Painting Kitchen Cabinets & Topcoating With Polyurethane

mact60

Anybody have experience with this? Topcoating with poly is supposed to make the finish much harder and tougher than just painting. Opinions? Experiences?

waynec

My company has finished many kitchens. If we are clear coating in a house where people live, we use a waterborne lacquer. This is a hard finish, drys fast a sands easy. We are currently using Target Coatings which we always spray. If you decide to use an oil base product and your cabinets are white, then they will yellow over time. Good luck

Nitwit

I agree. I painted the lower part of the side wall of my stairs with a glossy white oil based paint and it did turn to a yellow tint after a couple years.

NAV

I have always wanted to put Poly over paint but never had a project that I could try it on. I was thinking i would use a flat paint to save money (the poly will give it sheen) then let the paint/base coat cure before i applied the Poly/finish coat. Sucks to have a week downtime but i didn't want to risk the poly being too aggressive and causing the paint to fail, bubble or leach into the clear. You know, when you roll poly and it eats up the old paint in your roller pan.

Let me know how it works out for you - i am building a wood stand for my fishtank and will finish it like that if you have good results.

waynec

I just wanted to add one other thing and that is to make sure you topcoat clear is compatible with the paint product you used. Some products are harder and will actually crush the softer product. Also, you don't have to use a clear coat. We do mainly because many of our kitchens require a glaze. Then it must be sealed.