Warning: My kitchen cabinet project in my old Atlanta apartment went wrong fast

I tried to paint my laminate cabinets with a $20 kit from a big box store. The paint peeled off in sheets after just two weeks because I didn't sand first. Now I have to strip it all and start over, which is way more work. Has anyone else had a laminate paint job actually hold up, or should I just save for new doors?

3 comments

3 Comments

ben4363d ago

Ugh, that's the worst. Been there with a laminate dresser. It's like the paint just sits on top with zero grip. I had to use a crazy strong deglosser and then a special bonding primer, the kind that says it sticks to anything. Even then, I lightly scuffed it with a sanding sponge first. It held for years, but it was a ton of prep work. Stripping it is such a pain, I feel for you.

kim.sandra3d agoMost Upvoted

What kind of bonding primer did you end up using? I tried the "sticks to all" stuff on a laminate bookshelf and still got some peeling on the edges after a year. I had to go back with an oil-based primer, which was a whole other mess.

spencer_johnson223d ago

Remember my neighbor tried to paint his laminate kitchen cabinets. He skipped the sanding step, just wiped them down. The paint peeled off in one big sheet like a sunburn two weeks later. He had to start all over, and the whole kitchen smelled like chemicals for a month. Ben436 is right about that prep work being a ton of effort, but it's the only thing that works. Some surfaces just fight you the whole way.