April 12, 2025 • 39 mins
In this episode of the RepcoLite Home Improvement Show, sponsored by Benjamin Moore, the focus is on providing a comprehensive guide to repainting kitchen cabinets and dealing with dust in your home. Dan begins by sharing a personal struggle with dust accumulation, offering insights into what dust is made of and sources of dust in homes, highlighting various practical tips for controlling it. The latter part dives into a detailed, step-by-step discussion of repainting kitchen cabinets, covering everything from proper labeling, cleaning, sanding, and priming to finishing touches. This episode provides valuable information for both DIY enthusiasts considering this project and those who might opt to hire professionals.CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction and Show Overview00:34 The Dust Dilemma: Personal Confessions04:37 Understanding Dust: What It Is and Where It Comes From13:14 Practical Tips to Reduce Dust in Your Home18:44 Upcoming Segment: Painting Your Cabinets19:18 Introduction to Kitchen Cabinet Painting20:15 Why Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets?22:26 Preparation: Removing and Labeling24:31 The Importance of Prep Work26:01 Cleaning and Scuff Sanding28:37 Priming Your Cabinets31:25 Applying the Finish34:32 Final Touches and Reassembly36:08 Final Tips and Conclusion
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well, good morning everybody. Good morning. You are listening to
the Repco Light Home improvement show sponsored by Benjamin Moore,
and I want to jump right into things. I guess
I'll tell you what we're talking about at the end
of the show. The last half of the show, we're
going to be walking through a kitchen cabinet repaint project.
Step by step. I'm going to lay it all out
(00:22):
everything you need to know to decide if this is
a project you can tackle, that you should tackle, if
it's a project maybe you should hire out. I'm going
to lay it all out. Coming up in a little
bit right now, I want to talk about dust. I've
got a lot of frustration right now and a bit
of a confession to make you know. My house is dusty,
(00:44):
really dusty. I mean, I can't stress that enough. All right,
it's like the dust bowl in there. A couple weeks ago,
for example, I took my own advice and I spring
cleaned one of the rooms that we've got in the house,
and I went through it thoroughly. We vacuumed, we moved furniture,
we washed walls, we dusted, we did it all really well.
(01:06):
We washed windows, we did all of that, and then
within a week everything's covered with dust again. I don't
know why. I don't know how. It's horrible, it's everywhere. Honestly,
it makes me glad that I'm short. In fact, let
me let me get off on a quick tangent here.
You know, I know short people catch a lot of grief.
(01:26):
We do, We really do. Most of the time. It's
well meaning, you know, everybody thinks it's well meaning. But
we do get teased all the time. And that's fine,
that's fine whatever. You know, Ali, I can only speak
for me. You know, I'm not speaking for all short people.
I'm not their short or they're they're spokesperson, they're short person.
I'm not their spokesperson. I'm not king of the short people.
(01:49):
I don't get to just say what works for me
and it works for all of us. Now we are
individuals and everybody's got their own decisions to make. For me,
I don't mind it. I can deal with it, you know,
I can roll with it. But you know what, the
more I think about it, the more I think it's
actually ideal. You know, it's not just something that I
(02:10):
kind of make fun of and laugh about. I think
I've got the ideal situation. You know. For one thing,
I was just talking with somebody about traveling, you know,
by plane, and he hates it. Hates air travel. Why
does he hate it? He hates it because he's a
tall person. He can never get comfortable in the seats.
There's no leg room. Guess what. I can sit in
(02:31):
the seat in the airplane with my legs stretched out
fully and my toes extended, and I still can't touch
the back of the seat in front of me. Talk
about leg room, I mean, my goodness, I can swim
in that seat. My space on the plane feels like
my living room at home. I've got so much legroom,
it's crazy. Same thing with traveling by car. You know.
I hear tall people complaining NonStop from the back seat.
(02:54):
My legs don't fit. Can you move your seat forward?
They're always asking things like that, you know, Can I
move my seat forward? Of course I cannot move my
seat forward. My seat has been adjusted at the dealership
to go further forward than other seats so that I
can reach the pedals. I can't move it forward anymore
than it already. Is what you're experiencing right now is
(03:15):
more leg room than normal in the back of my car,
and you still don't have enough. Guess what. I am
always comfortable no matter where I'm going, no matter what
vehicle I'm riding in. I could live in a back
seat and feel perfectly at peace. So being short has
tremendous benefits, and one of them gets me back to
my dust problem. I'm glad I'm short because a number
(03:38):
of furniture pieces in the room that I spring cleaned
and around the house. For Heaven's sake, you know, pretty
much most furniture pieces are too tall for me to
see the tops of them. You know, tall people living
in my home. There's no tall people living in my home.
What am I talking about tall people visiting my home?
Should such a thing happen, they would be in a
constant state of sadness or just spare over the dust
(04:01):
that they would see. Me. I am blissfully unaware of
most of it. So that's one blessing, one little blessing
that I've got. Little blessing. It's a little bit of
a joke there, anyway. The dust is driving me nuts.
I don't really know how I got off on that.
It doesn't matter. The dust is driving me nuts, and
I can hear a lot of you out there. You
know a number of you are probably shouting at me
(04:22):
right now and telling me to get the air ducts
cleaned out and that that's going to fix everything. But
will it? Will it? Will that fix everything? We're going
to dig into that next week, actually, and the answer
might surprise you. But right now, let's focus on dust.
What is it? Where does it come from? And what
can I do about it? And I know that sounds
(04:42):
really ridiculous that we're going to talk about dust. If
you've got a dusty home, this is all really good stuff.
I was surprised at a lot of this. I guess
that's not the that's not necessarily you know, the definitive, uh,
the determiner of whether this is good info. If I'm surprised,
I think you'll be ride with me. This is good stuff.
So let's talk about dust. What is it? Sounds really dumb,
(05:05):
but like I said, it's interesting, more interesting and grosser
than you might think. So dust isn't just one thing.
It's not just a thing you know that's dust. It's
a mix of stuff. It's dead skin cells, it's tiny
textile fibers from your clothes, your furniture, your carpet. It's
pet dander, it's pollen, it's soil, it's hair, it's all
(05:26):
kinds of microscopic debris from just living your life. And
then on top of all of that, to make it
a little weirder and maybe a little grosser, you've got
dust mites. You know you do. You've got dust mites.
Now you may be thinking, oh, I think not. We
are meticulous without cleaning, and I can guarantee you, you
filthy little man, there are no dust mites here. Well
(05:47):
you can think that, you can think that, but you're wrong.
You've got dust mites. I've got dust mites. We're all
the same here. You know, nobody's better than everybody else.
You've got dust mites sodo either everywhere, live in all
that dust and debris that we've got. They feed off
of our dead skin cells and they add to the
dust in our homes. You know, they're waste yay, and
(06:09):
their body parts become part of that dust cloud floating
around our homes. So first thing you need to understand
about dust is that you don't need to open your
windows for the dust to get in, you know, just
keeping your windows closed doesn't keep it out, you know,
Sealed up homes with closed windows can build up dust
faster than you'd expect. And it's all because a huge
(06:29):
portion of the dust that we're living with is all
created inside the home. It's created by you and your family,
your pets, those wonderful little dust mites, and all the
soft surfaces and belongings that make your house feel like home.
All right, So the first bit of good news that
I have for everybody is that you're probably at least
maybe not messy like you might be thinking. You're not
(06:51):
necessarily a filthy pig. It's just that you're alive and
you're living in your home, and that generates dust. So
give yourself a break. You're not a pig. Maybe you
might just be alive, you know, in generating dust. All right,
let's dig a little deeper now into the sources of
this dust, and let's start with the people. And this
(07:12):
is really fun. Every human being sheds about one point
five grams of dead skin cells every day. Now, it
doesn't sound like a lot, maybe, but it adds up.
In fact, for an average person living an average lifespan,
it's like eighty pounds eighty pounds of skin in our lifetime.
You know, skin cells that we're shedding. That's a lot
(07:33):
of me that's getting spread around the house on a
regular basis and inhaled by everybody. Right, it's more than
enough to feed a thriving dust might population. All right,
let's get back to the sources of dust. We've covered people.
Another big one is our pets. Right, same story as
with people. If you've got a dog or cat, especially
one that sheds, you've got another significant contributor to dust.
(07:54):
So Maggie, my golden retriever, who sheds like it's a
spiritual gift of hers she's a problem, at least in
this regard. She's a wonderful problem, but she is contributing
to my dust problem. So you've got people, You've got
pets causing dust. Then there are the fabrics in your home.
You know, your furniture, your betting, your rugs, your curtains,
(08:14):
your clothes, all of those create dust. Because every time
you sit down, roll over in bed, walk across the carpet,
anytime you do any of those things, tiny fibers are
breaking loose. You know, they float into the air, they
settle onto surfaces, and they add to that dust cocktail
that we've all been brewing. All right, last one I
want to get to is what about your HVAC system. Absolutely,
(08:35):
your HVAC system plays into this. You know, every time
your furnace or your AC kicks on, it's moving air
through a network of ducks, and depending on the condition
of those ducks, that air might be picking up more
than just warmth or coolness on the way to your
living room. You know, over time, dust can settle in
those ducks, especially in bends and dead spots, and when
the system turns on, some of that dust gets stirred
(08:57):
up and blown into your space, or some they're just
not sealed well, and dust from attic spaces or whatever
can get pulled into them and then redistributed through the home.
And then there's your furnace filter. You know, it's meant
to catch airborne particles, but not all filters are created equal.
You know, basic fiberglass ones will grab the bigger stuff,
but they let the finer particles slip right through. You know,
(09:18):
if it's been a while since you've changed your filter,
or if you're using one of those low efficiency ones,
that could be part of the problem. Filters with a
nerve rating between eight and eleven can strike a good balance,
you know, trapping more of that fine dust without choking
your airflow down. Now, on a quick side note, we
have talked about this before. Bumping up to a higher
nerve rated filter. It might seem like a great way
(09:40):
to eliminate dust, but it actually can put added strain
on your HVAC system. You know, a filter that's too
restrictive can reduce airflow and make your system work harder
than it should. So don't just go all in on
the highest nerve rating out there. If you're not sure
what your system can handle, check with the folks who
installed it or a qualified HVAC Technician's always better to
(10:01):
be safe than to create bigger problems trying to solve
a different problem, all right, So bottom line, with all
the HVAC stuff, if you feel like you're dusting constantly,
your HVAC system might be quietly working against you, circulating
dust instead of trapping it. So it's worth checking your filter.
And if you're curious what's inside those ducks, there are
some cheap little inspection cameras that you can grab online.
(10:23):
You can feed them down the ducks they've got little
lights on them. They'll snake their way around and send
images directly back to your phone, or sometimes they've got
their own little monitor that they come with. They're a
great way to scope out what's going on in there.
And they're usually like twenty five to fifty bucks, so
super inexpensive, and you'll find a lot of other uses
for them. So snag one, toss it in your ducks
(10:44):
and take a peek, just in case your system's hiding
a few decades worth a gunk. All right, what about
duct cleaning? Is it worth it? Would that fix the problem? Well,
we're going to dig into that next week. There's a
lot of questions that I want to ask about it,
a lot of things I want to dig into, and
we'll cover that next week on the show. So maybe
before you run out and hire that service done for
your home, hang around till next week to see if
(11:07):
it's going to solve your problem. We'll talk about that
next weekend. All right, last thing I want to mention
on this segment is that dry air can play into
the problem. It doesn't create more dust, but it does
keep it floating around longer. Now, the sweet spot for
humidity is forty to fifty percent. If your home is
sitting at thirty percent or lower, you might want to
look into a humidifier that's going to help you. If
(11:29):
you're not sure where you're at, you know, in terms
of humidity in your home, A ten dollars hygrometer is
going to tell you. Go grab one online that'll let
you know exactly where you're sitting. All right, all of
that is good info, but it doesn't really help us
unless we get to the action steps. What can I
do about the dust in my home? We're going to
get to all of that after a quick break. Stay
(11:50):
right there and we're back. You're listening to the Repco
Light home improvement shows sponsored by Benjamin Moore, and we're
talking about dealing with dust in your home. I hate
dust in my home. It drives me nuts. Makes me
feel like I'm a filthy pig. Like my family is
(12:12):
a filthy well, a group of filthy pigs. Whatever that's called,
a herd of pigs. I don't know what that's called.
A group of pigs, a bunion of pigs. That doesn't
sound right anyway. A group of pigs, filthy pigs. That's
what we feel like. That's what I think of us.
You know, when I see photos of all of us together,
I think, wow, look at all those filthy pigs. I
(12:34):
know what they do in a home. I know the
dust they create drives me nuts. I hate it. So
last segment we dug into the sources of dust in
our homes and what makes it worse in all of
those things. Now, let's get to some practical steps to
help you reduce it dramatically. And I can't believe that
I just suggested that a photo of my children all
(12:55):
gathered together reminded me of filthy pigs. I am so sorry, children.
I was just being colorful with my language, trying to
have a little bit of fun with a topic that's
not terribly fun anyway. Let's get to some tips that
will help you reduce dust in your home and hopefully
reduce it drastically. And let's start with one that's bound
to be a big hit. Vacuum regularly. Now. I'm going
(13:18):
to use the word regularly a lot in the next
couple minutes here, and in this instance, the word regularly
means way more often than you're already doing. So, if
you've got a dust problem, vacuum way more often than
you're already doing vacuum more and make sure you're using
a vacuum that has a HEPA filter. All right, that
is not rocket science. That is not startling news. Everybody
(13:42):
knows that, that's not breaking news. But here are some
things that you might not realize and it might help you.
A bag vacuum system, you know, the old fashioned bag vacuums,
Those are better, significantly better at trapping dust than the
fancy bagless systems unless you drop a lot of money
and go with a really good, high end bagless vacuum,
(14:04):
but the standard bagless vacuums that most of us have.
A bagged system is generally going to trap and keep
that dust better, not just the emptying of it. You know,
we've seen the commercials where you empty the canister, the
bagless canister, and dust goes everywhere. Because on the commercials,
everybody empties that in their home. You know, if you're
doing that, that's probably where your dust problem is starting from.
(14:28):
Don't empty your canister in your home, do that outside.
But you know, a bagged system makes that much easier.
There's way less dust created. But also just in pulling
the dust and keeping it contained in the system as
you're working, as you're vacuuming, A bagged system does a
better job. So if you're in the market for a
vacuum cleaner and you do have a dust problem, something
(14:49):
to consider. You know, the bag system. They're not as cool,
not as flashy, but it does at least trap and
hold the dust better. So either way, whatever vacuum system
you've got, vcuum more often, and make sure that you're
routinely replacing or cleaning your HEPA filter. That's going to
depend on your vacuum cleaner, whether you clean it or
replace it. Dig into that and make sure that you're
(15:10):
maintaining that. Okay, that's the first one. Second, let's just
stay right here with the vacuums. You've got to not
just vacuum your carpets and rugs regularly, you also need
to vacuum your upholstered furniture. And when you're doing that,
don't forget to get under the cushions. So do all
of that regularly, and regularly in this instance means once
(15:30):
a week, So once a week you're vacuuming the couch,
the chairs, anything that's upholstered and under the cushions. You know,
that's the ideal. It sounds pretty bad, but it gets worse.
If you've got pets, you need to do it even
more often than that. I have pets, I probably will
never turn the vacuum off from the way things look.
(15:52):
So anyway, those are two things. A third thing dust smarter.
Use a damp microfiber cloth instead of a feather duster,
you know, dry dusting. Just flings the dust back in
the air, right, trap it in the damp cloth, and
then toss it straight into the washer. That's the third idea.
Fourth idea, and I'm going to warn you this one's depressing.
At least it was depressing to me. It's kind of
(16:12):
like the first two that I talked about. You've got
to wash your betting and your curtains regularly. There's that
word again. Once a week is ideal for sheets. That's regularly.
So once a week you're washing your sheets. Every couple
of weeks you're washing curtains and throws and all of
that stuff. Oh my goodness. I got to decide how
(16:34):
much I hate dust, because it's either tolerate the dust
or spend the rest of my life cleaning. I don't know.
Trying to decide which one's worse anyway. Sixth, moving on,
simplify your space. You know, if you have a lot
of fabric heavy furniture and you are considering, you know,
getting new furniture, maybe consider switching to leather or wood pieces.
(16:55):
You know, they're just not going to hold dust the
same way. That might help you. Seventh, use air purifiers
in high traffic areas. You know, this is not rocket science.
They do work. I've got one, it's working overtime. I
need more, or I need a bigger one. But try
an air purifier that can help. Eighth, control your humidity.
You know we talked about that in the last segment.
(17:16):
If it's too dry, dust hangs in the air. So
make sure that you've got the right humidity level, but
don't make it too high because if it's too damp,
you feed the dust mites that I said everybody has,
and you also risk mold. So keep it between forty
and fifty percent in your home. That's a great way
to go. Ninth, make sure you're swapping out your furnace
filters regularly. And tenth, what about cleaning out your air ducks.
(17:39):
You know, I'm going to do a deeper dive into
this next week. I've already said that I want to
talk about it because it's a popular idea out there
and it makes sense, you know, it seems like it
would do a great job to clean up the air
in our homes, but it's also pricey. So before you
jump in and get somebody out to your home thinking
this is going to solve all of your dust problems,
let's dig into it a little bit further. And we're
(18:00):
going to do that next week. And with that in mind,
if any of you out there have had your ducks
cleaned and you've got feedback or opinions one way or
the other, by all means share your experience, you can
email me at radio at repco Light dot com. I'm
looking for as much info as I can gather, So
if you've had a company come out and clean out
your air ducks, let me know what you thought about
(18:21):
the results, Radio at repco Light dot com. All Right, dust,
it's a fact of life. It's not a sign that
you're doing a bad job keeping house. It just means
your home is lived in. But that doesn't mean we
need to be overrun by it. It can't be eliminated,
but it can be controlled, So don't get discouraged. Try
a few of these tips that we talked about. See
what works. Anything you do is probably gonna help. All right,
(18:43):
let's take a break. When we come back, we're going
to be talking about painting your cabinets. It's a big project,
but it's also a project with a huge payoff. We'll
talk about everything you need to know coming up next.
Stick around and we're back. You're listening to the Repcolite
(19:04):
Home Improvement Show sponsored by Benjamin Moore. Because you have impeccable,
impeccable taste, you're incredibly wise. So yeah, you're listening to
the show. And right now I want to jump into
a major project. Over the last few weeks, we've talked
about things like choosing colors, you know, working with neutrals,
painting ceilings, all kinds of stuff like that. But today
(19:27):
let's go to probably the pre eminent DIY home improvement project,
painting your kitchen cabinets. I think this is one of
those projects where I can safely say that we have
all either done this project at least once, or we've
thought about doing it, you know, multiple multiple times. I
think everybody falls into one of those two categories. Now,
(19:50):
if you're in the second group, you know you've thought
about repainting your kitchen cabinets, but you haven't jumped in.
You haven't done it yet. The rest of the show
it's for you. It's gift to you. It's going to
help you. And if you have done the job before
but felt like you kind of struggled to get the
great results that you wanted, well you get a gift too.
(20:11):
This rest of the show is for you as well.
Everybody's gonna win here. This is one of those best
bang for your buck projects that you can possibly tackle
around your home. You know, the cabinets in your kitchen
largely set the tone for how that space feels. They
take up so much wall space and they're the main
fixture in there. That's what really attracts our attention in
(20:32):
that room. So with that said, what are yours saying?
You know, if your kitchen cabinets are in good shape,
you know, they just look dated, maybe they're a color
that you don't care for. If that's what you're dealing with,
you can fix it. For a relatively small investment for
paint and supplies, plus your time and labor, you can
completely change the entire look and feel of your kitchen.
(20:55):
You'll be blown away at the difference, you know. Just
go online. I'm sure you've already done this because this
is such a big project we all think about. But
just look at before and after pictures online, just google
them and it's sometimes hard to even imagine that that's
the same kitchen and all that's changed is the kitchen
cabinet color. So huge difference. Not a big buy in
(21:16):
when it comes to expense, Yeah, there's expense involved, but
it's not big compared to you know a lot of
projects and what you get for it. It's a huge
bang for your buck. So let's walk through the process
step by step. And if you do want a free
downloadable guide, just head torepco light dot com backslash Cabinet
(21:36):
Guide all one word cabinet guide, fill out that quick
form and then I'll email you the PDF and you'll
have all the info that you need to confidently tackle
this project. All right, One last thing to clarify before
I jump in. There are a lot of different cabinet
situations out there. You know. You could have stained and
varnished cabinets, you could have painted cabinets, who knows what else,
(21:56):
you know, all kinds of different things. The steps I'm
going to describe in the rest of the show are
similar for all kitchen cabinet repaints, but I'm specifically going
to talk about the project is if you've got stained
in varnished cabinets. All right, so some things will be
a little different if you've got painted cabinets. For the
most part, it's going to be all the same. But
I had to pick one of these to focus on,
(22:17):
or you know, it's just too complicated. So we're looking
at this as if you've got stained in varnished cabinets,
and let's walk through the process. The very first step
in this whole kitchen cabinet repaint project is to remove
and label everything. So start this project by removing your
cabinet doors, drawers, and all the hardware, the hinges, the screws,
(22:39):
the handles, everything. And here's the most important part of
this step, label everything. You'd be amazed how differently things
can sit after years in one spot. Swapping them around
might seem harmless. It does seem harmless, seem harmless to me,
but it can cause doors to hang crooked and open weirdly.
(23:00):
You don't want that, so use a numbering system. You know,
Cabinet one gets labeled one. If it has two doors,
call them one L and one R, you know, left
and right. Mark it on the back of the doors
where the hinge goes so it's hidden. Later, you know,
just drop a piece of painter's tape in that hole
or on that spot, and then label it with a
sharpie marker. Label it clearly, and then once you've done that,
(23:21):
label your hardware. Two people forget the step. I forget
this step, But you've got a bag each cabinet's hinges
and screws in its own plastic bag and mark it
with the matching numbers so that it stays with the
cabinet door that it came from for extra safety. If
you really want to be good and methodical and complete
in the step, sketch a quick layout of your kitchen
(23:43):
so you know where each number belongs. When it's time
to put it all back together, I skip this step.
Normally I number everything and then I forget which side
I started on by the time I get everything ready
to go back together, and I'm a little always a
little bit confused. If one starts on the left side,
of the kitchen or on the right side. So draw
(24:04):
that little sketch that'll help you out. Now. I know
this part feels tedious, but you're gonna thank yourself later.
I've already implied it. I've already said it. I've skipped
this step. I've labeled doors but not the hardware. And
I assure you, even though the hinges look identical, my
door's never hung is evenly after I painted them, So
swapping hinges really does make a difference. Keep them all together,
(24:27):
same doors, same hinges, same screws. All right, that's step one.
Now it's time to dig into the actual prep work.
And I know prep work absolutely stinks. It does it stinks.
It's boring, it doesn't provide a lot of visual payoff.
It's not like rolling primer on or paint. You know,
it's just not fun like that. Prep work is pretty
much everybody's least favorite part of pretty much every project,
(24:52):
and yet it's crazy critical. You know, prep is easily
ninety percent of almost every project. It should be, you know,
ninety percent of the time you should be prepping and
ten percent of the time you're actually applying the paint.
You just need to get used to That's that's how
it works. If you can accept that and stick to it,
you're going to have great results. All right, So doing
(25:12):
the right prep work, it's all about laying a great foundation.
If that foundation is poor, everything that you pile on
top of it, you know, everything you build on top
of that foundation is going to be questionable. You know,
if you skip your prep and you don't adequately clean
the surface, scuff sand or prime where you should be priming,
you just shouldn't expect great, long lasting results. And one
(25:34):
other thing to think about is if you do skimp
on the prep work and go ahead and just paint
anyway and then run into issues down the road, it's
not easy to fix. At that point. You know, you've
got one shot, really at doing the foundational work, the
prep work, right, So don't skimp on it. It feels boring.
I get all of that, but it's kind of you know,
it's the make or break point of your project. Do
(25:55):
the prep work, do it well, you'll have good results.
All right, all of that blathering on, and let's get
to the actual prep work. The first thing that really
falls into this prep work stage is going to be
cleaning the cabinets. You know, you've got years of cooking, grease,
oily fingers, airborne gunk of all kinds. All of that's
there in your kitchen and it's going to kill your
paint job if you skip the step and leave it
(26:17):
on there. So use a good degreaser spray nine. That's
a great option. We carry it at Repcolite TSP tri
sodium phosphate. That works really well. Even you know don
dish soap will do. Scrub everything down using a Scotch
bright pad and then rinse everything with clean water and
let it dry completely. All right, that's your first step.
Now that you've got that done, scuff sanding is next,
(26:39):
and everybody groans when this step gets brought up. I
don't think anybody likes scuff sanding. Nobody likes scuff sanding.
But there's good news. It is not as bad as
you think. You are not trying to remove your varnish
or layers and layers of old paint. All you're trying
to do is dull the surface down so your primer
has something to grab onto. A quick once over with
(27:00):
one eighty grit sandpaper should be perfect. And if your
brain is like mine and you need more details or
a more clearly defined idea to work with. How about this.
You should be able to scuff sand a typical cabinet
door in under a minute. It's not an intensive sanding,
you know, just zip over it, dull that surface down,
and you're good to go. When you've got that done,
(27:22):
wipe off all that sanding dust with clean water and
let it dry. Now, if you're going to use an
orbital sander for any sanding in this project, be sure
that you're following that information that I laid out last week.
We talked about it on the show. I talked about
how you can avoid swirls in your finish when you're
using an orbital sander. So you can access a blog
post about it by heading to repco light dot com
(27:44):
backslash sand right, all one word sand right. That's got
all that info. So if you're going to use an
orbital sander on this project, make sure you're following what
I laid out there. So check that out, all right,
stuff sand the doors and then wipe them clean with
a damp rag because you've got to get that sanding
done off of them. And I know there's probably a
few people out there wondering you know, thinking about wait
(28:04):
a minute, I had to wash them first, then I
wipe them again later. Why would I do that? Why
not just skip that first washing step and do it later.
Here's why you've got to do it in the order
that I laid out. If you don't wash them first,
but you go straight to scuff sanding, you're probably going
to grind all kinds of whatever surface contaminants were there.
You're going to grind them into the finish deeper and
(28:26):
that's going to cause problems down the road. So you've
got to wash them off first. Then you've got a
scuff sand and then you've got to remove any of
that sanding dust that you created by wiping them down
to the damp rag and some clean water. All right.
Once you've got all of that done, you're finally ready
to prime. And this is a crucial bonding step that
sets the tone for the whole project moving forward. So
choose the right primer for the surface. Sticks, quicksand from
(28:49):
Repcolite or Benjamin Moore's Fresh Start. They're all excellent choices.
You know, I love Sticks. It's an incredible bonding primer.
It really gives you a tremendous foundation that will will
help resist chipping down the road. So stick's absolutely a
great way to go. Repcollate's Quicksand it's another great option.
It's one of those sneaky surprises for us. You know,
(29:10):
we engineered it to be a great all purpose primer,
but we were really surprised to find out how well
it bonds. So if you're looking to save some money
and still get a primer with some good bonding power,
Repcollites Quicksand is a great option. So check into that
whatever you use, whatever primer you use, once you put
it on, you need the check for stains after it's dry.
(29:30):
All right, we're talking about this project. You know. If
you remember is if you're painting over stained and varnished cabinets.
If that's the case, it's possible that there could be
some discoloration from tannins bleeding through the wood. Now, the
chances are the varnish that's on there, we'll seal them in,
but you should still look for them. Maybe you stand
it through the varnish in some places, or maybe the
deep open grain of some oak doors just didn't seal well.
(29:53):
Either way, see if you can detect any brownish discoloration
bleeding through your primer. And if you notice that, you
don't need to panic. You just need to spot prime
those areas with bin Schalac primer or Repcolite zip prime.
These products are going to seal those stains off and
prevent them from bleeding through your final code. Now, you
could use zipprimer bin on the whole project, but they're
(30:14):
just not fun to work with. You know, there's a
lot of odor to them. And if you can get
by with a regular water based primer for most of
the work and then just spot prime a few little areas,
you're way better off. Now, most of the time there's
not going to be any tannin stains bleeding through, but
you do want to catch it if there is. You know,
just putting another code of water based paint or primer
over top of them won't help. They'll keep bleeding through
(30:35):
unless you block them with the right primer, all right,
so you've got to make sure you catch them. All right.
That's halfway through the project. And I know it's a
lot of information, a lot of product recommendations that I've given.
Remember you can find all of what I just said
online at repcolite dot com. Backslash cabinet Guide, So go
and check that out. You can follow along with that.
(30:57):
It'll just give you all the extra info that you
might might have missed as I'm rambling on and on.
We're going to take a break right now. When we
come back, we're going to talk about sanding your primer,
choosing the right finish paint, and then how to avoid
some of the biggest mistakes most people make in the
final steps. It's all just ahead, stick around, Welcome back.
(31:21):
You're listening to the Repcolite home improvement show sponsored by
Benjamin Moore, And in the last segment, we walked through
the first half of a kitchen cabinet repainting project. You know,
we covered everything from removing and labeling the doors and
hardware all the way through cleaning, sanding, and we just
covered the priming step. Now, after your primer dries, but
before you go to your finished paint, there's an extra
(31:43):
step that a lot of people skip, and yet it's
one that really, you know, separates a good finish from
a great one. Here's the scoop. Once that primer's completely dry,
it's got to be completely dry. Once it's completely dry,
take some two to twenty grits sandpaper and just give
everything a light dusting, not removing the primer. You're just
smoothing the surface. You're knocking down little lumps, little goobers,
(32:05):
whatever you want to call them, that ended up in
the primer. Do that light sanding, and then wipe everything
down with a damp cloth to remove the dust that
you created. All right, Once you've done that, finally comes
what most people think of as the fun part, you know,
the color or the paint part, you know, putting the
finish on. When it comes to this point, use a
high quality product like Benjamin Moore's Advance Cabinet Coat Scuff
(32:29):
X if you're brushing and rolling it, or consider repco
Light's Optima. All of these are great, excellent options for cabinets.
They're durable, they're smooth, They're designed for beautiful finishes that
will hold up. Now, as for tools, I'd recommend a
good brush. You know, get a good brush like the
Corona Excalibur, the Chinax brush. It's easy to clean up,
(32:49):
it applies paint beautifully and evenly. Great brush to have.
Don't skimp on your brush, get a good one. And
when it comes to roller covers, I really love to
recommend Wooster's microplush cup. These are ideal rollers when it
comes to cabinets. They're going to give you a smooth,
almost sprayed look. So Wooster's microplush covers great way to go.
Apply a nice even coat of your finish. Don't rush it,
(33:12):
don't glob it on, and once you've got that first
coat down, just let it dry. You know, according to
the manufacturer's instructions, whichever product you picked, it will tell
you how long it needs to dry. Let it dry
that time. You know, it's usually between three and six hours,
depending on temperature and humidity. Now, after that paint has dried,
here's another one of those steps that a lot of
people skip. You would ideally do another light sanding, just
(33:35):
like you did after your primer dried. You know, it's
the same deal. You're going to take a two twenty
grit sandpaper and just give it a light pass, you know,
over your doors and drawers, just to knock down any
bumps or imperfections that might be in that first coat
of finish. Once you've done that light sanding, wipe everything
down again with a damp rag, let it dry, and
then you're ready for your final coat. Now, this step,
(33:56):
this extra little sanding step in between, is what gives
your cabinets that professional you know, buttery smooth, buttery smooth.
We all want that. This is what gives it that
buttery smooth finish. So don't skip this step. All right.
After that light sanding, and after wiping that dust off,
and after the doors dry down from your damp rag
that you went over them with. Once that's already, you're
(34:18):
ready for your second and final code of finish, and
you're going to apply it just like you did the
first one. Thin, even and smooth. If you've done your
prep work right, the second coat is going to lay
on beautifully and it's going to give your cabinets a
really professional finished look. Now, when it's all said and done,
you've got everything finished, everything painted, let everything dry thoroughly,
you know, a few days is best before you reinstall.
(34:41):
It's going to help you avoid smudges, dings, you know, tackiness,
stuff like that. Definitely, you don't want to run into
issues where you damage or mar the finish that you
just painstakingly put on. These don't mar that by rushing
to get them reinstalled, all right, So give it the
proper amount of time to dry so that you can
(35:02):
reinstall it without any of those concerns. And once you've
got all of that done, you know it's time to
bring it back together. So you're going to grab your
layout sketch, grab those labeled bags of hardware, and then
reassemble the kitchen. You know, everything needs to go back
right where it came from, and it should be easy
because you labeled everything really well at the beginning. You know,
it's just a matter of matching the numbers up at
(35:23):
this point. And let me tell you, when everything is hung, leveled,
and clicked back into place, it is a really good feeling.
You know, you're going to stand there in that freshly
painted kitchen and you're gonna think, yeah, I did this,
and it's amazing, really great project. You know, you're dropping
some money for the paint, but you're not going through
tons and tons of paint, tons and tons of primer,
(35:44):
a relatively small investment when it comes to the paint
side of things and the tools. All of that's a
relatively low buy in. The payoff is absolutely huge. So
really consider this project if you're interested in getting the
full rundown again and you know something written down repcolit
dot com backslash cabinet guide. You'll get everything everything that
(36:06):
I spelled out, plus some all right, last thing I've
got for you a few final things to keep in
mind when you're rolling that paint on. Don't overload your
roller cover. You know, too much paint means more drips
and lapmarks. Plan on two coats. You know, people run
into problems when they try to make one coat cover,
and this is true for walls, for anything. You need
to apply it at the right pace and just if
(36:28):
it takes two coats, it's going to take two coats.
If you try to make one coat cover by overloading
the paint most of the time, if not all of
the time, you're going to run into some problems down
the road. So with your cabinets, plan on two coats
of finish paint and just apply it evenly, and you're
going to deal with less problems down the road. All right.
So that's first. One second, and this is really important,
(36:50):
don't try to wash and reuse your roller covers. That
can work for some projects. I'm not a big fan
of that regardless, you know, unless you're working outside or
just plying primer or something like that. If you're working
inside on your walls or for sure on your cabinets,
get a new roller cover for every step of the process.
They are not expensive, you know, it's a cheap buy
(37:12):
in to give yourself some extra insurance to get a
really nice finish. When you wash out a roller cover,
it can clump a little bit and it can definitely
affect how that finish looks. So when it comes to
this project, use a new one for your primer, Use
a new roller cover for your finish. Use new roller
covers for the second code of finish. You're going to
appreciate of better results down the road. If you do that,
(37:34):
it's probably gonna cost you an extra ten bucks total.
All right, So there's that third thing. Give yourself some grace.
Nobody is going to be inspecting your work with a
magnifying glass except probably you. Everybody else. They're going to
just think it looks great. So do your best and
then let the little imperfections that do happen. Let them go.
Nobody's going to notice them. Don't point them out. I
(37:56):
point them out all the time. That's just dumb. Nobody
else will see them. Don't point them out out and
finally last thing, always always use a quality paint. It's
easier to work with, it's going to give better coverage,
and it's going to last longer. All right, there you go,
a complete guide, a complete audio guide to repainting your
kitchen cabinets and getting great results. If you missed any
of it, or if you want to check out something
that you can just read read all those steps, head
(38:18):
torepcolight dot com backslash Cabinet Guide and I've got it
all there for you. And of course swing by any
Repcollite store. We're always happy to walk you through this
project or any project that you've got going. We'll help
you find the right products, the right tools. We'll give
you all the info you need to get through your
project and get great results in the end. And if
you heard all of that, listen to all of those
(38:40):
steps and thought, man, that is beyond me. That is
not something I want to tackle. I'd love the results,
but I don't want to do the work. If that's you,
maybe you need to find the right pro And if
that's the case, you can do that by heading to
repcollite dot com backslash find a painter. Just fill out
that form. I'll send you some names and you can
get that process rolling. And there you go. That's it.
(39:03):
That's going to do it. If you want to catch
this episode again, you can find it online at Repcolight
dot com. Just click the on the radio tab on
the homepage and check it out. All right, whatever you
do today, make sure paints a part of it. And
remember your next project is way way easier than you
think it's going to be. Stop out at your nearest Rep.
Col lighte and let us help. Have a great weekend, everybody,
and I'll see you next week. I'm Dan Hansen. Thanks
(39:26):
for listening.
Well, good morning everybody. Good morning. You are listening to
the Repco Light Home improvement show sponsored by Benjamin Moore,
and I want to jump right into things. I guess
I'll tell you what we're talking about at the end
of the show. The last half of the show, we're
going to be walking through a kitchen cabinet repaint project.
Step by step. I'm going to lay it all out
(00:22):
everything you need to know to decide if this is
a project you can tackle, that you should tackle, if
it's a project maybe you should hire out. I'm going
to lay it all out. Coming up in a little
bit right now, I want to talk about dust. I've
got a lot of frustration right now and a bit
of a confession to make you know. My house is dusty,
(00:44):
really dusty. I mean, I can't stress that enough. All right,
it's like the dust bowl in there. A couple weeks ago,
for example, I took my own advice and I spring
cleaned one of the rooms that we've got in the house,
and I went through it thoroughly. We vacuumed, we moved furniture,
we washed walls, we dusted, we did it all really well.
(01:06):
We washed windows, we did all of that, and then
within a week everything's covered with dust again. I don't
know why. I don't know how. It's horrible, it's everywhere. Honestly,
it makes me glad that I'm short. In fact, let
me let me get off on a quick tangent here.
You know, I know short people catch a lot of grief.
(01:26):
We do, We really do. Most of the time. It's
well meaning, you know, everybody thinks it's well meaning. But
we do get teased all the time. And that's fine,
that's fine whatever. You know, Ali, I can only speak
for me. You know, I'm not speaking for all short people.
I'm not their short or they're they're spokesperson, they're short person.
I'm not their spokesperson. I'm not king of the short people.
(01:49):
I don't get to just say what works for me
and it works for all of us. Now we are
individuals and everybody's got their own decisions to make. For me,
I don't mind it. I can deal with it, you know,
I can roll with it. But you know what, the
more I think about it, the more I think it's
actually ideal. You know, it's not just something that I
(02:10):
kind of make fun of and laugh about. I think
I've got the ideal situation. You know. For one thing,
I was just talking with somebody about traveling, you know,
by plane, and he hates it. Hates air travel. Why
does he hate it? He hates it because he's a
tall person. He can never get comfortable in the seats.
There's no leg room. Guess what. I can sit in
(02:31):
the seat in the airplane with my legs stretched out
fully and my toes extended, and I still can't touch
the back of the seat in front of me. Talk
about leg room, I mean, my goodness, I can swim
in that seat. My space on the plane feels like
my living room at home. I've got so much legroom,
it's crazy. Same thing with traveling by car. You know.
I hear tall people complaining NonStop from the back seat.
(02:54):
My legs don't fit. Can you move your seat forward?
They're always asking things like that, you know, Can I
move my seat forward? Of course I cannot move my
seat forward. My seat has been adjusted at the dealership
to go further forward than other seats so that I
can reach the pedals. I can't move it forward anymore
than it already. Is what you're experiencing right now is
(03:15):
more leg room than normal in the back of my car,
and you still don't have enough. Guess what. I am
always comfortable no matter where I'm going, no matter what
vehicle I'm riding in. I could live in a back
seat and feel perfectly at peace. So being short has
tremendous benefits, and one of them gets me back to
my dust problem. I'm glad I'm short because a number
(03:38):
of furniture pieces in the room that I spring cleaned
and around the house. For Heaven's sake, you know, pretty
much most furniture pieces are too tall for me to
see the tops of them. You know, tall people living
in my home. There's no tall people living in my home.
What am I talking about tall people visiting my home?
Should such a thing happen, they would be in a
constant state of sadness or just spare over the dust
(04:01):
that they would see. Me. I am blissfully unaware of
most of it. So that's one blessing, one little blessing
that I've got. Little blessing. It's a little bit of
a joke there, anyway. The dust is driving me nuts.
I don't really know how I got off on that.
It doesn't matter. The dust is driving me nuts, and
I can hear a lot of you out there. You
know a number of you are probably shouting at me
(04:22):
right now and telling me to get the air ducts
cleaned out and that that's going to fix everything. But
will it? Will it? Will that fix everything? We're going
to dig into that next week, actually, and the answer
might surprise you. But right now, let's focus on dust.
What is it? Where does it come from? And what
can I do about it? And I know that sounds
(04:42):
really ridiculous that we're going to talk about dust. If
you've got a dusty home, this is all really good stuff.
I was surprised at a lot of this. I guess
that's not the that's not necessarily you know, the definitive, uh,
the determiner of whether this is good info. If I'm surprised,
I think you'll be ride with me. This is good stuff.
So let's talk about dust. What is it? Sounds really dumb,
(05:05):
but like I said, it's interesting, more interesting and grosser
than you might think. So dust isn't just one thing.
It's not just a thing you know that's dust. It's
a mix of stuff. It's dead skin cells, it's tiny
textile fibers from your clothes, your furniture, your carpet. It's
pet dander, it's pollen, it's soil, it's hair, it's all
(05:26):
kinds of microscopic debris from just living your life. And
then on top of all of that, to make it
a little weirder and maybe a little grosser, you've got
dust mites. You know you do. You've got dust mites.
Now you may be thinking, oh, I think not. We
are meticulous without cleaning, and I can guarantee you, you
filthy little man, there are no dust mites here. Well
(05:47):
you can think that, you can think that, but you're wrong.
You've got dust mites. I've got dust mites. We're all
the same here. You know, nobody's better than everybody else.
You've got dust mites sodo either everywhere, live in all
that dust and debris that we've got. They feed off
of our dead skin cells and they add to the
dust in our homes. You know, they're waste yay, and
(06:09):
their body parts become part of that dust cloud floating
around our homes. So first thing you need to understand
about dust is that you don't need to open your
windows for the dust to get in, you know, just
keeping your windows closed doesn't keep it out, you know,
Sealed up homes with closed windows can build up dust
faster than you'd expect. And it's all because a huge
(06:29):
portion of the dust that we're living with is all
created inside the home. It's created by you and your family,
your pets, those wonderful little dust mites, and all the
soft surfaces and belongings that make your house feel like home.
All right, So the first bit of good news that
I have for everybody is that you're probably at least
maybe not messy like you might be thinking. You're not
(06:51):
necessarily a filthy pig. It's just that you're alive and
you're living in your home, and that generates dust. So
give yourself a break. You're not a pig. Maybe you
might just be alive, you know, in generating dust. All right,
let's dig a little deeper now into the sources of
this dust, and let's start with the people. And this
(07:12):
is really fun. Every human being sheds about one point
five grams of dead skin cells every day. Now, it
doesn't sound like a lot, maybe, but it adds up.
In fact, for an average person living an average lifespan,
it's like eighty pounds eighty pounds of skin in our lifetime.
You know, skin cells that we're shedding. That's a lot
(07:33):
of me that's getting spread around the house on a
regular basis and inhaled by everybody. Right, it's more than
enough to feed a thriving dust might population. All right,
let's get back to the sources of dust. We've covered people.
Another big one is our pets. Right, same story as
with people. If you've got a dog or cat, especially
one that sheds, you've got another significant contributor to dust.
(07:54):
So Maggie, my golden retriever, who sheds like it's a
spiritual gift of hers she's a problem, at least in
this regard. She's a wonderful problem, but she is contributing
to my dust problem. So you've got people, You've got
pets causing dust. Then there are the fabrics in your home.
You know, your furniture, your betting, your rugs, your curtains,
(08:14):
your clothes, all of those create dust. Because every time
you sit down, roll over in bed, walk across the carpet,
anytime you do any of those things, tiny fibers are
breaking loose. You know, they float into the air, they
settle onto surfaces, and they add to that dust cocktail
that we've all been brewing. All right, last one I
want to get to is what about your HVAC system. Absolutely,
(08:35):
your HVAC system plays into this. You know, every time
your furnace or your AC kicks on, it's moving air
through a network of ducks, and depending on the condition
of those ducks, that air might be picking up more
than just warmth or coolness on the way to your
living room. You know, over time, dust can settle in
those ducks, especially in bends and dead spots, and when
the system turns on, some of that dust gets stirred
(08:57):
up and blown into your space, or some they're just
not sealed well, and dust from attic spaces or whatever
can get pulled into them and then redistributed through the home.
And then there's your furnace filter. You know, it's meant
to catch airborne particles, but not all filters are created equal.
You know, basic fiberglass ones will grab the bigger stuff,
but they let the finer particles slip right through. You know,
(09:18):
if it's been a while since you've changed your filter,
or if you're using one of those low efficiency ones,
that could be part of the problem. Filters with a
nerve rating between eight and eleven can strike a good balance,
you know, trapping more of that fine dust without choking
your airflow down. Now, on a quick side note, we
have talked about this before. Bumping up to a higher
nerve rated filter. It might seem like a great way
(09:40):
to eliminate dust, but it actually can put added strain
on your HVAC system. You know, a filter that's too
restrictive can reduce airflow and make your system work harder
than it should. So don't just go all in on
the highest nerve rating out there. If you're not sure
what your system can handle, check with the folks who
installed it or a qualified HVAC Technician's always better to
(10:01):
be safe than to create bigger problems trying to solve
a different problem, all right, So bottom line, with all
the HVAC stuff, if you feel like you're dusting constantly,
your HVAC system might be quietly working against you, circulating
dust instead of trapping it. So it's worth checking your filter.
And if you're curious what's inside those ducks, there are
some cheap little inspection cameras that you can grab online.
(10:23):
You can feed them down the ducks they've got little
lights on them. They'll snake their way around and send
images directly back to your phone, or sometimes they've got
their own little monitor that they come with. They're a
great way to scope out what's going on in there.
And they're usually like twenty five to fifty bucks, so
super inexpensive, and you'll find a lot of other uses
for them. So snag one, toss it in your ducks
(10:44):
and take a peek, just in case your system's hiding
a few decades worth a gunk. All right, what about
duct cleaning? Is it worth it? Would that fix the problem? Well,
we're going to dig into that next week. There's a
lot of questions that I want to ask about it,
a lot of things I want to dig into, and
we'll cover that next week on the show. So maybe
before you run out and hire that service done for
your home, hang around till next week to see if
(11:07):
it's going to solve your problem. We'll talk about that
next weekend. All right, last thing I want to mention
on this segment is that dry air can play into
the problem. It doesn't create more dust, but it does
keep it floating around longer. Now, the sweet spot for
humidity is forty to fifty percent. If your home is
sitting at thirty percent or lower, you might want to
look into a humidifier that's going to help you. If
(11:29):
you're not sure where you're at, you know, in terms
of humidity in your home, A ten dollars hygrometer is
going to tell you. Go grab one online that'll let
you know exactly where you're sitting. All right, all of
that is good info, but it doesn't really help us
unless we get to the action steps. What can I
do about the dust in my home? We're going to
get to all of that after a quick break. Stay
(11:50):
right there and we're back. You're listening to the Repco
Light home improvement shows sponsored by Benjamin Moore, and we're
talking about dealing with dust in your home. I hate
dust in my home. It drives me nuts. Makes me
feel like I'm a filthy pig. Like my family is
(12:12):
a filthy well, a group of filthy pigs. Whatever that's called,
a herd of pigs. I don't know what that's called.
A group of pigs, a bunion of pigs. That doesn't
sound right anyway. A group of pigs, filthy pigs. That's
what we feel like. That's what I think of us.
You know, when I see photos of all of us together,
I think, wow, look at all those filthy pigs. I
(12:34):
know what they do in a home. I know the
dust they create drives me nuts. I hate it. So
last segment we dug into the sources of dust in
our homes and what makes it worse in all of
those things. Now, let's get to some practical steps to
help you reduce it dramatically. And I can't believe that
I just suggested that a photo of my children all
(12:55):
gathered together reminded me of filthy pigs. I am so sorry, children.
I was just being colorful with my language, trying to
have a little bit of fun with a topic that's
not terribly fun anyway. Let's get to some tips that
will help you reduce dust in your home and hopefully
reduce it drastically. And let's start with one that's bound
to be a big hit. Vacuum regularly. Now. I'm going
(13:18):
to use the word regularly a lot in the next
couple minutes here, and in this instance, the word regularly
means way more often than you're already doing. So, if
you've got a dust problem, vacuum way more often than
you're already doing vacuum more and make sure you're using
a vacuum that has a HEPA filter. All right, that
is not rocket science. That is not startling news. Everybody
(13:42):
knows that, that's not breaking news. But here are some
things that you might not realize and it might help you.
A bag vacuum system, you know, the old fashioned bag vacuums,
Those are better, significantly better at trapping dust than the
fancy bagless systems unless you drop a lot of money
and go with a really good, high end bagless vacuum,
(14:04):
but the standard bagless vacuums that most of us have.
A bagged system is generally going to trap and keep
that dust better, not just the emptying of it. You know,
we've seen the commercials where you empty the canister, the
bagless canister, and dust goes everywhere. Because on the commercials,
everybody empties that in their home. You know, if you're
doing that, that's probably where your dust problem is starting from.
(14:28):
Don't empty your canister in your home, do that outside.
But you know, a bagged system makes that much easier.
There's way less dust created. But also just in pulling
the dust and keeping it contained in the system as
you're working, as you're vacuuming, A bagged system does a
better job. So if you're in the market for a
vacuum cleaner and you do have a dust problem, something
(14:49):
to consider. You know, the bag system. They're not as cool,
not as flashy, but it does at least trap and
hold the dust better. So either way, whatever vacuum system
you've got, vcuum more often, and make sure that you're
routinely replacing or cleaning your HEPA filter. That's going to
depend on your vacuum cleaner, whether you clean it or
replace it. Dig into that and make sure that you're
(15:10):
maintaining that. Okay, that's the first one. Second, let's just
stay right here with the vacuums. You've got to not
just vacuum your carpets and rugs regularly, you also need
to vacuum your upholstered furniture. And when you're doing that,
don't forget to get under the cushions. So do all
of that regularly, and regularly in this instance means once
(15:30):
a week, So once a week you're vacuuming the couch,
the chairs, anything that's upholstered and under the cushions. You know,
that's the ideal. It sounds pretty bad, but it gets worse.
If you've got pets, you need to do it even
more often than that. I have pets, I probably will
never turn the vacuum off from the way things look.
(15:52):
So anyway, those are two things. A third thing dust smarter.
Use a damp microfiber cloth instead of a feather duster,
you know, dry dusting. Just flings the dust back in
the air, right, trap it in the damp cloth, and
then toss it straight into the washer. That's the third idea.
Fourth idea, and I'm going to warn you this one's depressing.
At least it was depressing to me. It's kind of
(16:12):
like the first two that I talked about. You've got
to wash your betting and your curtains regularly. There's that
word again. Once a week is ideal for sheets. That's regularly.
So once a week you're washing your sheets. Every couple
of weeks you're washing curtains and throws and all of
that stuff. Oh my goodness. I got to decide how
(16:34):
much I hate dust, because it's either tolerate the dust
or spend the rest of my life cleaning. I don't know.
Trying to decide which one's worse anyway. Sixth, moving on,
simplify your space. You know, if you have a lot
of fabric heavy furniture and you are considering, you know,
getting new furniture, maybe consider switching to leather or wood pieces.
(16:55):
You know, they're just not going to hold dust the
same way. That might help you. Seventh, use air purifiers
in high traffic areas. You know, this is not rocket science.
They do work. I've got one, it's working overtime. I
need more, or I need a bigger one. But try
an air purifier that can help. Eighth, control your humidity.
You know we talked about that in the last segment.
(17:16):
If it's too dry, dust hangs in the air. So
make sure that you've got the right humidity level, but
don't make it too high because if it's too damp,
you feed the dust mites that I said everybody has,
and you also risk mold. So keep it between forty
and fifty percent in your home. That's a great way
to go. Ninth, make sure you're swapping out your furnace
filters regularly. And tenth, what about cleaning out your air ducks.
(17:39):
You know, I'm going to do a deeper dive into
this next week. I've already said that I want to
talk about it because it's a popular idea out there
and it makes sense, you know, it seems like it
would do a great job to clean up the air
in our homes, but it's also pricey. So before you
jump in and get somebody out to your home thinking
this is going to solve all of your dust problems,
let's dig into it a little bit further. And we're
(18:00):
going to do that next week. And with that in mind,
if any of you out there have had your ducks
cleaned and you've got feedback or opinions one way or
the other, by all means share your experience, you can
email me at radio at repco Light dot com. I'm
looking for as much info as I can gather, So
if you've had a company come out and clean out
your air ducks, let me know what you thought about
(18:21):
the results, Radio at repco Light dot com. All Right, dust,
it's a fact of life. It's not a sign that
you're doing a bad job keeping house. It just means
your home is lived in. But that doesn't mean we
need to be overrun by it. It can't be eliminated,
but it can be controlled, So don't get discouraged. Try
a few of these tips that we talked about. See
what works. Anything you do is probably gonna help. All right,
(18:43):
let's take a break. When we come back, we're going
to be talking about painting your cabinets. It's a big project,
but it's also a project with a huge payoff. We'll
talk about everything you need to know coming up next.
Stick around and we're back. You're listening to the Repcolite
(19:04):
Home Improvement Show sponsored by Benjamin Moore. Because you have impeccable,
impeccable taste, you're incredibly wise. So yeah, you're listening to
the show. And right now I want to jump into
a major project. Over the last few weeks, we've talked
about things like choosing colors, you know, working with neutrals,
painting ceilings, all kinds of stuff like that. But today
(19:27):
let's go to probably the pre eminent DIY home improvement project,
painting your kitchen cabinets. I think this is one of
those projects where I can safely say that we have
all either done this project at least once, or we've
thought about doing it, you know, multiple multiple times. I
think everybody falls into one of those two categories. Now,
(19:50):
if you're in the second group, you know you've thought
about repainting your kitchen cabinets, but you haven't jumped in.
You haven't done it yet. The rest of the show
it's for you. It's gift to you. It's going to
help you. And if you have done the job before
but felt like you kind of struggled to get the
great results that you wanted, well you get a gift too.
(20:11):
This rest of the show is for you as well.
Everybody's gonna win here. This is one of those best
bang for your buck projects that you can possibly tackle
around your home. You know, the cabinets in your kitchen
largely set the tone for how that space feels. They
take up so much wall space and they're the main
fixture in there. That's what really attracts our attention in
(20:32):
that room. So with that said, what are yours saying?
You know, if your kitchen cabinets are in good shape,
you know, they just look dated, maybe they're a color
that you don't care for. If that's what you're dealing with,
you can fix it. For a relatively small investment for
paint and supplies, plus your time and labor, you can
completely change the entire look and feel of your kitchen.
(20:55):
You'll be blown away at the difference, you know. Just
go online. I'm sure you've already done this because this
is such a big project we all think about. But
just look at before and after pictures online, just google
them and it's sometimes hard to even imagine that that's
the same kitchen and all that's changed is the kitchen
cabinet color. So huge difference. Not a big buy in
(21:16):
when it comes to expense, Yeah, there's expense involved, but
it's not big compared to you know a lot of
projects and what you get for it. It's a huge
bang for your buck. So let's walk through the process
step by step. And if you do want a free
downloadable guide, just head torepco light dot com backslash Cabinet
(21:36):
Guide all one word cabinet guide, fill out that quick
form and then I'll email you the PDF and you'll
have all the info that you need to confidently tackle
this project. All right, One last thing to clarify before
I jump in. There are a lot of different cabinet
situations out there. You know. You could have stained and
varnished cabinets, you could have painted cabinets, who knows what else,
(21:56):
you know, all kinds of different things. The steps I'm
going to describe in the rest of the show are
similar for all kitchen cabinet repaints, but I'm specifically going
to talk about the project is if you've got stained
in varnished cabinets. All right, so some things will be
a little different if you've got painted cabinets. For the
most part, it's going to be all the same. But
I had to pick one of these to focus on,
(22:17):
or you know, it's just too complicated. So we're looking
at this as if you've got stained in varnished cabinets,
and let's walk through the process. The very first step
in this whole kitchen cabinet repaint project is to remove
and label everything. So start this project by removing your
cabinet doors, drawers, and all the hardware, the hinges, the screws,
(22:39):
the handles, everything. And here's the most important part of
this step, label everything. You'd be amazed how differently things
can sit after years in one spot. Swapping them around
might seem harmless. It does seem harmless, seem harmless to me,
but it can cause doors to hang crooked and open weirdly.
(23:00):
You don't want that, so use a numbering system. You know,
Cabinet one gets labeled one. If it has two doors,
call them one L and one R, you know, left
and right. Mark it on the back of the doors
where the hinge goes so it's hidden. Later, you know,
just drop a piece of painter's tape in that hole
or on that spot, and then label it with a
sharpie marker. Label it clearly, and then once you've done that,
(23:21):
label your hardware. Two people forget the step. I forget
this step, But you've got a bag each cabinet's hinges
and screws in its own plastic bag and mark it
with the matching numbers so that it stays with the
cabinet door that it came from for extra safety. If
you really want to be good and methodical and complete
in the step, sketch a quick layout of your kitchen
(23:43):
so you know where each number belongs. When it's time
to put it all back together, I skip this step.
Normally I number everything and then I forget which side
I started on by the time I get everything ready
to go back together, and I'm a little always a
little bit confused. If one starts on the left side,
of the kitchen or on the right side. So draw
(24:04):
that little sketch that'll help you out. Now. I know
this part feels tedious, but you're gonna thank yourself later.
I've already implied it. I've already said it. I've skipped
this step. I've labeled doors but not the hardware. And
I assure you, even though the hinges look identical, my
door's never hung is evenly after I painted them, So
swapping hinges really does make a difference. Keep them all together,
(24:27):
same doors, same hinges, same screws. All right, that's step one.
Now it's time to dig into the actual prep work.
And I know prep work absolutely stinks. It does it stinks.
It's boring, it doesn't provide a lot of visual payoff.
It's not like rolling primer on or paint. You know,
it's just not fun like that. Prep work is pretty
much everybody's least favorite part of pretty much every project,
(24:52):
and yet it's crazy critical. You know, prep is easily
ninety percent of almost every project. It should be, you know,
ninety percent of the time you should be prepping and
ten percent of the time you're actually applying the paint.
You just need to get used to That's that's how
it works. If you can accept that and stick to it,
you're going to have great results. All right, So doing
(25:12):
the right prep work, it's all about laying a great foundation.
If that foundation is poor, everything that you pile on
top of it, you know, everything you build on top
of that foundation is going to be questionable. You know,
if you skip your prep and you don't adequately clean
the surface, scuff sand or prime where you should be priming,
you just shouldn't expect great, long lasting results. And one
(25:34):
other thing to think about is if you do skimp
on the prep work and go ahead and just paint
anyway and then run into issues down the road, it's
not easy to fix. At that point. You know, you've
got one shot, really at doing the foundational work, the
prep work, right, So don't skimp on it. It feels boring.
I get all of that, but it's kind of you know,
it's the make or break point of your project. Do
(25:55):
the prep work, do it well, you'll have good results.
All right, all of that blathering on, and let's get
to the actual prep work. The first thing that really
falls into this prep work stage is going to be
cleaning the cabinets. You know, you've got years of cooking, grease,
oily fingers, airborne gunk of all kinds. All of that's
there in your kitchen and it's going to kill your
paint job if you skip the step and leave it
(26:17):
on there. So use a good degreaser spray nine. That's
a great option. We carry it at Repcolite TSP tri
sodium phosphate. That works really well. Even you know don
dish soap will do. Scrub everything down using a Scotch
bright pad and then rinse everything with clean water and
let it dry completely. All right, that's your first step.
Now that you've got that done, scuff sanding is next,
(26:39):
and everybody groans when this step gets brought up. I
don't think anybody likes scuff sanding. Nobody likes scuff sanding.
But there's good news. It is not as bad as
you think. You are not trying to remove your varnish
or layers and layers of old paint. All you're trying
to do is dull the surface down so your primer
has something to grab onto. A quick once over with
(27:00):
one eighty grit sandpaper should be perfect. And if your
brain is like mine and you need more details or
a more clearly defined idea to work with. How about this.
You should be able to scuff sand a typical cabinet
door in under a minute. It's not an intensive sanding,
you know, just zip over it, dull that surface down,
and you're good to go. When you've got that done,
(27:22):
wipe off all that sanding dust with clean water and
let it dry. Now, if you're going to use an
orbital sander for any sanding in this project, be sure
that you're following that information that I laid out last week.
We talked about it on the show. I talked about
how you can avoid swirls in your finish when you're
using an orbital sander. So you can access a blog
post about it by heading to repco light dot com
(27:44):
backslash sand right, all one word sand right. That's got
all that info. So if you're going to use an
orbital sander on this project, make sure you're following what
I laid out there. So check that out, all right,
stuff sand the doors and then wipe them clean with
a damp rag because you've got to get that sanding
done off of them. And I know there's probably a
few people out there wondering you know, thinking about wait
(28:04):
a minute, I had to wash them first, then I
wipe them again later. Why would I do that? Why
not just skip that first washing step and do it later.
Here's why you've got to do it in the order
that I laid out. If you don't wash them first,
but you go straight to scuff sanding, you're probably going
to grind all kinds of whatever surface contaminants were there.
You're going to grind them into the finish deeper and
(28:26):
that's going to cause problems down the road. So you've
got to wash them off first. Then you've got a
scuff sand and then you've got to remove any of
that sanding dust that you created by wiping them down
to the damp rag and some clean water. All right.
Once you've got all of that done, you're finally ready
to prime. And this is a crucial bonding step that
sets the tone for the whole project moving forward. So
choose the right primer for the surface. Sticks, quicksand from
(28:49):
Repcolite or Benjamin Moore's Fresh Start. They're all excellent choices.
You know, I love Sticks. It's an incredible bonding primer.
It really gives you a tremendous foundation that will will
help resist chipping down the road. So stick's absolutely a
great way to go. Repcollate's Quicksand it's another great option.
It's one of those sneaky surprises for us. You know,
(29:10):
we engineered it to be a great all purpose primer,
but we were really surprised to find out how well
it bonds. So if you're looking to save some money
and still get a primer with some good bonding power,
Repcollites Quicksand is a great option. So check into that
whatever you use, whatever primer you use, once you put
it on, you need the check for stains after it's dry.
(29:30):
All right, we're talking about this project. You know. If
you remember is if you're painting over stained and varnished cabinets.
If that's the case, it's possible that there could be
some discoloration from tannins bleeding through the wood. Now, the
chances are the varnish that's on there, we'll seal them in,
but you should still look for them. Maybe you stand
it through the varnish in some places, or maybe the
deep open grain of some oak doors just didn't seal well.
(29:53):
Either way, see if you can detect any brownish discoloration
bleeding through your primer. And if you notice that, you
don't need to panic. You just need to spot prime
those areas with bin Schalac primer or Repcolite zip prime.
These products are going to seal those stains off and
prevent them from bleeding through your final code. Now, you
could use zipprimer bin on the whole project, but they're
(30:14):
just not fun to work with. You know, there's a
lot of odor to them. And if you can get
by with a regular water based primer for most of
the work and then just spot prime a few little areas,
you're way better off. Now, most of the time there's
not going to be any tannin stains bleeding through, but
you do want to catch it if there is. You know,
just putting another code of water based paint or primer
over top of them won't help. They'll keep bleeding through
(30:35):
unless you block them with the right primer, all right,
so you've got to make sure you catch them. All right.
That's halfway through the project. And I know it's a
lot of information, a lot of product recommendations that I've given.
Remember you can find all of what I just said
online at repcolite dot com. Backslash cabinet Guide, So go
and check that out. You can follow along with that.
(30:57):
It'll just give you all the extra info that you
might might have missed as I'm rambling on and on.
We're going to take a break right now. When we
come back, we're going to talk about sanding your primer,
choosing the right finish paint, and then how to avoid
some of the biggest mistakes most people make in the
final steps. It's all just ahead, stick around, Welcome back.
(31:21):
You're listening to the Repcolite home improvement show sponsored by
Benjamin Moore, And in the last segment, we walked through
the first half of a kitchen cabinet repainting project. You know,
we covered everything from removing and labeling the doors and
hardware all the way through cleaning, sanding, and we just
covered the priming step. Now, after your primer dries, but
before you go to your finished paint, there's an extra
(31:43):
step that a lot of people skip, and yet it's
one that really, you know, separates a good finish from
a great one. Here's the scoop. Once that primer's completely dry,
it's got to be completely dry. Once it's completely dry,
take some two to twenty grits sandpaper and just give
everything a light dusting, not removing the primer. You're just
smoothing the surface. You're knocking down little lumps, little goobers,
(32:05):
whatever you want to call them, that ended up in
the primer. Do that light sanding, and then wipe everything
down with a damp cloth to remove the dust that
you created. All right, Once you've done that, finally comes
what most people think of as the fun part, you know,
the color or the paint part, you know, putting the
finish on. When it comes to this point, use a
high quality product like Benjamin Moore's Advance Cabinet Coat Scuff
(32:29):
X if you're brushing and rolling it, or consider repco
Light's Optima. All of these are great, excellent options for cabinets.
They're durable, they're smooth, They're designed for beautiful finishes that
will hold up. Now, as for tools, I'd recommend a
good brush. You know, get a good brush like the
Corona Excalibur, the Chinax brush. It's easy to clean up,
(32:49):
it applies paint beautifully and evenly. Great brush to have.
Don't skimp on your brush, get a good one. And
when it comes to roller covers, I really love to
recommend Wooster's microplush cup. These are ideal rollers when it
comes to cabinets. They're going to give you a smooth,
almost sprayed look. So Wooster's microplush covers great way to go.
Apply a nice even coat of your finish. Don't rush it,
(33:12):
don't glob it on, and once you've got that first
coat down, just let it dry. You know, according to
the manufacturer's instructions, whichever product you picked, it will tell
you how long it needs to dry. Let it dry
that time. You know, it's usually between three and six hours,
depending on temperature and humidity. Now, after that paint has dried,
here's another one of those steps that a lot of
people skip. You would ideally do another light sanding, just
(33:35):
like you did after your primer dried. You know, it's
the same deal. You're going to take a two twenty
grit sandpaper and just give it a light pass, you know,
over your doors and drawers, just to knock down any
bumps or imperfections that might be in that first coat
of finish. Once you've done that light sanding, wipe everything
down again with a damp rag, let it dry, and
then you're ready for your final coat. Now, this step,
(33:56):
this extra little sanding step in between, is what gives
your cabinets that professional you know, buttery smooth, buttery smooth.
We all want that. This is what gives it that
buttery smooth finish. So don't skip this step. All right.
After that light sanding, and after wiping that dust off,
and after the doors dry down from your damp rag
that you went over them with. Once that's already, you're
(34:18):
ready for your second and final code of finish, and
you're going to apply it just like you did the
first one. Thin, even and smooth. If you've done your
prep work right, the second coat is going to lay
on beautifully and it's going to give your cabinets a
really professional finished look. Now, when it's all said and done,
you've got everything finished, everything painted, let everything dry thoroughly,
you know, a few days is best before you reinstall.
(34:41):
It's going to help you avoid smudges, dings, you know, tackiness,
stuff like that. Definitely, you don't want to run into
issues where you damage or mar the finish that you
just painstakingly put on. These don't mar that by rushing
to get them reinstalled, all right, So give it the
proper amount of time to dry so that you can
(35:02):
reinstall it without any of those concerns. And once you've
got all of that done, you know it's time to
bring it back together. So you're going to grab your
layout sketch, grab those labeled bags of hardware, and then
reassemble the kitchen. You know, everything needs to go back
right where it came from, and it should be easy
because you labeled everything really well at the beginning. You know,
it's just a matter of matching the numbers up at
(35:23):
this point. And let me tell you, when everything is hung, leveled,
and clicked back into place, it is a really good feeling.
You know, you're going to stand there in that freshly
painted kitchen and you're gonna think, yeah, I did this,
and it's amazing, really great project. You know, you're dropping
some money for the paint, but you're not going through
tons and tons of paint, tons and tons of primer,
(35:44):
a relatively small investment when it comes to the paint
side of things and the tools. All of that's a
relatively low buy in. The payoff is absolutely huge. So
really consider this project if you're interested in getting the
full rundown again and you know something written down repcolit
dot com backslash cabinet guide. You'll get everything everything that
(36:06):
I spelled out, plus some all right, last thing I've
got for you a few final things to keep in
mind when you're rolling that paint on. Don't overload your
roller cover. You know, too much paint means more drips
and lapmarks. Plan on two coats. You know, people run
into problems when they try to make one coat cover,
and this is true for walls, for anything. You need
to apply it at the right pace and just if
(36:28):
it takes two coats, it's going to take two coats.
If you try to make one coat cover by overloading
the paint most of the time, if not all of
the time, you're going to run into some problems down
the road. So with your cabinets, plan on two coats
of finish paint and just apply it evenly, and you're
going to deal with less problems down the road. All right.
So that's first. One second, and this is really important,
(36:50):
don't try to wash and reuse your roller covers. That
can work for some projects. I'm not a big fan
of that regardless, you know, unless you're working outside or
just plying primer or something like that. If you're working
inside on your walls or for sure on your cabinets,
get a new roller cover for every step of the process.
They are not expensive, you know, it's a cheap buy
(37:12):
in to give yourself some extra insurance to get a
really nice finish. When you wash out a roller cover,
it can clump a little bit and it can definitely
affect how that finish looks. So when it comes to
this project, use a new one for your primer, Use
a new roller cover for your finish. Use new roller
covers for the second code of finish. You're going to
appreciate of better results down the road. If you do that,
(37:34):
it's probably gonna cost you an extra ten bucks total.
All right, So there's that third thing. Give yourself some grace.
Nobody is going to be inspecting your work with a
magnifying glass except probably you. Everybody else. They're going to
just think it looks great. So do your best and
then let the little imperfections that do happen. Let them go.
Nobody's going to notice them. Don't point them out. I
(37:56):
point them out all the time. That's just dumb. Nobody
else will see them. Don't point them out out and
finally last thing, always always use a quality paint. It's
easier to work with, it's going to give better coverage,
and it's going to last longer. All right, there you go,
a complete guide, a complete audio guide to repainting your
kitchen cabinets and getting great results. If you missed any
of it, or if you want to check out something
that you can just read read all those steps, head
(38:18):
torepcolight dot com backslash Cabinet Guide and I've got it
all there for you. And of course swing by any
Repcollite store. We're always happy to walk you through this
project or any project that you've got going. We'll help
you find the right products, the right tools. We'll give
you all the info you need to get through your
project and get great results in the end. And if
you heard all of that, listen to all of those
(38:40):
steps and thought, man, that is beyond me. That is
not something I want to tackle. I'd love the results,
but I don't want to do the work. If that's you,
maybe you need to find the right pro And if
that's the case, you can do that by heading to
repcollite dot com backslash find a painter. Just fill out
that form. I'll send you some names and you can
get that process rolling. And there you go. That's it.
(39:03):
That's going to do it. If you want to catch
this episode again, you can find it online at Repcolight
dot com. Just click the on the radio tab on
the homepage and check it out. All right, whatever you
do today, make sure paints a part of it. And
remember your next project is way way easier than you
think it's going to be. Stop out at your nearest Rep.
Col lighte and let us help. Have a great weekend, everybody,
and I'll see you next week. I'm Dan Hansen. Thanks
(39:26):
for listening.
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