Cabinet Painting serving Cape Cod and Metro West MA.

About two in five Cape houses were built between 1970 and 1989. Census counts for Barnstable County show 32,298 homes from the 1970s and 33,181 from the 1980s, about 39% of the housing stock between them, and the county's median year built is 1977. Where the original cabinet boxes are still in place, the useful question is whether solid, square boxes can carry a new look with paint and hardware rather than a full replacement.

The answer depends on construction, not age. Solid wood and wood-veneer plywood boxes with sound face frames paint well. Particleboard with a vinyl or thermofoil skin is a poor candidate, because the skin can lift with heat and the coating has nothing to grip. A quick inspection of the cabinet sides, the inside of a door, and the area around the sink base settles it.

What the work involves

For a full step-by-step, see how kitchen cabinet painting works. Enamels feel dry within hours but take considerably longer to cure to full hardness, so gentle use for the first few weeks protects the finish.

• Doors and drawer fronts removed, labeled and finished separately from the cabinet boxes
• Thorough degreasing, since cooking residue left on the surface keeps primer from bonding
• Scuff-sanding and a bonding primer suited to the existing finish, whether varnish, lacquer or old paint
• Grain filling on open-grain species such as oak if you want a smooth look
• Two coats of a cabinet-grade enamel, with drying time between coats
• Reinstallation, hinge adjustment and new hardware if you are changing it

Older kitchens and lead

Not every Cape kitchen is a 1980s build. In Provincetown, 41.0% of homes date to 1939 or earlier, and Bourne, Truro, Falmouth, Wellfleet and Harwich each sit at 13% or higher. Built-in cupboards, pantry doors and painted pine cabinets in houses that old can hold lead-based paint under later coats.

When paid work will sand or scrape painted cabinetry in a house built before 1978, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies, and the contractor must be a certified firm using lead-safe practices. For a kitchen, that typically means containing the room, avoiding dry sanding of suspect coats, and a verified cleanup before food prep resumes. The lead-safe painting page goes into the process.

Timing a cabinet job in a second home

Census data puts 33.1% of the county's homes in the seasonal, recreational or occasional-use category, and in Chatham, Wellfleet and Eastham more than half the housing fits it. For a kitchen in one of those homes, the off-season has an advantage: nobody needs to cook while the doors are off and the enamel is curing.

Plan for the house to stay heated through application and cure, empty the cabinets before work starts, and decide whether the appliances, countertops and floor need extra protection. If the rest of the interior is due too, the interior painting page for the Cape covers what to coordinate.

Paint, refinish or replace

Painting keeps the existing layout, boxes and countertops, and changes color and hardware. Refacing replaces doors and drawer fronts and covers the boxes in veneer. Replacement is the right call when boxes are water-damaged, the layout no longer works, or the particleboard is swelling at the sink base. The refinish vs. replace comparison lays out the trade-offs side by side.