Kitchener cabinet painters since 2010
Kitchener Elite Cabinet Painting & Refinishing has painted cabinets across Waterloo Region since 2010, with more than 1,700 residential jobs finished for homeowners, condo owners and families getting ready to sell. Kitchens are most of that work, followed by bathroom vanities, fireplace built-ins, laundry rooms and closets.
Your doors and drawer fronts come back to our spray booth for Renner 2K waterborne polyurethane, a two-component Italian coating that cures harder than any paint sold off a store shelf. The boxes and face frames are sprayed in place with Benjamin Moore ADVANCE inside sealed zip walls, so nothing is rolled or brushed.
Every job comes with a fixed written quote, an insured and WSIB-covered crew and a written 1-year labour warranty. We work anywhere within about 30 minutes of Kitchener, from Waterloo and Cambridge to Guelph, Elmira and New Hamburg.
What we paint
Most people call us about the kitchen, then notice the tired vanity, the laundry room and the orange oak built-in beside the fireplace. Whether it's one room or the whole house, every piece gets the same degreasing, primer and sprayed finish.
A typical Kitchener kitchen has 25 to 40 doors, drawer fronts and panels, and our kitchen cabinet painting service covers every one of them plus the boxes. If only the island needs a new look, kitchen island painting is finished in place in 2 days.
Vanities live in the most humid room in the house and take daily splashes of hard Region of Waterloo water. Our bathroom vanity painting gives them the same crosslinked 2K finish as a kitchen door, usually in 2 to 3 days.
Fireplace surrounds, bookcases and entertainment walls are fixed to the house, so we finish them where they stand instead of taking them to the shop. Our fireplace built-in painting work also covers living room built-ins and media walls.
The storage in the rest of the house works hard and is usually the last thing anyone updates. We paint laundry room cabinets, mudroom benches, garage cabinets and closet and wardrobe cabinets, often in the same booking as a kitchen.
Reception desks, staff kitchens and dental operatory cabinets are painted in the evenings, on Sundays and over long weekends so the business never closes. Our office cabinet painting extends to dental and medical clinics and small commercial millwork.
Cabinet refinishing renews a worn factory finish, whether that means a new colour or a fresh clear coat. We also spray doors on their own, paint cabinet interiors, repair swollen or split doors, fit soft-close hinges and new pulls, and pair new doors with painted boxes.
Paint, reface or replace
Painting costs a fraction of new cabinets because the boxes, countertops, backsplash and plumbing all stay where they are. Most Kitchener kitchens we paint land between $3,400 and $5,200 before HST.
The other difference shows up at the curb. A tear-out sends a full set of boxes and doors to landfill, while painting keeps solid cabinets in service for years.
Paint is the wrong answer only when the boxes are water-damaged or the layout no longer works for you. If that's the case, we'll say so at the quote.
Typical jobs
Houses around here follow clear patterns: 1980s oak in Forest Heights, 2000s maple and melamine in Doon South, glass-and-steel condos downtown and older homes near Victoria Park with layers of past paint. Each one needs a slightly different start before the colour goes on.
About 30 red oak doors and drawer fronts, primed with Zinsser B-I-N to stop tannin bleed and sprayed in Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-17. A kitchen this size usually runs $3,400 to $5,200 before HST, with oak grain filling as an option.
Maple doors with a glossy factory lacquer get a scuff sand and INSL-X STIX bonding primer. A popular look here is Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore SW 7069 on the lowers with white uppers, which adds one flat fee for the second colour.
Condos at Charlie West or DTK often have 18 to 20 slab fronts in a compact galley. We book the elevator, send the certificate of insurance to the property manager and work inside the building's weekday hours.
Kitchens and built-ins in Victoria Park, Cherry Park and Mount Hope can hide lead-based paint under newer coats. We test before any sanding, adjust the prep if needed, then spray the doors in the shop and the boxes in place.
How it works
A typical kitchen takes 5 to 7 working days, and the fridge, sink and stove stay usable on all but about one of them. Here's the short version of what happens in that week.
Count the doors and drawer fronts, photograph each wall of cabinets and mention any grease, DIY paint or furniture polish. You get a fixed, itemized written quote with HST shown on its own line.
Choose any Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams colour. We spray a sample door or board in that exact colour and sheen so you can judge it in your own light.
We protect the room, label and remove every door, then degrease, sand and prime with a primer matched to your cabinet material. Doors are sprayed in our booth while the boxes are sprayed on site behind zip walls.
Doors cure in the shop for at least 24 to 48 hours before they come home. We rehang them in labelled order, adjust the hinges and fit any new hardware.
We check every door with you and clear the punch list on the spot. You keep a written care sheet and your 1-year labour warranty.
Products we use
A cabinet finish lasts because of what goes under it as much as the colour on top. We name every product on your quote, and each one is there for a reason.
Festool sanders with HEPA dust extraction keep the house clean while we prep. Every job gets 1 primer coat and 2 topcoats, sanded with 320 grit between coats.
Service area
Our shop sits in Victoria Hills, a few minutes from Highway 7/8, so most of Waterloo Region is a short drive away. There's no travel charge anywhere in Waterloo Region or Guelph.
Home base, 5 to 20 minutes to every neighbourhood from Forest Heights to Doon South.
10 to 15 minutes to Uptown, Beechwood, Laurelwood and Columbia Forest.
20 to 25 minutes to Galt, Preston and Hespeler.
About 30 minutes via Highway 7 to Old University, Kortright Hills and Westminster Woods.
20 to 25 minutes to Elmira, St. Jacobs, Breslau and Conestogo.
20 to 25 minutes to New Hamburg, Baden and Petersburg.
25 to 30 minutes to Wellesley village, St. Clements and Linwood.
20 to 25 minutes to Aberfoyle, Morriston and Puslinch Lake.
30 to 35 minutes, including Fergus.
35 to 40 minutes via Highway 7 through Guelph.
40 to 45 minutes, booked for kitchens and larger jobs.
FAQ
These come up on almost every first call, usually before anyone has counted their doors.
Most Kitchener kitchens cost $3,400 to $5,200 before HST, which covers 21 to 35 doors, drawer fronts and panels. Small condo kitchens start around $2,400, and single doors are $110 to $150 each with both sides sprayed.
Yes, on all but about one day. Because the doors are sprayed at our shop, your fridge, sink and stove stay usable except on the day we spray the boxes; we only ask that cabinets and counters are cleared before day 1.
Yes. We book in-home estimates Monday to Saturday from 7:00 am to 9:30 pm and Sundays from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, or you can skip the visit and send photos.
We work anywhere within about 30 minutes of our Kitchener shop: Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Woolwich, Wilmot, Wellesley and Puslinch. Elora, Rockwood and Acton sit a little farther out, and small jobs there may carry a flat travel fee.
Free quote
After 16+ years and 1,700+ jobs, a few phone photos tell us almost everything we need. Send a picture of each wall of cabinets with your door count, and you'll have a written, itemized quote within 1 business day.