# DoorRackPainter pros and cons?



## vilmost (Jul 2, 2013)

I would appreciate some feedback from those who use this drying rack system for cabinet doors. 

Can you fit wide cabinet doors and narrow drawer faces on the same rack?


Do you have to clean the rods between every coat?


Are the rods flimsy/bendy? Are you able to eliminate marks?


What are the pros and cons you experienced?


Thanks


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

They're awesome and will save you a ton of time! To answer your questions: no you don't need to clean them after each coat but you do need to keep the spray rack ones clean. They're not flimsy at all, I doubt you could bend one if you tried. You would not be able to fit drawers and doors on the same rack. I have three drying racks which allows me to hold 54 doors plus one on the spray rack you'll need at a minimum 2 but 3 allows you to tackle just about anything.

Now for the marks they make.. It's 2 tiny little dots on the hinge side that's never visible and the other two on the handle side. If you're doing 2 or more coats it's never a problem because your second coat will cover the dots you left from the first coat. It's near impossible to place them on the rack exactly where they were the first coat.

Feel free to ask anything else I might have missed, I've been using them for years now.










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## vilmost (Jul 2, 2013)

I appreciate the quick response! I actually do have a few more questions:

That setup seems to be in a garage. Do you carry the racks on site? 

If so, can you break them down? I would need to fit them in a Transit Connect along with other equipment.

Do you recommend the static spraying rack or the newer rotating one?


How do you go about unloading a rack in between coats? I will have a job with 58 items, that's 3 racks PLUS one for unloading???


Thank you!


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

vilmost said:


> I appreciate the quick response! I actually do have a few more questions:
> 
> That setup seems to be in a garage. Do you carry the racks on site?
> 
> ...


For the most part I don't carry them on site, that's my garage/spray shop. One of the best features is how little space they take up both when in use and stored. Below is a picture of two racks not in use that'll give you an idea of how small they become. Fitting it into a transit wouldn't be a concern.

I don't have the newer spray rotating rack but it looks like you'd need to use it with a saw horse which is one more thing you'd need to transport.

Unloading and loading: once the doors are ready to spray I stack in piles of 18 based on size. The largest one goes in the pile first so it's the last to spray.

I then take the smallest one and use it to set the racks. Pull the bottom pins all the way out and use the door to first out the right distance you'll need. As the doors get bigger in the pile you just pull the pins out a little less. I normally use the door I just put on the rack as a guide to see how far I pull the pins above it. Kinda hard to explain but if you get them you'll see what I mean. 

Between coats I take them all and stack them like you can see the shelves standing in the first picture I posted. They get taken off in the order they went on, get sprayed again and put back the same way. When they're done I load them in the truck right off the racks.

Here's the pic with them not in use, that's two full racks. 










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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

BTW I didn't paint those cabinets in the last pic my neighbor was throwing them out and I thought they'd be good to store sprayer stuff in. So no judging! 

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## vilmost (Jul 2, 2013)

Thank you! Can you share the way you set up your garage for spraying and drying?


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

vilmost said:


> Thank you! Can you share the way you set up your garage for spraying and drying?


I don't have any pics of the spraying area. I'll take some the week after next when I have my next cabinet job. For now I'll try to explain.

First I cover the floor with brown paper like you saw in the first pic. I make a makeshift booth the that white plastic you see on the left of the second pic. It's tyvac the stuff they wrap houses in before getting siding. I added garnets to the top of the tyvac for it can hook into the track I have running along the ceiling. Think hospital curtains, when I'm done it gets put back where you see in the pic. Obviously one side is open to walk the doors to the dry racks but it really helps contain any overspray. 

Drying wise they dry on the racks, nothing fancy there but I'll take pics of the whole thing and post my exact process, much easier to show than to explain. 

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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

I bought the full set up and first job immediately hated it!! You have to constantly wipe the spray rods, and the dry rods will touch the backs of the doors or drawers and make a very small indentation. Most will say you will never see it, but after a primer and two finish coats there will be three small dents on top and bottom, its pretty ugly. Yea it may be a time saver, but I made a spray table out of an old lazy susan and tent toppers to put the doors on. I like the erekta racks, even though you can only do one side at a time.


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

MikeCalifornia said:


> I bought the full set up and first job immediately hated it!! You have to constantly wipe the spray rods, and the dry rods will touch the backs of the doors or drawers and make a very small indentation. Most will say you will never see it, but after a primer and two finish coats there will be three small dents on top and bottom, its pretty ugly. Yea it may be a time saver, but I made a spray table out of an old lazy susan and tent toppers to put the doors on. I like the erekta racks, even though you can only do one side at a time.


My guess is that you didn't put in enough time with it. You definitely have to wipe the spray rack like you described. Took me a couple sets to get the kinks worked out. I can't imagine having to wait six dry cycles if your doing a primer and two top coats, plus a larger foot print. Four little dots (two of which are completely hidden) that get covered up after each coat is well worth it for the time saved. To each there own though, I've heard good things about the erecta rack. Happy to hear you're having success with it. 

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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Rbriggs82 said:


> My guess is that you didn't put in enough time with it. You definitely have to wipe the spray rack like you described. Took me a couple sets to get the kinks worked out. I can't imagine having to wait six dry cycles if your doing a primer and two top coats, plus a larger foot print. Four little dots (two of which are completely hidden) that get covered up after each coat is well worth it for the time saved. To each there own though, I've heard good things about the erecta rack. Happy to hear you're having success with it.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk



You don't put the door down the same way on the rods, so you can get 12 little divits. I see most people using an HVLP, which will put on such a light film of paint, I don't think that meets data page minimum film requirements. So yea, by not putting on enough material your divit will be less noticable. Try putting on a full coat and tell me what you think.


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

MikeCalifornia said:


> You don't put the door down the same way on the rods, so you can get 12 little divits. I see most people using an HVLP, which will put on such a light film of paint, I don't think that meets data page minimum film requirements. So yea, by not putting on enough material your divit will be less noticable. Try putting on a full coat and tell me what you think.




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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

I like the idea of the dry racks. Not sure if I'm sold on the spray station though. It totally makes sense though..
I just use a bakers rack but can leave marks on the bottom side for sure..

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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

finishesbykevyn said:


> I like the idea of the dry racks. Not sure if I'm sold on the spray station though. It totally makes sense though..
> I just use a bakers rack but can leave marks on the bottom side for sure..
> 
> Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk


The spray racks look like the dry ones with just two pins at the top. Spray the back first and two sides. Grab the two unpainted sides to flip the door over, spray the front and move to the dry racks. Without then I don't think the system would work unless you're only planing on doing one side a time. 

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## Singular (Dec 23, 2018)

I think unless one does 2-3 well paid cabinet jobs each month, the cost of buying such system is too high. I looked into buying it, but then decided to built it myself. Cheapest way, is to use 2×3 for sides and 2×4 for the feet part. Reinforce it with metal framing corners, then drill holes, then buy aluminum rods on ebay, they are inexpensive there if bought in bulk. Will cost you around 100 bucks or less for rack instead of paying close to 3K. Then to eliminate clean up, I use an electrical tape and when it gums up, 
Just peel it off and stick a new one.... I loved the idea of those racks but after the ones I built as described above I went different route. Once upon a time last fall I've happened to be at the closing Sears store and there came my eureka moment.....I got everything I needed there and more for 125$!!!!
Only in America, you can buy something that by modest estimate costed hundreds and hundreds more.
I will try to post some pics of the system I designed from it. Also, one can buy 3/4 steel pipes, connectors which use allen wrench for tightening (forgot the brand name, but Lowes carries them). They are reasonably priced at 3/4/5$ each depending on configuration. 3/4 pvc end cups. 3/4 pvc pipe type 40 for top and upper crossbar. Aluminum rods precut on ebay in bulk... I believe one can have a system built on a weekend , way less expensive than what is offered by swiss guy from LA.
Hope it helps
Sincerely,
Singular


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## Singular (Dec 23, 2018)

Here are couple of pics....
I can post more if succesful


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## Singular (Dec 23, 2018)

One can make any adjustment.... you can put a drawer plate and the door or doors of various sizes. Racks can be moved farthe apart and casters locked. For the use with heavy 1.2" thick panels I use heavier gauge rods made from steel. If I need to stack the solid core door I use an extra rod.
Thats it. I can upload pics of my spray booth/racks tomorrow also to show what can be constructed from 3/4 Steel pipe and those connectors sold at Lowes. Other system I had before is just 2×6 wood lumber loaded with tiny finish nails, they leave tiny pinholes on the back side of the door that can be easely touched up with foam/ artist brush.
Sincerely,
Singular


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

Here's some pics of the track and plastic I have in my shop aka garage. Next week I have a cabinet job so I'll take some pics of it set up.










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## Zoomer (Dec 17, 2011)

Here is our dry racks. It only took three jobs to recoup cost. By the time you build your own you could very well finish an entire kitchen. For us we find a couple of tiny dots on the backside if every door and drawer front. Nearly invisible. Excellent system to make cabinet Painting efficient and very profitable.


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## Mr Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

MikeCalifornia said:


> I bought the full set up and first job immediately hated it!! You have to constantly wipe the spray rods, and the dry rods will touch the backs of the doors or drawers and make a very small indentation. Most will say you will never see it, but after a primer and two finish coats there will be three small dents on top and bottom, its pretty ugly. Yea it may be a time saver, but I made a spray table out of an old lazy susan and tent toppers to put the doors on. I like the erekta racks, even though you can only do one side at a time.


Yeah the first time I saw that system it looked a little hackish. There's no way in hell a professional cabinet finisher would use it... Just my 2 cents and I don't want to offend anyone who uses it.(sorry Briggs) That's just my opinion and everyone has one.:vs_cool:

The Hafele dry rack is portable and holds a lot of doors. I too use a lazy susan to spin the doors around when spraying a side at a time. I also use cup hooks and hangars to shoot both sides sometimes depending on the coating.


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## Zoomer (Dec 17, 2011)

I respectfully disagree with both Mike and Mr. Smith. The door rack painter system is professional-grade that gives factory finish results with the right spray equipment of course. We use a tri-tech t4 sprayer and usually spray a good first coat and second coat of material. We have used Advance, Coronado waterborne alkyd, Breakthrough, also Benjamin Moore DTM alkyd enamels.
The small marks left on the back side of cabinet doors are so small that rarely will the homeowner even notice them. This system is easy to transport from job to job and is a system that pays dividends almost immediately. I understand the other systems that you guys are speaking of but this system in my opinion is the simplest and the most efficient of all of them with the best results. Having just finished a very large house with hickory cabinets, that first had to have all of the knot holes filled in prior to priming and painting I can attest 2 this system giving my customer a factory like results on all of their cabinets


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## OT Painting (Mar 2, 2019)

I set up my rack system in the customers room (10x10) that they weren’t using. I used zipwalls to protect the walls. I have the new spray rack (lazysusan style), which saved space because you don’t need to make room for you to walk around the piece your spraying, just enough to be able to turn it. Yes you could clone the idea but by the time you find all the parts, drilled all the holes, find all the rods and put it all together, how much time and money would thatve cost you? Two jobs and you’ve paid for it. Plus it’s a buisness expense.
I’ll be buying another rack system. Oh and painting both sides in one shot saves you halve the time.


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## Zoomer (Dec 17, 2011)

OT Painting said:


> I set up my rack system in the customers room (10x10) that they weren’t using. I used zipwalls to protect the walls. I have the new spray rack (lazysusan style), which saved space because you don’t need to make room for you to walk around the piece your spraying, just enough to be able to turn it. Yes you could clone the idea but by the time you find all the parts, drilled all the holes, find all the rods and put it all together, how much time and money would thatve cost you? Two jobs and you’ve paid for it. Plus it’s a buisness expense.
> I’ll be buying another rack system. Oh and painting both sides in one shot saves you halve the time.


So true


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

OT Painting said:


> I set up my rack system in the customers room (10x10) that they weren’t using. I used zipwalls to protect the walls. I have the new spray rack (lazysusan style), which saved space because you don’t need to make room for you to walk around the piece your spraying, just enough to be able to turn it. Yes you could clone the idea but by the time you find all the parts, drilled all the holes, find all the rods and put it all together, how much time and money would thatve cost you? Two jobs and you’ve paid for it. Plus it’s a buisness expense.
> I’ll be buying another rack system. Oh and painting both sides in one shot saves you halve the time.


Right on, the amount of space saved alone makes them worth it. 

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## epicpaint (Apr 3, 2019)

Has anybody used the coat hanger system? They sell one for about 400 which includes hangers, racks, etc.. I like the idea I've only having to putty two tiny little holes on a part of the door that's not even visible, but the idea of doing all the coats vertically kind of worry me. I'm curious if anyone has used them and needed to alter their spray technique.


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## Zoomer (Dec 17, 2011)

epicpaint said:


> Has anybody used the coat hanger system? They sell one for about 400 which includes hangers, racks, etc.. I like the idea I've only having to putty two tiny little holes on a part of the door that's not even visible, but the idea of doing all the coats vertically kind of worry me. I'm curious if anyone has used them and needed to alter their spray technique.


.
We actually did a extensive thorough comparison between the door rack system versus clothes hanger system.
the actual amount of paint that can be sprayed on a clothes hanger system is considerably less than the amount you can apply using the door rack painter system.
It's second thing to consider is the fact that the doors always have a tendency to spin just a little bit with the clothes hanger system and with today's paints for cabinets we have to consider that the material is a thinner viscosity which means there is a much greater chance of having runs or sags. This is really not a concern with the door rack painter system since everything is being spray-painted horizontally. When things are sprayed horizontally you get a much better build of paint and therefore get a much better results then you would with a clothes hanger system.


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## Tprice2193 (Oct 3, 2017)

I spray waterbourne lacquer through turbine hvlp. I use the hanger system for first two thin coats. Sand to 400 the put on turntable and float on a final coat to the fronts only.


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## Holland (Feb 18, 2011)

Rbriggs82 said:


> Here's some pics of the track and plastic I have in my shop aka garage. Next week I have a cabinet job so I'll take some pics of it set up.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Man I ask where you sourced your curtains and track? Great idea!


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

The curtain is tyvak with garnets I installed and the track with the rolling hooks i think I got from Amazon. 

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## Zoomer (Dec 17, 2011)

Both Wide doors and drawer fronts


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

We have a really hard time flipping dark color stuff at our shop and not having it mar or stick at all. I like spraying flat, but did buy the hanging system to try as well to avoid having to let things cure to do the other side. I do not like having to do thin coats though. 

I might try doing primers flat, then the rest vertical so you get the build to fill grain. 

I am tempted to get a portable AC unit for the spray room to see if removing humidity helps flip dark color doors sooner. Scuff-X, Aura, Advance, etc they all stick it seems for us.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

DeanV said:


> We have a really hard time flipping dark color stuff at our shop and not having it mar or stick at all. I like spraying flat, but did buy the hanging system to try as well to avoid having to let things cure to do the other side. I do not like having to do thin coats though.
> 
> I might try doing primers flat, then the rest vertical so you get the build to fill grain.
> 
> I am tempted to get a portable AC unit for the spray room to see if removing humidity helps flip dark color doors sooner. Scuff-X, Aura, Advance, etc they all stick it seems for us.


I agree about the dark colours. They seem to take a long time to harden up properly. I have both a dehumidifier and a humidifier in my spray room depending on conditions.
50% at 70° is optimal. Imo.

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## Woodco (Nov 19, 2016)

dehumidifiers work great with stuff like advance.


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I will probably need to give that a try. Other guys say they have never had an issue with dark colors sticking in Scuff-X, but we still do. Worse in humid weather I think. It took 2 weeks last summer to flip a set of Hale Navy cabinet doors without them sticking. They feel dry, but still mar on the back side or stick.


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## Mr Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

DeanV said:


> I will probably need to give that a try. Other guys say they have never had an issue with dark colors sticking in Scuff-X, but we still do. Worse in humid weather I think. It took 2 weeks last summer to flip a set of Hale Navy cabinet doors without them sticking. They feel dry, but still mar on the back side or stick.


I have a steel rack and dry them flat most of the time. I also have a hangar setup built with PVC pipes for vertical spraying.

I place cardboard on top of the steel wire racks and that prevents any indentation when flipping the doors over (after a few days) when using Advance. I'd think Scuff-X would be an even faster turnaround.

I just sprayed some cab doors a medium gray color without an issue and before that an Oxford Brown.

Have you ever tried Renner paints? The Idaho painter just completed a finishing course using waterbased Renner coatings for cabinets.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Mr Smith said:


> I have a steel rack and dry them flat most of the time. I also have a hangar setup built with PVC pipes for vertical spraying.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I would imagine that stuff is spray only..?

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## Zoomer (Dec 17, 2011)

I too am curious about Renner paints. Anybody try them yet?


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