Am I sanding too much?

Question

I finally started sanding our kitchen cabinets to start updating the room. When we bought the house, it was in possession of the bank. The bank must've sent in a crew of painters to freshen it up. This included painting the cabinets in the kitchen. But the painters did a quick and sloppy job. Now, after 3 years of living here, I can't take it anymore. But I'm worried I'm sanding too much. What do you think? Also do I leave my cabinets full? Or empty them? The dust is everywhere.

Ken · Answer

Is there such a thing as sanding too much? You need to remove any paint that comes off easily and rough up the surface a bit. Mission accomplished I'd say.

You have already identified the problem with leaving the stuff in your cabinets while sanding. Is it a problem for you? You can take everything out and clean when you are done. You are the only one that matters here.

Naomie Moore aka baileyanddaisey, Castaic CA · Answer

While I know it is a pain, the entire room should be completely empty. Everything out of every cabinet, curtains down and out along with any furniture. Tape off any heating and cooling vents too. Then mask off the room from the rest of the house with cheap plastic drop cloths to keep the dust to a minimum from spreading to the rest of the house.

Get everything as smooth as possible then vacuum up as much dust as you can with a shop vac and wipe down cabinets with tack cloth to remove any remaining dust. Then you can prime, then start painting.

Proud of you, my kitchen is in worse shape and it has been 18 years!

Rose Broadway · Answer

You really don't have to go down to the bare wood, you will wear yourself out. Let me find a good video for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8u9vT5xY8s

Ebbjdl · Answer

Take the food out of the cabinets, and store them away from the sanding, too much dust.

Shoshana · Answer

You just need to sand enough to roughen up the surface so that the paint will properly adhere to the cabinets

Am I sanding too much?

Suggested Project Book

Shock Your Guests With These Shoe-String Budget Flooring Ideas

Other

More

Am I sanding too much?

Suggested Project Book

Related Discussions