# Sealing and painting particleboard cabinet boxes



## jimhester (Oct 25, 2009)

Hello all. I decided to start a new thread because this is a little different from the subject of the other mdf/particleboard entries I've fount.
My son is refurbishiing his kitchen and bathroom cabinets and is going to be able to use his existing face frames for all of them. He was given a lot of particle board with a good smooth finish on one side and wants to use that to save money (he's a medical school student, and at $25,000 per semester he needs to cut a lot of corners). 
The particleboard has some spots and stains on the good side, and I don't know yet if any of the spots are from something oily. If so, I'm going to try to clean them and then seal them before he paints them white. I was looking at Bullseye 1-2-3 at Lowe's and am thinking about trying to use that. 
There are different types of Bullseye. The one for around $14 a gallon says it is a sealer and primer. The more expensive ones only say primer and stain blocker. Also the more expensive ones say No Sanding Required, but the cheaper one doesn't. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks. Jim


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## Doss (Mar 14, 2012)

Are these particle board or MDF?

I also wonder about the "cutting corners" part. If y'all are going through the trouble of doing it, you might as well build a nice set. That's not to say you should go out and spend thousands of dollars, but what is going to be the cost if you have to do it again down the road?

Also, how do you plan on finishing the cabinets? Lacquer? Latex? Oil-based paint?


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

Besides blocking the stain, you want to make sure whatever is applied sticks. With that in mind maybe you should consider BIN, being shellac based it does stick to almost everything.


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## jimhester (Oct 25, 2009)

Doss…....I agree. But He only has X number of dollars and has a lot of other things (electrical, plumbing, windows, etc.) that he has to fix, so the current budget is the driver here. The paint was going to be my next question. He will paint them white, so what would be the best paint to use for the medium term (to last 4-5 years)?
Fred…..Thanks. I'll check out BIN. Is it fairly easily used in a spray gun? And will it have to sanded much before painting?
Also, those stains seem to be a bit oily. What would be a good thing to clean them with that wouldn't swell the particle board?

Thanks for all replies and suggestions. Jim

P.S. I meant to say "found", not "fount". I've gotten spoiled with spellcheck.


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

I painted some pretty slimy old cabs for my shop and used oil based Killz…. which is similar to Bin.

It covers and seals just about anything.


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## Doss (Mar 14, 2012)

I'd use a gloss or semi-gloss paint. Clean up is usually a lot easier. You can do latex or oil-based or lacquer.

You could possibly use poly on those (maybe) and have a super-durable finish… though the paint may be enough on it's own. It's probably easier to "repair" with just paint too.


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