Exceptional Service and Master Craftsmanship
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Most recent entries
- New doors and drawer fronts on existing cabinets - an easy kitchen update
- White Painted Kitchen Cabinets – Classic and Timeless
- Quartersawn Oak Kitchen Cabinets - Accentuating the grain with Dye Stain
- Why Pay More for Cabinetry Painting and Finishing When You Can Pay Less?
- Eco-Friendly and Cost Effective: Refinish and Reuse Cabinets in a Kitchen Renovation
- Care for Cabinetry and Furniture
- Kitchen Cabinet Repainting – It’s (Almost) all about the Prep!
- Re-Painted Kitchen Cabinets can be Better than a Factory Finish
- Window Restoration is more cost effective and “greener” than replacing windows!
Syndicate
Monday, November 28, 2022
New doors and drawer fronts on existing cabinets - an easy kitchen update
Painting kitchen cabinets is a great way to update your kitchen, but with a dated looking door style, replacing the doors and drawer fronts with ones of a more contemporary look along with the painting can make the cabinets look like they were newly installed.
While updating the door style, it is a great time to install euro style, soft close hinges to eliminate the “bang” when a door is closed, as well as update the knobs or pulls, and even slow close drawer glides.
See the difference new doors and drawer styles make in this kitchen:
In the following kitchen, Builder grade maple cabinets were transformed with the installation of shaker doors, new pulls and a fine spray finish of specialty cabinet paint.
This client wanted a less ornate, but still traditional style of door, and the removal of ornamental detail.
Let us know if you would like to discuss cabinet painting and the possibility of replacing your doors and drawer fronts for a more desired style and look.
We look forward to seeing how we can help.
Wednesday, June 05, 2019
White Painted Kitchen Cabinets – Classic and Timeless
Before
After
White cabinets are Bright, Fresh, Crisp and universally appealing. They go with all types of décor and never go out of style.
Often existing cabinets made of cherry, maple and oak, even when solidly made and nicely crafted, have a dated look. There have been many wood styles that have come and gone over the years. When updating kitchen cabinets, more people opt to paint rather than refinish the wood look.
White is wonderfully neutral and flexible. Updating the hardware and replacing counters and fixtures in conjunction with painting the cabinets truly result in a brand new kitchen!
The most requested white is White Dove from Benjamin Moore.
We color match this or any desired color in our specialty cabinet paint and apply it with a fine spray finish in the desired sheen to make the cabinets look new. And the longevity is exceptional!
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Quartersawn Oak Kitchen Cabinets - Accentuating the grain with Dye Stain
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Why Pay More for Cabinetry Painting and Finishing When You Can Pay Less?
We believe cabinet finishes should be furniture quality with excellent longevity, looking beautiful for years, not just upon completion.
At Masterwork we use advanced technology cabinet paints applied with attention to details not addressed by lower cost finishers.
Our cabinet paints have been researched and tested to be superior to conversion varnish, lacquer paint and architectural trim paints.
Our paints offer:
- Nontoxic and very low VOC (no out-gassing of nasty solvents)
- Highest resistance to scuffs and abrasion
- Highest durability and scratch resistance
- Best wash-ability
- Best longevity around water contact areas – No chipping and flaking with repeated water exposure
- Best Color retention -No yellowing, fading or darkening over time
- Easiest to touch up if needed
- Excellent Fine hand crafted appearance- not plastic looking
Our Standardized, Documented procedures are a vital key to our consistent high quality.
Our SOP’s apply throughout the process.
- Quotes – Honest pricing and job scope details
- Scheduling – Detailed with on-time job completion
- Preparation- Seamless joints, eased edges and corners, caulking of joints
- Painting – Smooth and durable coatings
- Quality checking
- Follow up – To ensure customer satisfaction
Masterwork is the right choice for your cabinet painting and finishing.
"It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money... that is all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the things it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot... it cannot be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better. There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell for a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey."
John Ruskin
Thursday, March 01, 2018
Eco-Friendly and Cost Effective: Refinish and Reuse Cabinets in a Kitchen Renovation
In this kitchen renovation, the cabinets were painted and reused – an excellent Eco Friendly alternative to throwing them into a land fill, and a significant cost savings for the homeowner.
The original kitchen had builders’ grade maple cabinets with white Corian counters and lacked sufficient natural light and views of the great outdoors.
In the renovation, some of the upper cabinets were removed, some drawer modifications were made, door hardware was replaced, slow close hinges were installed, and the counter was replaced with a stylish honed Jet Mist granite.
In another area of the kitchen, some new cabinets were added with the same door profile, and all of them were painted with a fine spray finish by Masterwork Painting.
The result is a kitchen with brand new looking cabinets painted with extremely durable cabinet paint. Thanks to Masterwork's detailed prepping and painting process, they look beautiful for years, which is another essential component of Eco-Friendly!
Masterwork Finishes are made to be:
- Extremely WashableScratch/Burnish resistant
- Color Fast (no yellowing or color shift)
- Non-Toxic, Very low VOC
- Exceptionally well suited for use around water contact areas. - Areas prone to "failure" with traditional conversion varnishes and lacquer paints.
- Easy to touch up if needed
When changes to the kitchen layout are to be made, existing cabinets can be combined with new ones and painted/stained together to be made indistinguishable.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Kitchen Cabinet Repainting – It’s (Almost) all about the Prep!
It happens often. We get a call for kitchen cabinet re-painting from someone who recently had their cabinets re-painted by a painting “professional” and the paint has started chipping. First the door bumper comes off and takes the paint with it, then there is moisture from the boiling pasta or the dishwasher which introduces more evidence of paint adhesion failure, then a door gets a nick and additional paint starts to chip off…
It’s a homeowner’s nightmare. They thought they got a great price, from a painter that was reputable. Maybe they even used him/her before and were happy with the work on their walls and trim. Or perhaps they felt satisfied that they didn’t go with the lowest price quote. The completed cabinets looked good at first, BUT… What Happened?
Cabinet Surface Preparation is not the same as trim preparation
When Re-painting kitchen cabinets, the most critical step is surface preparation. This is important for trim painting as well, but for typical trim, effective preparation is not anywhere near as difficult to achieve. In the kitchen, dirt, hand oils, cooking oils, residual cleaning solutions, build up from cooking smoke, etc. must be meticulously removed and the surface prepared properly in order for the paint to stick reliably. This requires specific knowledge about adhesion and the expertise, skill and attention to detail to properly prepare the whole cabinet – grooves, corners and all. Most painters do not have the knowledge or experience to tackle this critical step for the kitchen cabinet re-paint process. If this step is not done correctly and meticulously, the paint WILL Peel. That lower cabinet painting price wasn’t so great after all.
Primers – there are BIG differences
It’s hard to believe that a key to beautiful durable cabinets is actually the undercoat. A bonding primer designed for cabinets is the next essential ingredient to cabinets that will remain beautiful for years to come. A bonding primer is designed to grab onto difficult-to-adhere to surfaces such as factory finishes on existing cabinets. These primers chemically bind to the surface becoming one with the cabinet surface.
Have it done right, or don’t do it at all
Having your kitchen cabinets painted cheaply and incorrectly is worse than not re-doing them at all – Really. If the adhesion fails due to inadequate preparation or the application of an unsuitable primer, the only options to resolve the problem may be to have all the paint stripped, a very costly process, or the even more expensive option - purchase new cabinets. Don’t fall into the trap of a cheap cabinet re-paint job. It’s just too expensive!
Masterwork Painting specializes in kitchen cabinet painting. We have dedicated kitchen cabinet finishing craftsmen, standardized procedures and expertise to transform old cabinets into better than new ones that will remain beautiful for years to come.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Re-Painted Kitchen Cabinets can be Better than a Factory Finish
Most people think of re-painting their kitchen cabinets to get a new look without the price tag, construction mess and disruption associated with replacing them.
But how does that re-painting compare to a factory finish? Is it possible to get as beautiful of a finish? As durable a finish? As washable a finish? A finish that will stay beautiful for years to come? YES - and in some cases Even Better! And there can be other benefits too.
We all know re-painting existing cabinets costs less than replacing them with even low quality cabinets, and it is certainly less disruptive and should be much less messy. If you have solid time-tested cabinets and like the basic layout of your kitchen, you are better off re-painting what you have – IF it is done properly. How are cabinets re-painted by Masterwork better than a Factory Finish?
Specify The Appearance You Want – Beyond The Stock Cabinet
Color Selection Flexibility: With custom painted cabinets, there is unlimited color flexibility. Even with “white cabinets” there are many whites to choose from. You can match to whatever you would like such as existing tile, trim, or complement the counter.
The Color You Select Is What You Get: There will be no surprise or disappointment due to color variation from what was seen in a cabinet showroom. A Sample of the actual color and sheen to be applied to your cabinets is provided to view in your kitchen, and is approved by you prior to work being performed.
Your Color Remains Unchanged Over Time: The products Masterwork uses are “color fast” meaning the color stays true and does not yellow, fade, or darken as occurs with most factory finished cabinets. This makes the cabinets able to be seamlessly touched up if necessary. Cabinet companies may warranty their cabinets and provide a little jar of touch- up paint, or even replace a damaged door, but due to the color change over time, the touch-up color or warranty replacement door may not match the rest of the kitchen.
Sheen Level Flexibility: This is selected based on personal preference and can be anything from a Matte to a high gloss
Smooth To The Touch Surfaces: The Masterwork Painting spray finish is not only smooth, but gives a nicer appearance than many factory finished cabinets that have a “plastic” look and feel. Any existing dings or scratches are repaired, so used cabinets look brand new. On occasion a hand crafted look is desired, in which case the cabinets can be brushed rather than sprayed.
Unique Finishes: Glazing or decorative finishes are an option to accent or distress a surface to provide a one of a kind look. Even faux wood graining that actually looks like real wood can be performed.
Exceptional Durability – Better Than A Factory Finish
The Masterwork Process for cabinet finishing provides superb durability, scratch resistance, mark and burnish resistance, as well as wash ability as compared to that of factory conversion varnish and Lacquer paints. In addition, the Masterwork system provides superior real-life water resistance to factory conversion varnishes and Lacquer Paints. Because those factory finishes tend to be brittle, when exposed to water contact / drying cycles they tend to crack, chip or flake at water/moisture contact areas such as around sinks and dishwashers. This is a huge problem solved only by a re-paint of your cabinets.
Safe, Non-Toxic Coatings - No Harmful, Toxic Solvents
Masterwork applies advanced technology waterborne polyurethane resin paints and protective clear coatings that are non-toxic, very low VOC and can be safely applied in an inhabited house. No toxic solvent or lacquer based products are used as are typically used for factory cabinet painting. Those products can out-gas harmful solvent fumes for months.
Re-painting your kitchen cabinets vs. replacement is not just easier on the budget, stress level, and project completion time frame, but can also provide a superior finish quality and appearance you will love for years to come.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Window Restoration is more cost effective and “greener” than replacing windows!
Window Restoration / Refurbishing / Reconditioning is more cost effective and “greener” than replacing windows!
I would like to pass on a few notes that I think you will find quite interesting and perhaps even remarkable regarding replacement windows and the value of reconditioning existing windows.
The payback for replacement windows through reduced heating costs is approximately 120 years!! No, that is not a typo. That figure is calculated in a recent article by Pieter Roos, Executive Director of the Newport Rhode Island Restoration Foundation. I recently received the article in an e-mail from Historic New England, a great organization that has collaborated with three other preservation organizations to create a website for “common sense preservation”. You can take a look at the article and related information at www.commonsensepreservation.org.
Through subsequent research I found an article on the website of the National Trust for Historic Preservation titled “Repair or Replace Old Windows”. That article calculated the payback for replacement windows to be anywhere from 60 years based on a cheap replacement window to as much as 200 years for a good replacement window.
Now, I finally know the answer to a question I have long considered – “why do the large replacement window companies only provide statistics for the percentage of relative energy savings and not the actual energy savings or actual dollar savings for replacement windows?” And the answer is - because a percentage of a small number is a tiny number. If those big companies advertised that the actual heating bill cost savings would be $10/window per year for a $750 window (plus installation & finishing, etc.), I’m pretty sure we would have far fewer replacement windows around.
This distortion of reality by the window replacement companies reminds me of a quote by Mark Twain, “There are lies, damn lies, and then statistics”.
And then there is the “green” perspective. Reconditioning windows is by far the most environmentally friendly window solution with the smallest “carbon footprint”. Every replacement window contributes to the 124 million tons of construction debris generated in the U.S. every year – enough, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to construct a wall 30 feet high and 30 feet thick around the entire U.S. coastline. In addition, replacement windows consume more energy in their manufacture and transportation than they will ever save. Now that’s another statistic the replacement window companies won’t share either.
So what can you do to improve existing windows?
Contact Masterwork Painting & Restoration to recondition those windows! We have developed a proprietary system to recondition the mechanical and weather proofing performance of windows. Through our service we actually make windows better than new – they slide smoothly, are energy efficient, water infiltration is eliminated, and they look great. In addition, a reconditioned window will surely last longer than a replacement window. To top it off, our window reconditioning system will save a bundle compared to installation of replacement windows. This system applies not only to traditional pulley and weight type sash balances but also to newer windows with spring balances and aluminum or vinyl tracks.
If you would like to discuss potential window reconditioning / refurbishing / restoration specifics for your house, building, or project, please call or e-mail me at 617-721-8588, rich@masterworkpainting.com.
Rich O’Neil
President, Masterwork Painting & Restoration, Inc.