Refinishing Cabinets Since 1995
Cabinet Refinishing in Meriden, CT
Gagnon Painting & Decorating has been refinishing cabinets since 1995. Refinishing existing cabinets can save thousands compared with the cost of new ones, and our finish is warrantied against flaking and peeling.
Meriden is a good candidate city for it: 60.1% of its housing is owner-occupied and 75.4% of it was built in 1979 or earlier, which is the combination that produces long-held homes with dated kitchens and sound cabinetry.
How do I know whether to refinish or replace?
Look at the boxes, not the doors. Doors are what you have stopped liking; the carcasses are what you would actually be paying to replace. If the boxes are sound, square and in a layout that works, refinishing keeps them and spends your money on the surface — which is the part that has aged.
The honest arguments for replacement are structural or practical rather than cosmetic. Bases that have been wet and swollen. Hinges and runners failing across the entire run rather than in one or two places. Or a layout that genuinely does not work for how you use the kitchen, in which case no finish will fix it and you should not spend money pretending otherwise.
We will tell you which of those we are looking at. A warrantied finish applied to a cabinet that needed replacing is bad for you and bad for the warranty.
One local point: in a Meriden home built before 1978 — which most of them are — cabinet work that disturbs surrounding painted surfaces falls under the EPA's lead-safe requirements. We are an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm, so that is planned in rather than discovered.
Meriden cabinet refinishing questions
What does refinishing actually save?
Thousands, in most cases, against the cost of a replacement kitchen — because the cabinetry and the demolition and reinstallation around it are the largest line items in a replacement, and refinishing removes all three. You get a written summary quote on the first visit, so the comparison is against a real number.
Will the finish survive a working family kitchen?
It is warrantied against flaking and peeling, and the durability comes from the process rather than a brand name: thorough degreasing, correct sanding, the right bonding primer for the existing surface, and proper cure time between coats. Kitchens fail at the door edges and around the handles first, which is exactly where rushed preparation shows up.
Can you change the colour completely, not just refresh it?
Yes, and custom colour matching is part of the service if you need the new cabinets to relate to trim or a floor you are keeping. Going substantially darker or lighter than the existing finish affects the number of coats and therefore the schedule, so raise it at the estimate rather than after we start.
Thinking about your Meriden kitchen?
Call for a free estimate and a written summary quote on your first visit.