# What paint for medicine cabinet?



## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

I recently finished painting a condo for a GC. The owner is having me do a few other thing, one of which is painting the medicine cabinet. This metal cabinet is about 4' x 4' with 4 shelves and the back of the cabinet is the bathroom wall with the original orange peel finish that evey unit was painted with.

The cabinet frame and shelf tops have been painted (rolled and brushed) at least once since the condos were built in early 60's. The bottoms of the shelves appear to have the original oil enamel which has yellowed over the years. I have not tested the newer paint with DN alcohol solvent, so I don't know if it is oil or latex, but I will check later today.

I plan on scuff sanding the frame and shelves. I haven't decided if I am going to paint the bottoms of the shelves. I am trying to make the job cost effective for the HO, so I may or may not do this. I am going to skim coat the orange peel wall to make smooth.

I am thinking of priming with either BIN or 123. The trim paint the HO bought for doors and trim is Advance semi-gloss Chantilly Lace white. I am hesitant to use this for the cabinet, at least for the shelves, as I don't think that this paint will hold up to medicine cabinet chemical spills and such. I was thinking of using True Value Hardware's X-O oil based paint, at least on the shelves, for durability. I have a friend who has stripped and painted his motorcycle tank several times with Rustoleum and it always needs repainting because of paint wearing and gasoline staining. The last paint job he did was with the X-O and it has lasted 2 years so far. He said that the X-O is 10 times better than Rustoleum. My friend's father was a painter for over 50 years, and he himself does painting maintenance for a VFW post, so he has a bunch of experience with trying and finding paints that work.

I was thinking of using the Advance on the frame and back of the cabinet as they are not as critical as the shelves.

Alternatively, I am thinking of painting everything with California/Muralo Ultra semi-gloss in a ceramic finish. I am wondering if the ceramic type paint would be durable enough for a medicine cabinet. I would really like to do this as it would make the job much simpler and I really want to try using some Muralo after many years of being away from it. Muralo is the trim paint I switched to from BM Satin Impervo in my old painting days.

Anyway, any thoughts on any of this?

futtyos


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

Myself I would scuff it, grab some DTM from BM and then top coat with any latex paint.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

cdpainting said:


> Myself I would scuff it, grab some DTM from BM and then top coat with any latex paint.


My understanding of DTM is that it is designed to go directly onto metal. Everything here is already painted.

As far as using ANY latex paint, I am trying to use paint that will withstand the chemical onslaughts of various medicines and beauty products.

futtyos


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Personally, I would go with SW's Pro-Industrial Multi-Surface Acrylic Enamel without any hesitation. Think it only comes in quarts though, which is a bit of a bummer.


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

I'd scuff it, grab a bomb can of whatever and go for it. Unless you're stripping it, whatever is on it will determine the longevity of any top coat anyway.

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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

Use Ultraplate and quit messing around with it.


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Guardz?


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

I'd go with BM Super Spec Urethane (P22).


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

why make it so hard. Just clean it and put ultraplate right it.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

PACman said:


> why make it so hard. Just clean it and put ultraplate right it.


What's ultra plate pacman? Unfamiliar with that product..


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

I concour with Gough. For such a small piece, just hit with a coat of oil. Or tell the cheap GC to just put in a new medical cabinet. Probably be cheaper!


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*California/Muralo*



PACman said:


> why make it so hard. Just clean it and put ultraplate right it.


PAC, I called California Paints and asked about UnltraPlate vs Ultra Ceramic. Harry said that either one would work well. My local paint store that carries California/Muralo only carries the Ultra Ceramic (still with the Muralo label), so I am thinking about using that. I am still going to check out the SW Pro-Industrial Multi-Surface Acrylic Enamel that RH is raving about as well as the BM Super Spec Urethane (P22) that Gough mentioned.

I sanded down the shelves today and a couple of them have either a floral wallpaper of shelf paper glued under the paint I sanded off. After seeing that I decided to prime with BIN to avoid any moisture problems.

futtyos


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

finishesbykevyn said:


> What's ultra plate pacman? Unfamiliar with that product..


The most awsomest paint in the world! Sold by California paint dealers which you probably don't have in Canada, I'm afraid. Water bourne, levels out like it was sprayed, hard as hell, sticks better then any primer on the market, cures to 90% of it's complete cure hardness within 4 hours. Awesome stuff. After 33 years of selling paint, including everything SW makes, everything PPG makes, everything Ben Moore makes, Duron paint,Breakthrough, Etc,etc,etc it is the best paint I have ever sold hands down. But that isn't a free promotion or anything because that is frowned upon here at Painttalk.:vs_cool:


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

futtyos said:


> PAC, I called California Paints and asked about UnltraPlate vs Ultra Ceramic. Harry said that either one would work well. My local paint store that carries California/Muralo only carries the Ultra Ceramic (still with the Muralo label), so I am thinking about using that. I am still going to check out the SW Pro-Industrial Multi-Surface Acrylic Enamel that RH is raving about as well as the BM Super Spec Urethane (P22) that Gough mentioned.
> 
> I sanded down the shelves today and a couple of them have either a floral wallpaper of shelf paper glued under the paint I sanded off. After seeing that I decided to prime with BIN to avoid any moisture problems.
> 
> futtyos


The Ultraplate levels a little better when it is brushed and cures harder a bit quicker. The Ultra Ceramic can be tinted into much darker colors though so i carry both. Both are better then anything else I have ever sold before.(Anything SW,PPG,BM,etc.)


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

futtyos said:


> PAC, I called California Paints and asked about UnltraPlate vs Ultra Ceramic. Harry said that either one would work well. My local paint store that carries California/Muralo only carries the Ultra Ceramic (still with the Muralo label), so I am thinking about using that. I am still going to check out the SW Pro-Industrial Multi-Surface Acrylic Enamel that RH is raving about as well as the BM Super Spec Urethane (P22) that Gough mentioned.
> 
> I sanded down the shelves today and a couple of them have either a floral wallpaper of shelf paper glued under the paint I sanded off. After seeing that I decided to prime with BIN to avoid any moisture problems.
> 
> futtyos


As has been mentioned, a new cabinet would have likely made more sense. 

Yesterday a HO wanted me to just remove and replace a lower six inch bottom section of MDF door trim because of water damage. Cheaper, faster, and better to just remove the entire piece and replace it to the corner. Sometimes more is less.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Replace or refinish?*



RH said:


> As has been mentioned, a new cabinet would have likely made more sense.
> 
> Yesterday a HO wanted me to just remove and replace a lower six inch bottom section of MDF door trim because of water damage. Cheaper, faster, and better to just remove the entire piece and replace it to the corner. Sometimes more is less.


RH, sometimes replacing is more cost effective than refinishing, but sometimes not. A couple of years ago, I was doing some painting and maintenance work for someone's rental townhouse. The 2 bathroom medicine cabinets both needed a lot of work. They both fit into the walls, so I took measurements and shopped around for new. I could not find any in that size except for about $300.00 for one and nothing for the other. I took them out and back home with me, got the rust and grime off, sprayed white primer and paint on (clear spray over the bare metal trim) and they almost looked brand new. To buy new ones that were cheap and then have to cut out and fit them in would have cost more than what I did. And this was a rental.

The current medicine cabinet at the condo I am working at is over 4 feet wide and over 4 feet tall and almost 7 inches deep. Anything that size will be fairly expensive. Then there is the issue of making it fit if it is not exactly the same size. Outside of the problem with the Gardz peeling, I think that refinishing it (the HO does not expect perfection) is the most cost effective solution here. I may have to eat a bit of labor, but there is more work to be had both in this unit and others at the condo buildings it is in.

Other than that, I agree with you about doing the easiest and most cost effective things.

futtyos


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

Can you overlay it with 1/4" rock ,fix the screw holes and just caulk it in around the perimeter? 

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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Possible solution*



lilpaintchic said:


> Can you overlay it with 1/4" rock ,fix the screw holes and just caulk it in around the perimeter?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


lpc, interestingly enough, today I was toying with the idea of glueing some white laminate to the back and then caulk around it. I'm not sure how well screws will go into plaster if I installed drywall. I will have to think about this.

futtyos


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

Glue is great as long as you can get it to stick to the chalky surface.. . laminate, masonite, anything smooth, inexpensive and achieves the goal.

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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

futtyos said:


> lpc, interestingly enough, today I was toying with the idea of glueing some white laminate to the back and then caulk around it. I'm not sure how well screws will go into plaster if I installed drywall. I will have to think about this.
> 
> futtyos


Does it have lath?

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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Plaster wall material*



lilpaintchic said:


> Does it have lath?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


The walls are concrete (Marina Towers in Chicago). I ended up sanding the first coat of Gardz along with the shiny plaster areas off the wall to make it more porous. Then I thought it would be best to put another coat of Gardz on it. When the Gardz was just about dry I could see it sort of curling up where it was over the areas of shiny plaster I could not sand oof, so I scraped those areas with a razor and let the rest of the wall dry. Then I skim coated with Durabond 45 mixed with Trim-Tex's Mud-Max to give it more glueability. Let that dry overnight, scraped and sanded it a little, then skimmed it once more with DB 45 and a little bit less Mud-Max, let that dry with a fan, then double coated it with BIN so there would be no problems with water (I have actually had problems using 123 over a skim coat of Durabond, and i didn't want that happening!).

Tomorrow I will use the paint the HO bought (Advance satin in Chantilly Lace white) and put a coat on, then top coat it the next day now that Jmayspaint has mentioned that the waterborne alkyds need time to oxidize before recoating.

Next time I do one of these things I will try to use PAC's suggestion of California Ultraplate or Ultra Ceramic, RH's suggestion of SW's Pro-Industrial Multi-Surface Acrylic Enamel, or Gough's BM Super Spec Urethane (P22).

I do like the working time with Advance, but it would be nice to be able to recoat at least twice in one day.

futtyos


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Job done*



futtyos said:


> The walls are concrete (Marina Towers in Chicago). I ended up sanding the first coat of Gardz along with the shiny plaster areas off the wall to make it more porous. Then I thought it would be best to put another coat of Gardz on it. When the Gardz was just about dry I could see it sort of curling up where it was over the areas of shiny plaster I could not sand oof, so I scraped those areas with a razor and let the rest of the wall dry. Then I skim coated with Durabond 45 mixed with Trim-Tex's Mud-Max to give it more glueability. Let that dry overnight, scraped and sanded it a little, then skimmed it once more with DB 45 and a little bit less Mud-Max, let that dry with a fan, then double coated it with BIN so there would be no problems with water (I have actually had problems using 123 over a skim coat of Durabond, and i didn't want that happening!).
> 
> Tomorrow I will use the paint the HO bought (Advance satin in Chantilly Lace white) and put a coat on, then top coat it the next day now that Jmayspaint has mentioned that the waterborne alkyds need time to oxidize before recoating.
> 
> ...


I am finished painting the medicine cabinet. I told the HO to wait until this coming weekend for me to put the shelves back up and re-install the sliding mirror doors, explaining that this paint needs a lot of time to cure before setting things on the shelves.

I will try to explain what I did and then you all can pick it apart and tell me what nightmares I will need to dream.

When I primed the the frame (which was already painted a light off-white) I only put one coat of BIN. The 4' x 4' back I cut the BIN in with a brush, then rolled a coat over the whole area. As I was rolling areas, I found that if I rolled up into an area I had just rolled, the coverage on that became better, so when I finished the whole panel I rerolled the whole thing again using a little less BIN on the roller so as to not get the surface overly gummy. Then I let it dry overnight.

I decided to use the Advance satin paint the HO had purchased as this would match the rest of the trim that the Advance was already on. If the medicine cabinet yellows, so will the rest of the trim and doors. If the HO complains, I can say that she picked the paint and the color.

Next day I brushed and rolled the frame with Advance 1 coat, then cut in the back, put a fan indirectly blowing on it, then left to do something else. After the cut in was dry, I rolled the 4' x 4' back, and when I was done, I did the same thing as with the BIN, I rolled a very light 2nd coat. The coverage was very good and they are not going to be setting things on the back, so that was all the coats I painted the back.

Two days later, I painted the edge of the frame facing the front a 2nd coat and put a heavier coat than normal on the bottom of the frame since the paint would lay flat and not run. I did not put a 2nd coat on the sides of the frame as I figured that when the shelves are reinstalled, there will be so many shadows that it will be hard to tell if one coat was enough - and besides, I was running out of paint. I decided to use what was left of the gallon of Advance to put a 3rd coat on the shelves for extra protection against bottles, cans and other bathroom paraphanelia from scraping the surface of the horizontal shelf surfaces. 

I charged 40.00 per hour and agreed not to exceed 400.00. If I had not run into the problem with the old paint failing and the powdery/shiny plaster surface, I might have come close to 10 hours. As it turns out, it took me about 17.5 hours. I have other work in this unit to bid, either time and material or a set price cleaning the aluminum frames on the floor to ceiling windows as well as prepping and painting the electric baseboard heaters beneath the windows, so hopefully I will come out okay.

I also did a little research on Advance cure time and found this link, which I sent her:

http://www.theweathereddoor.com/2015/07/benjamin-moore-advance-waterborne-alkyd.html

I waited at least 24 hours between coats, and I used satin in Chantilly Lace white, so hopefully it will cure faster than the gloss or semi-gloss mentioned in the article. I wonder what Nestor Kelebay would have said. 

Next time I get something like this that I cannot take home to prep and spray and must brush and roll on site, I will check into the paints mentioned above by PAC, RH and Gough. Even so, when one runs into the unexpected, it makes it more difficult

futtyos

P.S. the GC I am working for told me that if he were painting the medicine cabinet, he would have just primed it and painted it one coat and be done with it because it is only a medicine cabinet and no one will see it unless the mirrored sliding doors are open. All this while knowing that the HO is a decorating coordinator for a major hotel chain.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

futtyos said:


> I am finished painting the medicine cabinet. I told the HO to wait until this coming weekend for me to put the shelves back up and re-install the sliding mirror doors, explaining that this paint needs a lot of time to cure before setting things on the shelves.
> 
> I will try to explain what I did and then you all can pick it apart and tell me what nightmares I will need to dream.
> 
> ...


Advance is an alkyd after all. They take a while to dry and cure. But the purpose of Advance was to give painters a product that was brush workable similar to Impervo not a product that was fast dry. Using the same product as nearby trim is a pretty good thing to do if the product is decent, as the Advance certainly is. As long as you and your customer are aware of it's limitations it's a fine product.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

You put way more thought, energy, and worry into this level of job than most of us would have. Now it's done so forget about it.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*Overkill?*



RH said:


> You put way more thought, energy, and worry into this level of job than most of us would have. Now it's done so forget about it.


RH, you sound like the GC I am working for.

futtyos

P.S. I have 2 speeds I can work at. If you don't like this speed, I KNOW you are not going to like the other.


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

I woulda grabbed a few bomb cans and shot it and been done with it.lol

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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

lilpaintchic said:


> I woulda grabbed a few bomb cans and shot it and been done with it.lol
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


I am pretty sure I would have done the same.


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## futtyos (Aug 11, 2013)

*No spray paint where I'm at!*



lilpaintchic said:


> I woulda grabbed a few bomb cans and shot it and been done with it.lol
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


Interestingly enough, I was at Menards in Chicago looking for BIN white pigmented shellac in a spray can, but could not find any. Clear shellac, yes, but no white. Then I remembered: the City of Chicago has banned the sale of spray paint withing the corporate city limits in an effort to limit the vandalism caused by graffiti:

http://gapersblock.com/mechanics/2014/07/28/chicagos-attempts-at-fighting-graffiti/

Actually, there are some pretty good graffiti artists out there:

https://archpaper.com/2016/12/chicago-graffiti-public-art-developments/

but I don't think any of this would have worked on a medicine cabinet. Or were you thinking of just plain white?

futtyos

P.S. last medicine cabinets I did were 2 small ones that I removed, took home and prepped and sprayed in the back yard with Rustoleum primer and white semi-gloss. They did come out very nice, but were very easy to tote around.


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