Contractors - Looking for pricing of cabinet staining...

[gate_pourri]

I am in the process of getting my kitchen cabinets stained. My boyfriends 'friend' does some contracting on the side and has offered to the do the work, but I am still waiting to hear his 'price'. Having NO idea what is fair for this type of work, I don't know if I should just accept whatever he says or not. I live in a hi-rise condo, so the kitchen is pretty small (think apartment size). There are 14 cabinets and 8 drawers. He mentioned taking the doors off, bringing them home to 'spray paint' them and then coming and physically painting the edges. Anyone able to give me a general 'this should cost between XX and YY'. I can measure them for you, if that helps. I just don't want to accept something that's much more than I should pay. Thanks!

[disneyhand]

Last October I had my kitchen remodeled. Although I did get quite a few new cabinets, I kept some of the original cabinets (10 cabinets and 8 drawers) and had them painted/ stained to match the new ones. The remodel company referred me to a guy that they had worked with many times in the past.

He did a great job, but it was an involved process. He removed the doors and worked on them in the garage. He sanded everything. Then he did several steps with paint/ stain, one step at a time with long drying time in between each layer. We talked quite a bit about his detailed work and he explained that many people take short cuts when doing this and the results aren't long lasting and don't always look so good.

I remember paying him just under a thousand dollars and that included all his supplies. He came to my house seven days and worked very hard. It was worth it to me because I was so sick of painting at that point and knew I would never get the results he did. The kicker is you can't tell the old cabinets from the new ones! The colors are a perfect match.

Maybe if I wasn't trying to match the existing, it wouldn't matter so much to me how good of a job was done, I don't know. But I would never have them done by a friend with out a clear budget up front (never pay in full in advance) and a better idea of the end result. Like ask him to do one door all the way through as an example. Does he have pictures of other things he's done? How long would this process take him and will he make it a priority? You often hear horror stories involving situations like this. The time line is really important, especially if your kitchen is all torn up for a long time. I'm not sure about the spray paint part. My guy did everything with rags and brushes, but we may have different cabinets. Mine were oak. They are now red and espresso.

Anyway, do be cautious, but otherwise best of luck! Hope this helps.

[The Mystery Machine]

Originally Posted by gate_pourri

I am in the process of getting my kitchen cabinets stained. My boyfriends 'friend' does some contracting on the side and has offered to the do the work, but I am still waiting to hear his 'price'. Having NO idea what is fair for this type of work, I don't know if I should just accept whatever he says or not. I live in a hi-rise condo, so the kitchen is pretty small (think apartment size). There are 14 cabinets and 8 drawers. He mentioned taking the doors off, bringing them home to 'spray paint' them and then coming and physically painting the edges. Anyone able to give me a general 'this should cost between XX and YY'. I can measure them for you, if that helps. I just don't want to accept something that's much more than I should pay. Thanks!

Spray paint? Restaining involves sanding and staining, not painting.

I think I would pass based on his description of the job. Oh and hiring a "friend" can be a nightmare.