Cabinet Painting & Refinishing in Sandy Springs, GA
Original 60s and 70s solid-wood cabinets survive in many Sandy Springs ranches and split-levels, and real wood takes paint far better than particleboard or thermofoil. The catch is decades of oil soap, polish and grease, and sometimes an earlier refinish. In bigger Huntcliff and Riverside kitchens, doors are sprayed off site while the boxes are painted in place. Before choosing a primer, we degrease and tape-test a hidden spot.
Fulton County · Sandy Springs, GA
Cabinet Painting & Refinishing for Sandy Springs homes
The core stock is postwar. Mount Vernon Woods has late-50s ranches and early-60s split-levels next to colonials and newer builds, Riverside is mostly ranches and traditional two-stories from the 60s and 70s on winding, hilly streets, and Huntcliff, set in a bend of the Chattahoochee around the Cherokee Country Club golf course, filled in through the late 60s and 70s on steep, wooded lots, many of them on septic. The terrain is the thread that ties it together. Sloped lots put a daylight or walkout basement under a lot of these houses, push decks up off the main floor, and keep siding and trim in shade and leaf litter for most of the year. Inside, the split-level and the walled-off ranch kitchen are the layouts owners most want to change. Around City Springs and Perimeter Center the picture shifts to apartments, condos and office towers, which is where the commercial repaint work sits.
Areas we work in Sandy Springs
- Riverside
- Mount Vernon Woods
- Huntcliff
- North Springs
- The Panhandle
- Chastain Park
Near City Springs and Heritage Green, Heritage Sandy Springs Museum, Morgan Falls Overlook Park and across the rest of Sandy Springs.
Recent work from our crews
Cabinet Painting & Refinishing on Sandy Springs houses
A lot of Sandy Springs kitchens still have their original solid-wood cabinets from the 60s and 70s, often stained oak or a darker wood in a ranch or split-level that was never gutted. That is good news for painting: real wood boxes and doors take primer and paint far better than the particleboard and thermofoil in many later subdivisions. The catch is the history. These cabinets have usually been wiped down with oil soap and cooking grease for decades, and some were refinished once already with a varnish or a homemade paint job. In the bigger Huntcliff and Riverside kitchens there is also a lot of cabinet surface, so doors come off and are sprayed off site while the boxes are done in place.
What usually gets missed
The hidden problem on older wood cabinets is residue. Decades of oil soap, polish and kitchen grease soak into the finish, and paint laid over it will not bond no matter how good the coating is. A previous owner's refinish can also be the weak layer, lifting off and taking the new paint with it. We degrease, scuff and do a tape test on a hidden spot first, so we know what the existing finish will hold before committing to a primer.
On a Sandy Springs job we check
- Degrease every door and box face before sanding or priming
- Tape-test a hidden spot to see whether the old finish is sound
- Check hinge style before ordering, since 60s doors often use older hardware
What the job actually involves
Cabinets get touched, splashed and scrubbed every day, so the finish has to be hard and well bonded. That comes from degreasing, scuff-sanding and the right primer, not from a coat of wall paint.
We use a bonding primer and a hard-curing cabinet enamel rather than wall paint, because cabinets take constant handling and moisture, and ordinary paint stays soft and scuffs.
How we run a cabinet painting & refinishing job in Sandy Springs
- 1
Label and remove doors and hardware
Doors, drawer fronts and hinges are taken off and numbered so everything returns to its original spot. Hardware is bagged. Drawer boxes and cabinet frames stay in the house and get masked.
- 2
Degrease and deep clean
Years of cooking residue sit on cabinet faces, especially near the stove. We clean with a degreaser, then rinse. Paint over grease will peel off in sheets, so this step is not skipped.
- 3
Repair, sand and fill
Dings, old hardware holes and gouges are filled. All surfaces are sanded to dull the existing finish. Open-grain wood such as oak may get grain filler if you want a smooth look, otherwise the grain will show through.
- 4
Prime with a bonding primer
A stain-blocking bonding primer goes on to seal tannins and grip old finishes. Dark or stained cabinets can bleed through, which is why primer matters.
- 5
Sand lightly and apply finish coats
We scuff the primer, then apply two coats of a hard cabinet enamel by spray or fine roller and brush, with drying time between coats. Humid weather slows this down and can leave a soft film, so we manage airflow and timing.
- 6
Cure, reinstall and adjust
Doors are rehung after the finish has dried enough to handle, and hinges and doors are adjusted so they close squarely. New or original hardware goes back on. The paint keeps hardening for days to weeks, so go gently at first.
What moves the price
We will not quote Sandy Springs blind over the phone — these are the things we look at on site that decide the number.
- Number of doors and drawer fronts, which drives most of the labor.
- Condition and material. Water-damaged, peeling or heavily worn cabinets need repair.
- Wood species and grain. Oak and similar open-grain wood takes extra work to look smooth.
- Whether we paint cabinet interiors and the end panels and toe kicks.
- Color change. Dark to light usually needs more primer and coats.
- Whether doors are sprayed off-site or in a controlled space versus painted in place.
From a cabinet painting & refinishing customer
“Dan's Team did a great job on my house and it looks completely new again. … His workmanship, attention to detail and repairs exceeded expectations.”
Exterior repaint and repairs
Want a real number for your Sandy Springs cabinet painting & refinishing job?
The only way to price it honestly is to see it. We come out, walk the job and put it in writing — free, and with no obligation to book.
Call and we answer 24/7. Forms sent during the day get a call back the same day.
Cabinet Painting & Refinishing in Sandy Springs — questions we get asked
- How long are my kitchen cabinets out of commission?
- Plan on about a week for a typical kitchen, sometimes a bit more. Doors may be gone for several days while they are painted and dry. You can still use the kitchen sink and appliances, but the cabinets themselves are partly unusable.
- Will the paint chip?
- Any painted surface can chip, especially at edges and around handles. Proper cleaning, sanding and primer, plus a hard enamel, cut that risk a lot. The finish continues to cure for weeks, so be gentle at first.
- Can you paint cabinets that are already painted or stained?
- Yes. Both are fine with proper prep. Laminate and thermofoil are trickier and we will tell you honestly if yours is a poor candidate.
- Is painting cheaper than replacing cabinets?
- Usually, if the boxes are solid and the layout works for you. If the cabinets are damaged, sagging or badly designed, replacing them may be the better move.
- Is there a smell?
- Some, during painting and for a day or so after. We use low-odor products where we can and recommend ventilation.
Planning cabinet painting & refinishing? Start here
- How to match cabinets and wall colors without a busy kitchen Why the cabinets set the palette, how undertones decide what works, and when to let the walls simply get out of the way.
- Should you paint or replace your kitchen cabinets? Painting beats replacing when the boxes are sound — here is how to tell, and the cases where paint only hides the problem.
More in Sandy Springs
Fulton County housing, neighborhoods and what we do there.
Painting & remodeling in Sandy Springs →Other work in Sandy Springs
- Interior Painting in Sandy Springs
- Exterior Painting in Sandy Springs
- Deck & Fence Staining in Sandy Springs
- Commercial Painting in Sandy Springs
- Drywall Repair & Patching in Sandy Springs
- Kitchen Remodeling in Sandy Springs
- Bathroom Remodeling in Sandy Springs
- Basement Finishing in Sandy Springs
- Deck & Porch Building in Sandy Springs
- Siding Replacement in Sandy Springs
- Flooring Installation in Sandy Springs
Prefer to talk it through? Dan picks up.
(470) 419-0922