Go to stand in your kitchen respray Ireland a moment. Not to make coffee or go to the fridge – in fact stand in front of it and gaze. The doors that are of fairy days. The colour that had sense in it yesterday, now only wearies you. The grips were polished with ten years of being held.
Nothing’s broken. Everything works. The room is like a remnant of another person.
There is a relatively low priced solution to that feeling. And it isn’t a new kitchen.
First Let us Talk about the Price Gap.
It is literally impossible to conduct this conversation without it.
The new kitchen in Ireland is expensive such that it surprises the majority. You begin to add up the costs of it – new units, worktop, fitting, tiling, an electrician perhaps to shift sockets, that kind of stuff – and it goes up quickly. Soon you end up looking at the quote of between €12,000 and 25,000 how come you are paying to fix a room you already own.
Most Irish homes cost between 1,200 and 3,500 in a professional kitchen respray.
That’s not a misprint. Same kitchen and same layout and same carcasses but totally different finish and colour. It is so much that it has changed that those who frequent there usually come in and think that you have had the entire thing changed.
You haven’t. But the room is like you have.
This is what really goes on during the Job.
It is better to know what you are exactly paying.
The doors come off first. Every single one. This can never be compromised on in case you would like a proper finish, a company that places the door paint on the spot is cutting a corner that will come later to haunt you. It oversprays where it is not required, edges are missed and the outcome has all the characteristics of a job that was done in a rush and not done well.
As soon as the doors are off, preparation starts. The surfaces are degreased, greases on the cooking surface accumulate unseen and ruin the bonding of paint, they are sanded to provide something on which to bond the new coat, this is followed by priming. It is then not until all that is done that colour is applied, with professional spray equipment that does not leave a minor brush or roller to equal.
Re-fit them on the hinges and you have a kitchen which appears to have come off a showroom.
The entire process requires two-four days. You will be staying around it a little bit but it is much less disruptive than demolishing a whole kitchen and beginning to rebuild.
Why Prep Is the Party No One Speaks about Enough.
Whichever tradesperson does this well, he or she will tell you that without you having to ask.
Prep is everything.
Beautiful paint applied on a riddled surface will not work. Not miraculously, not once, but gradually, softly in the corners, about handles, in the angles of doors. Then it spreads. After half a year you come calling somebody back and asking them to repeat a job that ought to have taken years.
This is exactly what makes the cheapest quote in your inbox one that should be subjected to the greatest criticism. The most simple method of reducing costs is by rushing prep, without which it will not be very apparent. You won’t spot it on the day. You will see it the next winter when you see the edges beginning to raise.
The firms that are doing spectacular work take more time on preparation than painting. That’s not an exaggeration.
Colour: It is Personal This Way.
A change of some sort has taken place in Ireland in the past five years or so. Individuals ceased to revert to security.
Navy blue was the breakout color- it is in kitchens as far North as Dundalk, and in some of them it has been brilliantly executed and truly makes a tidy appearance. The less obvious picks are being discussed though by more interesting conversations. Corded sage greens which change with the light. The dusty clay pinks that sound dubious and look luxurious in use. Nor do the off-blacks, warm enough to prevent their being cold. Dark forest greens which would make the kitchen look like a place you would even like to be.
And then there’s white. The bright white on cabinets which had turned yellow and old in fifteen years is one of the most radical changes which may be made,–more dramatic than any dramatic colour, the contrast between what preceded it being so great.
One thing to keep in mind here is that a respray is not the same sort of commitment that a new kitchen is. You can change it again, if you become so wildly colourful and lose your love with it in a few years. That would be a reality and not a pipe dream because of the cost.
Finding the Difference between Good and Average.
The gap between the best and the rest is manifested through certain ways in this industry where range of operators are great.
Ask about the paint system. The two-pack and the hybrid systems not only cure harder than normal water-based products but also cure more effectively. Kitchens are punished every day, heat, steam, wiping, opening and closing of doors. A finish that is fantastic on day one but peels off in month three was likely to have been used in the improper product in the environment. When a company is good, it will respond to this question in a specific and sure manner. Unclear answers should be followed up.
Check out their pictures, the close-ups, in particular. The edges on the side of hinges, the bottom corners of the doors, the zone directly around the handles. It is there that quality lies or manifests itself. Long shots that are panoramic in view compliment all. Detail shots don’t lie.
Ask about their guarantee. The normal time spent in writing is two to five years by companies that are confident in their work. Any person hesitant to put down on paper is saying something significant concerning their faith on the result.
The secret of finding someone worth hiring.
The Irish trades are still business by reputation rather than advertisement which is indeed handy.
Start close to home. An online review is worth twenty online reviews by a neighbour that had his/her kitchen done. There is a weight attached to real testimonials that paid testimonials will never have.
Facebook community pages- your local area pages and town groups are always good at this. Ask a question, clarify about what you want and in a matter of hours you will have truthful answers of people who were also using companies in your locality and will have no reason to be polite about the displeasant experience.
Google reviews are not to be read but read laterally. Pull up the one and two-star reviews and also examine the response of the company. The practice of professionalism is one of the most obvious lenses that would give a better idea as to how a business is run. Faultfinding and defensiveness ought to drive you out.
Gather three quotes at least. Also ensure that each one is covering exactly the same amount of work i.e. doors only, or doors and frames and carcasses since a partial quote being compared to a full-scale quote is a sure way to become confused about value.
When Respraying Is the Ught Answer.
There is no use denying it.
Wickedly warped cabinets doors with swollen edges, or falling to pieces, can never be salvaged by paint. A respray enhances the surface that is in good condition – a respray cannot repair surfaces that are really damaged.
Same with the cadavers behind the doors. In case they are wet, greasy or have defective structure, the issue goes deeper than appearance and must be addressed accordingly in the first place.
And even when your kitchen layout makes you literally insane – when the workflow is annoying and no visual solution will resolve this daily irritation – then a respray will get you a prettier version of something that still will not perform as desired. That is worth telling yourself the truth before going to spend money.
But workable kitchens, which only look chippy? One of the most competitive value propositions in Irish home improvement currently is a respray.
An example of a story that shows the point.
Last year, a family in Limerick was quoted 19500 to have their entire kitchen replaced. New all round, units, work tops, all. They waited, obtained three respray quotes and settled on a company that quoted them a deep charcoal with new brushed nickel handles at a cost of 2600.
One of the relatives came two weeks after the work was done and spent half an hour enquiring about the new kitchen – what unit brand they had chosen, what they had found their worktops, whether the layout was different.
The layout hadn’t changed. Neither had the worktops. The doors and the handles only.
That story is not unusual. It is the logical result of a respray job.
The Bottom Line
In the case of a structurally sound kitchen, but you are tired of the way it looks, then it is almost certain that a respray is worth thinking seriously over before anything more radical. The difference in terms of finance is quite considerable. The visual effects, the work of an expert operator, are really amazing. The interference is low in comparison to complete renovation.
Identify an organization that has an actual track record. Combative questions regarding process and materials. See their reviews critically. Do not go after the lowest price. And believe any tradesperson, who begins to speak of prep, before he begins to speak of colour, that he is the right man to the work.