel off in sheets: most Quincy.
How we do itTrim & Door Painting
Baseboards scuffed gray, door edges worn to bare wood, and window casings with drips from five past owners: trim is where an older Quincy house shows.
How we do itColor Consultation
A two-inch chip under store lighting tells you almost nothing about how a color will look on a north-facing parlor wall at four in the afternoon,.
How we do itLead-Safe Painting
Most Quincy houses were painted long before 1978, so scraping a porch, sanding a window sash or stripping wallpaper can turn old lead paint into dust.
How we do itTalk to us about kitchen cabinet painting
Our phone is answered around the clock. Tell us about the rooms or the house and we will set a walk-through and a written estimate.