My neighbor said to skip primer on kitchen cabinets, big mistake

My neighbor Tom told me to just sand and paint my oak cabinets without primer to save time. I did it on a set of 4 cabinets in my kitchen in Austin and the paint started peeling off after 2 weeks. Now I have to strip them all down and start over with a proper bonding primer. Has anyone else had luck fixing this kind of mess without completely redoing everything?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_dixon25d ago

Oh man, "big mistake" is putting it lightly. I did the exact same thing on my bathroom vanity last year because my brother in law swore skipping primer would be fine. Paint started bubbling up around the sink within a week and I was so mad at myself. You're probably going to have to strip them down, sorry. I tried just sanding the peeling spots and re-priming those areas, but it looked patchy and gross. Ended up having to take the doors off, use a chemical stripper, sand everything smooth, then use a stain blocking primer. That stuff is magic if you get the right one. Don't skip that step again, it saves so much work later.

lewis.charlie25d ago

Three years ago I did the same thing on my own kitchen in Houston with a set of cheap pine cabinets. I figured since they were already painted a light color underneath, primer would just be extra work for nothing. The paint started lifting within ten days, right where the steam from the stove hit the doors. I tried to cheat by sanding just the bad spots and throwing on some Kilz, but it looked like a checkerboard of matte and gloss patches. Ended up pulling all the doors off, using a heat gun to strip the old paint, then going back over everything with a high-adhesion bonding primer before repainting. It took an extra weekend but those cabinets still look new now, while your neighbor probably has peeling spots showing up on his own stuff soon enough. Sometimes the shortcut just ain't worth it when grease and moisture are involved.