Paint Vs Stain Cabinets

Painting cabinets also stretches your budget higher.

Paint vs stain cabinets. If you want to see grains and knots in plain sight you probably shouldn t go with painted cabinets. Many people love staining their kitchen cabinets for the fact that the color soaks into the wood and enhances its natural beauty. In contrast stain is much thinner than paint. The paint is thicker than stain.

Dark paints show gathered dust. Stain application costs between 1 500 to 4 000. However if the surface of the cabinet becomes chipped or marked and you need to touch up the finish you will find that stains blend better with the existing finish particularly if the cabinet has a lot of grain to it. Paint is thicker than stain so it doesn t get absorbed by wood the way stain does.

Professional paint application costs an average of 2 000 to 5 000. Although painted cabinets give you the most versatility and add a clean aesthetic you may not want to cover up the interesting features and texture of your wood cabinets. Though you ll still see the grain imprints in woods like oak and hickory they ll mostly be hidden behind whichever coat of paint you choose. If you go with stain keep in mind that it can only be used with natural wood cabinets.

By now you should know all the pros and cons of painted vs. Therefore no matter whichever coat of paint you choose the painted kitchen cabinets will hide the unique features. Stained cabinets can be washed with soap and water while painted cabinets should not be washed with water unless the paint used is considered washable otherwise you could damage the finish. This allows it to be absorbed into the wood showcasing the wood grain and other unique features of your cabinet s particular wood species.

Paint works well on cabinets made with wood or mdf medium density fiberboard. However staining also comes with its own unique set of pros and cons. The difference in price is small however and depends on how many cabinets you have and how many coats you ll need.