Lower-level kitchens, in-law suites and rental units get the same degreasing, priming and spraying as the kitchen upstairs, priced smaller and scheduled around whoever is living down there.
Second kitchens are ordinary here and rare in most of the province. Households in Malton, Cooksville and the Lakeview bungalows commonly run a full cooking setup downstairs, either for a suite or to keep the heavy frying out of the main kitchen, and that cabinet painting work is a segment almost nobody writes about.
Basement Cabinet Painting Usually Means Melamine Or Builder MDF
What goes downstairs is rarely what went upstairs. Second kitchens are typically melamine over particleboard, plain MDF slab, or leftover boxes from a previous renovation, all of it chosen for price. Cabinet painting on those substrates needs a bonding primer, and the edges need attention because melamine chips exactly where the panel was cut.
Heavy use compounds it. A downstairs kitchen that carries most of the cooking builds far more grease film than a show kitchen upstairs, and water-based cleaners will not lift a wax and cooking-oil layer that thick. Solvent degreasing comes first, and it is on the cabinet painting quote as its own line because it adds real time.
Both Kitchens Booked Together Costs Less Than Two Visits
Setup is a large slice of any cabinet painting job. Masking, containment, extraction, the trip out and the booth cycle all get paid for once whether one kitchen or two are done. Running both in the same window means a single mobilization, one round of plastic and one pass through the booth for two sets of doors.
The lower kitchen is almost always smaller, with fewer doors and shorter runs, so it prices lower per door as well as in total. A main kitchen at $3,500 with a compact basement kitchen added often lands well below two separate cabinet painting jobs quoted months apart. The quote shows each kitchen on its own lines so either can be dropped.
Cabinet Painting Works Around A Tenant Or A Family Member Downstairs
An occupied suite changes the schedule rather than the method. Fronts leave for the booth on the first morning, which takes the noise, the dust and most of the smell away with them, and the carcasses are handled over a day or two with low-odour waterborne product.
Basements have less natural air exchange than a main floor, so we run extraction, keep a window or a vent open where one exists, and time the box work for daylight hours. A suite with its own entrance is usually easier again. Where the upstairs kitchen is being done at the same time, the two schedules are staggered so the household always has one working kitchen.
Rental Kitchens Set Different Cabinet Painting Priorities Than Owner Kitchens
Landlords ask a different question: what finish survives a tenant. The answer is a catalyzed two-component polyurethane over a bonding primer, in a mid-tone colour rather than a pale one, at a satin sheen that cleans easily and hides handling marks.
Cabinet painting a rental kitchen between tenancies also carries a hard deadline, so the booth turnaround is booked before the start date rather than after. Self-closing hinges that have gone slack are worth replacing while the fronts are down, and new hinges and handles cost little when fitted during reinstall.
Quote Both Kitchens On One Visit
Phone +1 (289) 201-6018 or write through the contact page and say that there are two kitchens, because it changes the visit and usually lowers the total. The cabinet painting quote comes back with each kitchen itemized separately. The remaining services sit on the home page.
Second Kitchen And Basement Suite Cabinet Painting Questions
Can both kitchens be done at the same time?
Yes, and it costs less than two separate jobs. Masking, containment, extraction and the booth run are paid for once, so one setup covers both kitchens. The quote lists each kitchen on its own lines, so either one can be dropped.
Can the basement be painted while a tenant lives there?
Yes. Fronts leave for the booth on the first morning, which takes the noise, dust and most of the smell with them. Boxes get low-odour waterborne product over a day or two. Extraction runs, and timing is agreed with whoever lives there before the start date.
What finish suits a rental kitchen?
A catalysed two-component polyurethane over a bonding primer, in a mid-tone colour and a satin sheen. It cleans easily and hides handling marks. Booth turnaround is booked before the start date, so the kitchen is ready when the next tenant arrives.