Wood Kitchen Cabinets: How to Seal

LESLIE: Al in California’s looking to paint some cabinets. How can we help?

AL: I had some custom cabinets made for my kitchen and they’re made out of oak. And right now they’re on the raw stage. And I wanted to know – because I want to leave the neutral color.

TOM: OK.

AL: And I wanted to know what advice would you have for me to seal them or how to go about or what would be the first step. Because right now I’m sanding the cabinets.

TOM: OK, and you want to leave them as a natural cabinet, Al?

AL: Yes, uh-uh.

TOM: Great. So, after you get done sanding them and getting rid of all the dust, I would apply a sanding sealer.

AL: OK.

TOM: Because that will fill up the pores and seal in all of the dust that may be still in there. And you can lightly sand on top of that with like a 400-grit sandpaper.

AL: OK.

TOM: And after the sanding sealer then you’re going to want to coat those with a urethane.

AL: Very good.

TOM: And the best way to do that is to take the doors off, take the drawers out, try to work on the boxes when they’re on the – obviously when they’re installed.

AL: Uh-huh.

TOM: And then work on everything else when it’s flat. Be very careful with the amount of dust in the area. Put on thin coats and put on several of them. And don’t use water-based urethane. Use oil-base. It’s far more durable.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm. And it’s not going to yellow like you would with the water-based ones; especially in a kitchen situation.

AL: Very good. Now, let me ask you this. How do I get that furniture finish when you touch them afterwards?

TOM: Well, I’ll give you one trick of the trade. After the cabinets are all dried …

AL: Uh-huh.

TOM: … get some steel wool and some floor wax; floor paste wax. Take the steel wool, dampen it ever so slightly and use the steel wool to apply the wax to the cabinets. The steel wool will sort of very lightly abrade whatever roughness is left on the surface …

AL: OK.

TOM: … and it’ll get that wax really into the finish. And then when you buff that, that will give you the appearance of a hand-rubbed finish.

AL: Thank you kindly and I really enjoy your show. And you’ve guys have got, oh, a beautiful show.

TOM: Alright, thank you, Al.

LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Thanks, Al.

TOM: Another happy customer. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.