Kitchen Cabinet Repainting Services
Is your kitchen looking tired or outdated? Our kitchen cabinet repainting service is an easy, cost-effective way to refresh your space without the need for a full renovation. By repainting your cabinets now, you save money while giving your kitchen a fresh, updated look that lasts.
Please note: we take on projects starting at C$1,050 - this type of work is most often done as part of a larger painting or carpentry project.
Cabinet Repainting: Costs, Finish & Timeline
You're busy. Here is what actually matters, from our own job records - not marketing copy.
How we get a factory finish in your kitchen
- Doors and drawer fronts removed, labelled, and sprayed flat - the only way to a truly level finish.
- Boxes masked and sprayed in place; your counters, floors, and appliances protected completely.
- Degrease, scuff-sand, bonding primer - the three steps DIY jobs skip, and the reason they peel at the handles.
- SW Pro Industrial coatings: harder than wall paint, made for daily-touch surfaces.
- Hardware swapped or reinstalled; doors rehung and aligned.
Refinish now or replace later
Solid 1990s-2000s cabinet boxes are usually better built than today's flat-pack replacements. Repainting keeps that quality for roughly a fifth of replacement cost. But worn factory finish lets moisture into the substrate - once MDF doors swell at the edges, painting can't save them and you're into full replacement.
What we'll tell you up front
- Laminate and thermofoil surfaces need honest assessment - some can't be refinished and we'll say so.
- Deep grain (oak) will still show grain texture through paint; we tell you before you commit.
- Kitchens are working spaces - expect 3-5 days of controlled disruption, not zero disruption.
These lines come straight from our written estimates. Contractors who don't say them up front bill you for them later.
What We See In Vancouver Kitchens
Kitchens come up in about a third of our interior painting scopes, and most of the cabinets we repaint are solid 1990s-2000s boxes in Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant, Dunbar and North Vancouver houses: maple or oak doors, good hardware, a factory finish that has worn through at the handles and gone yellow near the stove.
Oak. The grain shows through paint unless it is grain-filled first. We tell you that before you commit, and quote the fill separately so you can decide whether it matters to you.
MDF doors. Once the edges have swelled from water at the sink, paint cannot save them. We say so at the walk-through; sometimes the answer is new doors on the old boxes, which is still a fraction of a new kitchen.
Thermofoil and laminate. Some can be refinished with the right bonding primer, some cannot. We test a door before quoting the kitchen.
Colour. The whites in our files are Cloud White and Chantilly Lace; the darker doors are usually deep greens and navy on islands with white uppers.
From Our Job Files
Recent cabinet work, described the way it was scoped. Names and addresses stay private.
What can change the price after the quote
- The quote is a fixed written price for the doors, drawers and boxes we counted at the walk-through. Adding an island, a pantry or the inside of the boxes changes it.
- Grain fill on oak, if you decide you want a flat finish.
- Glass-front doors, replacing hinges with soft-close, or new handles that need holes filled and redrilled.
- Doors that fail the water test - swollen MDF edges - are quoted as replacements, not repaints.
- A colour change after the doors are sprayed means spraying them again; tell us before the first coat and it costs nothing.
Cabinet Repainting Questions We Get Every Week
Short answers from the crew.
Which products do you use on cabinets?
Sherwin-Williams Kem Aqua pre-catalyzed lacquer or Pro Industrial coatings sprayed for a factory-smooth surface, or Benjamin Moore Advance where a brushed alkyd look is wanted. Always over a degreased, scuff-sanded, bond-primed door - the three steps that decide whether the finish lasts.
Will it look sprayed or brushed?
Sprayed, with no brush marks, on doors and drawer fronts. Boxes are sprayed in place behind full masking.
Can I use my kitchen during the work?
Yes. Doors are off-site curing; the boxes are masked and sprayed in a day. Expect three to five days total with the kitchen usable between coats.
Repaint or replace?
Solid boxes from the 1990s and 2000s are usually better built than flat-pack replacements. Repainting keeps them for roughly a fifth of the cost of a new kitchen. If the doors are swollen MDF, we will tell you to replace the doors and keep the boxes.
What is the warranty?
Two years on workmanship from completion. Chips at the handles from normal use are not a defect, but we will tell you which finish resists them best.
How do payments work?
One third on acceptance, one third at the halfway point, balance on completion. Estimates are valid for 30 days.
What It Really Costs
Honest numbers from our own records - not industry averages.
| Scope | Typical price | Most projects land between |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet repainting - typical kitchen | $4,200 - $8,000 | 3-5 days |
| Finish | sprayed | SW Pro Industrial, factory-smooth |
Based on 317 written Renaissance estimates and 794 completed projects as of 20 August 2026. Prices exclude GST.
Instant Estimate Calculator
Get a realistic planning range in seconds - calibrated against 317 written estimates and 794 completed Renaissance projects.
Recent Work
Who wrote this. The Renaissance crew, from our own job files. Owner Eric Goodwill is a Red Seal Painter and Decorator and has run the company since 1992. More about Eric
Ready To Start Your Project?
Free phone consultation with ballpark pricing - just send us a few photos.
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