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How to prepare damaged kitchen benches for painting?

I am planning to paint my kitchen benches/cupboards over the christmas break. I have the Dulux Renovation Range paints for the job already, but this kitchen has been roughly treated in the past, with a lot of burn marks and gouges in the current surface.

What would be the suggestion for prepping this surface for the paint. The gouges are probably not deep enough for filler, but will definitely look indented once painted... There's also one very distinctive seam that would be good to even up...

The previous owner had stuck vinyl floor tiles over the whole bench top (and therefore, hiding the damage), but we removed these because they were awful!

Love to hear your thoughts.

Chris

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EricL

Hi @Chris_T

I suggest trying Turbo 175ml Builders Bog Flexipack to fill the gouges. I recommend not putting in too much activator so that you can properly lay it in the gouge and give it a nice flat finish. Once the bog hardens and cures, I recommend sanding it with a sanding block for a level finish. I propose filling in the gaps with the same material and using a paint scraper to give you a flat finish.

Please remember that too much bog activator will immediately harden the bog giving you almost no time to lay it in place.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

Chris_T

Thanks Eric - Builders Bog worked great.

I've now repainted the kitchen, and noticed the recommendation on the can to use a final coat of the Renovation Range Clear Gloss Coat on the bench tops.

I have two concerns about whether this is a good idea. Firstly because I had to do a lot of filling/little repairs and the bench top has a few dents and bumps in it from decades of use, I'm concerned that the gloss will emphasise these. Secondly, I found a lot of reviews that the gloss coat was very difficult to get even and messed up all the work put in to the underlying coats. https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/dulux-renovation-range-clear-coats

Just wondering if I skip the gloss coat, am I risking the longevity of the work, or is it really mostly aesthetic? Or is there another protective product I could apply instead. Currently the paint looks fantastic, and don't want to take a step backwards!

I have a bunch of notes about the process and progress photos I'll share once I've got it all finished.

Cheers

Chris

MitchellMc

Hi @Chris_T,

Adding the gloss provides additional protection, but it will highlight those imperfections.

The gloss coat is not difficult to get even if you follow directions. What is difficult is resisting the urge to touch the areas you've laid down against directions. The number one reason for ending up with an uneven gloss coat is touching areas and trying to fix tiny imperfections once the product has begun to cure. When you initially lay down the gloss coat, you can get raised peaks, uneven lines or patchiness. The majority of these self-level out, but are really tempting to try and fix yourself. You'll notice little imperfections and go back to a section that you painted 10mins ago and start mucking around with it to try and smooth out the area. The problem is that it's already setting up, and if you touch it, you stop the self-levelling process and ruin the finish. Since the self-levelling process has been interrupted, the product won't sit flat on the surface. It will be rough, and you'll see the roller marks as the peaks of the roughness catch the light. Never go back and start touching areas you haven't just painted; you'll make it worse. If you've made such a mistake that something needs to be done about it, wait for the coat to dry, give the area a light sand and re-coat. A classic mistake is applying the product like a timber varnish. You can't un-evenly coat the bench and then re-roll over it to smooth the finish and get more consistent lines like you would when painting a wall or varnishing a table.

The gloss coat is another layer of protection, but it's not necessary. With any painted benchtop, you want to avoid dragging unsealed ceramic plates and sharp items across it. If you're concerned about ruining the finish with the gloss, I suggest getting yourself some protective mats and having those on the counter area that you'll be using extensively.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Mitchell

Chris_T

So I've finished the kitchen repaint. Took twice as long as I anticipated (which is my usual underestimation) - around 6 days total. A lot of that time was prep, fixing the damage, sanding down, removing doors, taping off, putting down protection etc. Here's some progress and before and afters...

Mid Project Chaos

The drawers had a tricky-to-paint indented handle - really needed a brush that could curve back 180 degrees on itself. Just persisted with a small craft brush, and about 6 coats. (I actually did one coat with the end of my little finger, with a rag pulled tight over the end to smear paint into the corners).

Here's the before and afters..

I replaced the ancient, grease covered range hood rather than try to clean it. Paint was bubbling off anyway, and it was quite yellowed.

Some things paint was never going to cover was the decades of wear and tear - indents in the wood, minor gouges and scrapes in the laminate are still reasonably visible if you're looking closely, but will probably be less noticeable once appliances and cutting boards are returned to the surfaces. I decided not to use the final gloss coat as it was going to just emphasise these more.

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Some takeaways for anyone embarking on a similar project.
The primer and bench top paints have usage time limits once you add the additive (I think 3 days for the primer, 10 days for the counter top paint), so do prep work thoroughly before you start - probably don't want to spread the painting across a few weekends if you need to stop and do additional prep. Give yourself plenty of time. I chose the week between Christmas and New Year and really glad I did as it basically took most of the week. (That said, my kitchen did need a lot of fixes).
Don't leave too long before laying off a section. I ended up with a pretty even coat everywhere, except one section where I probably laid it off a bit late, and now has distinct roller marks. But again, once there's stuff on the counter, that will be a memory.

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But all in all, the kitchen definitely looks brighter and cleaner, a bit more modern, and a lot cheaper than a full refit!

Cheers

Chris

Jason

Congratulations @Chris_T and thanks so much for returning to the site and sharing your results. Much appreciated.

I'm sure your work will help and inspire others, so look out for incoming questions from other members down the track.

Jason

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