Sometimes, all it takes is a fresh coat of paint to completely transform your kitchen from drab, bland, and outdated to modern and vivacious. Choosing the right materials and paint is the first step to ramping up your kitchen’s wow-factor. The second step is finding the right time of year to paint your kitchen cabinets. As long as they’re in good condition, there’s no reason to replace them entirely. With the holidays coming up, chances are you probably have a little bit of time on your hands to do a little home improvement. Here are the pros and cons of painting your kitchen cabinets in the winter.
Wood absorbs large amounts of moisture and humidity in the air during the summer months. That moisture causes it to swell in extremely high temperatures. When the temperatures go down in the fall and winter, so does the swelling. Painting wooden cabinets in the summer is a bad idea because once the swelling dissipates, the new paint will start to crack. It’s better to paint wood cabinets in the winter because the cold and dry air sucks all of the moisture out of the cabinets. By the time summer rolls around, the cabinets will already be dry and less susceptible to cracking.
Due to the lack of humidity in the air, kitchen cabinet paint tends to dry a lot faster and absorb more easily in the winter than it does during warmer times of the year.
If you’re planning on hiring professional painters to refinish your kitchen cabinets, winter is the perfect time to do so. Most professional painters typically abandon outdoor projects in the winter in exchange for focusing on indoor projects, which means you’re more likely to find an affordable and reliable contractor to work on your cabinets for you.
One of the drawbacks of painting kitchen cabinets in the winter is that the cold weather leads to the development of dimples. Water-based finishes are more vulnerable in colder temperatures because water tends to freeze up in the winter. Professional kitchen cabinet painters can recommend the right products for the temperatures in your home. They also use professional application techniques that prevent dimple formations.
Cold air helps prevent humidity and moisture retention in wooden kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately, keeping your furnace on all winter long creates humidity and hot spots in your home, which is absorbed by your cabinets. As temperatures fluctuate from day to day, this causes your newly painted kitchen cabinets to contract and expand which could lead to some cracking if the paint hasn’t fully dried.
It’s best to leave painting kitchen cabinets in the winter or any other time of year up to the pros at Booth7. Our experienced kitchen cabinet painters can recommend the right type of paint products and materials that are most appropriate for your cabinets to ensure a long lasting seamless finish. Contact us today to learn more.