# Oak Cabinets painting process?



## Mr Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

I'm just curious about everyone's technique to paint old Oak cabinets.

my technique:

1. Clean

2. Spray Bin shellac

3. Spray 2 coats of Advance.

Brush and roll the boxes.

My problem with just spraying Oak cabinets is that the grain is not filled in. Spraying and then backrolling a 2nd coat of primer will fill in some of the grain.

Rolling Advance will show some texture as it doesn't level out that well. I'll have to try rolling it with Micro plush sleeves from Wooster.

Another option is applying grain filler. I haven't done that yet and it looks like a long process.

I don't do enough of Oak cabinets to have a great system dialed in.

I usually don't like to spray the boxes and BIN is not meant to be brushed and rolled.

Does anyone have an alternative waterbased primer that sands well for Oak cabs?

The job I'm bidding on also has 3-4 Oak door frames. I'd like to brush and roll them. I don't feel like bagging off 1/2 the main floor for just 3 frames.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

Mr Smith said:


> * Rolling Advance will show some texture as it doesn't level out that well. I'll have to try rolling it with Micro plush sleeves from Wooster.*



??? Advance levels out pretty damn good. Those wooster microplushes work great, only caveat is with microfiber its pretty easy to not put enough paint so you need to make sure you apply at the correct mill so the paint has a chance to level if its on too thin you get orange peel.



Iv'e had pretty good results with the 3/16" prodooz ftp simply because they release paint faster than microfiber will.


The reason to use BIN over old oak is that even though its brittle it has good sealing properties and fast dry. Always taking a chance with bleed through using waterborne. That said I most commonly see guys use 046, 217 or primelock.


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## Zoomer (Dec 17, 2011)

Here are photos of oak cabinets that have been painted with Benjamin Moore Advance semi-gloss paint. We spray painted a coat of bin primer sealer and then we back brushed and rolled very quickly over all the cabinet doors and boxes. After we spray painted our first coat of Advance paint we will sometimes back brush or back roll tightly to fill in any remaining grains in the cabinets. then the final coat is spray-painted slightly heavier than the first coat of Advance and this allows that it conceals any slight brush marks or roller marks that were left from the previous two coats.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Wash with TSPE
Sand with orbital 150 grit
Prime with Inslx Stix Acrylic 
Brush & roll 2 coats Advance on boxes
Spray 2 coats Advance on doors.
And yes I have been known to also backroll primer to drive into oak grain.


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## canopainting (Feb 12, 2013)

Try out some Behlen grain filler let it set up / dry wipe em down and prime.


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## PPD (Mar 19, 2018)

Thought someone posted on here about a building primer that can be used to fill grain but can’t recall much about it now...may have just been talking about how ridiculous the claims were 

FPE makes a brushing putty that works wonders if client wants to pay for the extra step...It can’t be sprayed (that I know of). I’ll sometimes fill deep areas or heavy graining in high visibility spots if I see they’re rather deep once primed but otherwise found paint leveling to do a great job by the second coat if applied @ correct mil. 

Feel like age seems to affect the ability to achieve paint smooth finish. I usually have to go the good ol’ sand/filler route with older/dryer oak while those made in last 2 decades seem to level out extremely well. 

Interested to hear what everyone else has to say about this!


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## Redux (Oct 27, 2018)

@PPD

I’m finding it to be just the opposite, having more large vesseled oak nowadays due to oak being sourced from lowlands and from warmer/wetter environments which was atypical 20 years ago. These logs are experiencing earlywood degradation and ring separation aka shake, and the vessels have larger cross sectional areas. The reason for this is bacterial in nature, with anaerobes thriving in warmer/wetter environments. Mills would have typically rejected large vesseled and shaken logs 20 years ago, and loggers wouldn’t touch a lowland oak. I’ve rejected a ton of material scheduled for finishing the past couple of years due to this.


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## Greg Mrakich (Apr 19, 2010)

I roll everything including doors with advance. Back brush with a soft bristle brush. Levels great. Also a great selling point in it is easy to do a touch up if it becomes necessary. Touch up will not show. If sprayed and you get a nick or scratch it's not easy to repair. It's funny but people I do work for WANT brush and roller work. High end, older homes. Not sure if it is just the mind set of the older build owners or what. They know it takes longer, and are willing to put up with it.


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