I just had all of my kitchen doors painted and I am not thrilled with the outcome. The finish on the doors is fine but the joint where the raised panel meets the styles and rails is partially filled with paint. See the pictures. Most of the doors have some form of this paint fillet; from 20 to 50% of the joints. Is this normal when you paint cabinet doors. Would you attempt to fix them; if so how? Am I crazy to think this can be fixed. Re spraying the doors is out of the question.
Thanks for your input!
Michigander
I think once the seasons change youll find that the panels will move and it should open up those joint lines. I cant see any way around not getting paint into those joints. I painted my cabinet doors in September and by January they had shrunk to the point where I can see a small line of bare wood. Once the humidity raises again those bare spots will disappear when the wood swells a little.
What material was used for the panels? If you're lucky and they're MDF you may not have shrinkage problems, but if they are hardwood you likely will. As for the paint problem, I'm not sure there is a fix….or even how to avoid that.
Chrisstef, I'm glad to hear you say that and I sure hope you are right They were painted during the coldest part of winter so the panels are shrunk as far as they will go. Hopefully when they swell this will be a non issue.
Fred, they are solid maple so they will shrink and swell.
If you were going to paint solid panels from scratch would you fill the joint ahead of time using calk?????
Thanks for your help!
Michigander
I have used caulk before painting on several doors like these. You might get away with using a small bead of white caulk on them now to fill. Try a door side that won't be seen often(bottom side of a high cabinet) as a test.
It may not have been possible, but painting the panel separate from the door frame (then assembly) is about the only I know of to prevent that….the panels should have been painted ahead of time anyway because of the movement issues. Didn't mention this earlier, but that does look like a nice finish job, very smooth on good looking doors…..
I've heard of using painters' caulk in those cracks. I can't vouch for it but it sounds reasonable to me.
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