Yeah, well...so I said I'm done with painting cabinetry. Its tedious, difficult, smelly, sweaty, and dirty. BUT after figuring out the nuances of my new system I think I'm ready to go again. I decided to try out a new sprayer and use lacquer after hosting the Faux Team's class at my studio. You can read about that here.
I hit a few hiccups along the way. The first was getting to know my new sprayer. With a little help from a friend I was able to get up and running. Then I didn't realize HOW MUCH paint you had to use just to get the hose primed! Then something went "fishy" with the paint on the doors. Turns out there was a certain cleaning product that was used on them and it repelled the paint. Mind you I had SCRUBBED these doors well with TSP and wiped them clean then sanded and wiped clean AGAIN but the problem persisted. The only solution was to keep layering thin coats of paint and sanding back between each coat followed by a wipe down each time with Xylol.
After the doors and drawers were completed it was time to tackle the kitchen itself. It took about two days to fully mask everything off. My intern's back was out so I was on my own. But once that was finished the spraying was cake. Not as many issues on the boxes so thankfully this portion went much more smoothly.
Re-installation took about a half day and the results are stunning. I will never use anything else on cabinetry. The feel and durability of lacquer far outweighs the extra time and effort of setting up and spraying it, as well as the smell. It looks so professional.
So....the clients have asked me back to do some other areas of their home. Never say Never!