Cabinet Painting serving Spencer and Metro West MA.

The Census Bureau puts the median year of construction for Spencer's housing at 1968, with a margin of error of six years. The 1970s are the largest post-war decade in the town's stock, at an estimated 945 units, and 1,672 units date from 1939 or earlier. Cabinets in a house from either end of that range may be original or may date from a later remodel, so the first job is finding out what you have.

Solid wood boxes with sound frames repaint well. Cabinets with swollen particleboard, failed laminate or sagging shelves usually do not, because paint cannot fix a structural problem. Our refinish vs. replace guide walks through the decision, and the cabinet painting process post shows what happens after you say yes.

Lead-safe work in older kitchens

Roughly 68.4% of Spencer's housing units, about 3,898 of 5,695, were built before 1980, which puts the original kitchens in those homes at or before the era of the 1978 lead-paint ban. EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in a home built before 1978 to be certified in lead-safe work practices, and that includes small outfits and sole proprietors.

Sanding old cabinet doors and the painted trim around them creates fine dust, so it matters in a kitchen. AJ Painting follows EPA RRP lead-safe practices: the rule's practices include containing the work area, controlling dust during sanding and cleaning up thoroughly afterward. Details are on our lead-safe painting page.

What the finish has to survive

Cabinet doors take daily handling, and the faces near a range pick up a film of cooking grease. A coating applied over that film will peel, so degreasing comes before any sanding. After that we scuff the surface, prime with a bonding primer suited to the existing finish, and apply enamel in thin coats with time to cure between them.

• Oak and oak veneer: the open grain telegraphs through paint unless a grain filler goes on first
• Maple, birch and cherry: tight grain, so the surface is smoother but glossy factory finishes need thorough scuffing
• Older painted cabinets: layers of previous paint may need to be stripped back where they have chipped or built up around hinges and edges
• Laminate and thermofoil: only some products will bond, and edges that have started to lift are a reason to replace instead

Two-family and multi-unit houses

About 25.1% of Spencer's housing units, an estimated 1,432, sit in buildings of two to four units, and about 37% of occupied units are rented. If you own a two- or three-family and want to refresh a kitchen between tenants, cabinets can be painted without disturbing plumbing or counters. Whether that beats replacement is a scheduling and budget question for you to weigh, and we can explain what drying and curing times mean for when a kitchen is usable again.

What to expect from the visit

At the visit we open doors and drawers, check hinges, boxes and the existing finish, and talk through color, sheen and hardware. The estimate is free, we reply within 24 hours of your request, and a written quote follows within 48 hours of the visit. For market ranges, see Massachusetts cabinet painting cost data and the Massachusetts painting cost overview, which give you a benchmark before we ever talk numbers.