Warning: My kitchen cabinet project in my old Atlanta apartment went wrong fast

I tried to paint my laminate cabinets with a $20 kit from a big box store. The paint peeled off in sheets after just two weeks because I didn't sand first. Now I have to strip it all and start over, which is way more work. Has anyone else had a laminate paint job actually hold up, or should I just save for new doors?

3 comments

3 Comments

ben4362mo ago

Ugh, that's the worst. Been there with a laminate dresser. It's like the paint just sits on top with zero grip. I had to use a crazy strong deglosser and then a special bonding primer, the kind that says it sticks to anything. Even then, I lightly scuffed it with a sanding sponge first. It held for years, but it was a ton of prep work. Stripping it is such a pain, I feel for you.

kim.sandra2mo agoOG Member

What kind of bonding primer did you end up using? I tried the "sticks to all" stuff on a laminate bookshelf and still got some peeling on the edges after a year. I had to go back with an oil-based primer, which was a whole other mess.

spencer_johnson222mo agoMost Upvoted

Remember my neighbor tried to paint his laminate kitchen cabinets. He skipped the sanding step, just wiped them down. The paint peeled off in one big sheet like a sunburn two weeks later. He had to start all over, and the whole kitchen smelled like chemicals for a month. Ben436 is right about that prep work being a ton of effort, but it's the only thing that works. Some surfaces just fight you the whole way.