the kitchen chronicles - Part 3 - working with mdf

Painting MDF Cabinet Doors

Replacing kitchen cabinets is a very costly undertaking.  Since the actual cabinets in my kitchen were good, I decided to go the less costly way and replace the doors.  I checked the price of doors at Home Depot and other stores and the average cost of a suitable door was $95-$120.. that's Canadian, folks, (far too much since I have quite a few in the kitchen.) 

I decided to go with MDF doors.  I had someone make the doors for me.  If you've never seen a CNC machine at work, take a gander over at youtube and watch one in action.  They cut doors from MDF like a knife goes through butter.  It's facinating.

The price of these MDF doors?  $7 - $20, according to size.

Here are the raw MDF doors as they were delivered to me.  I decided to finish them myself.

Painting MDF is very different from painting wood. MDF soaks up the paint as it's 'cut' surfaces are somewhat FUZZY.  Don't bother to sand the fuzzies too much in it's raw state, you'll be there forever.

The first thing you need is a REALLY GOOD PRIMER.

The best primer I've found BY FAR is KILZ.  This stuff sprays on amazingly!  Try it and I assure you, you won't use anything else. It's a primer, sealer and stainblocker.  The best out there. You'll use HALF of what you would use with another product, and because it goes on so great, you'll have less overspray in the air.

Another thing you need to know about MDF is it is very absorbent.  Because of its absorbency, using a lot of latex products on it can sometimes swell the MDF.  Something you definitely don't want.  Use all oil based products if you can.

In this picture below, you can see the 'fuzzies' as the primer is sprayed on the raw surface. It doesn't take too long to dry as the MDF just sucks in the primer.  Give it two coats of primer.

Below is a picture with two coats of dried primer.  You can definitely see the rough, pebbly-like surface.

Once thoroughly dry, take a sanding block and sand away! A fresh sanding block will allow you to get into the edges with a crisp firm block edge.

I don't think it's too easy to see, but the door on the left has been sanded and the door on the right has not.  The difference is really amazing.  They turn out very smooth.

Give it a good vacuum and a wipedown with a tack cloth, and paint as you like.

I'm giving my doors a coat of Rustoleum Heirloom White to start.

Here is a picture of one painted, (propped up on canned pumpkin - will be baking later on)

Next up - Glazing Cupboard Doors