See Why We ARE the Competition!
While there’s nothing wrong with comparing prices and process, it is important to make sure you do so from an informed standpoint. If you find a “bargain” price, it may be that many steps, some critical to a lasting finish, are being omitted.
We’ve developed the following list to help you in the bid selection process. When you compare, we're confident you’ll see why so many families choose Focal Point Studios for their cabinet refinishing project.
Your location or ours?
We have our own production shop, so we are able to offer you the option of either completing your refinishing job at our shop or in your own home. We have a process for each location, and the steps to completion are the same. Our equipment and process ensures your kitchen remains functional for the duration of the project, and we won't convert your garage to our workshop. By being able to offer you choices, we can provide full service options to meet the needs that best suit your lifestyle and time frame. When getting bids, make sure you know whether areas of your home will be rendered unusable.
Removing and rehanging doors, and replacing hardware
This is tedious, and if you’re replacing hardware, it can require a lot of patience to get the doors to hang properly when remounted to the frames. Make sure all bids spell out what is and is not included. (Ours do, of course!) If you're changing hinges we're happy to take this chore off your hands.
Finishing both the fronts AND backs of doors
We’re always surprised when we hear others out there do not finish the backs of the doors. Why not? Because it's as many steps as the fronts and so, takes a lot of extra time. When we refinish your cabinets, you’ll never be embarrassed when you open a door in front of guests!
Proper preparation
This is absolutely critical to a lasting, quality finish, yet lots of people who “do cabinets” gloss over the prep work or skip it totally. Why? Because it’s hard work, and it takes time. House painters and general painters are known as "production painters" because they must get in and get out quickly to make their money. Armed with a sprayer, they want to move on as quickly as possible. Faux finishers may be great at wall art, but when it comes to cabinets, many look for products that advertise you can avoid sanding and priming. It’s the part of our job that's definitely NOT fun, but it’s the absolute foundation to a quality finish. We never omit these steps, so you'll never have to worry about the quality of your finish. Our professional production process ensures your cabinets will continue to look beautiful for years to come.
Every cabinet job begins with cleaning and degreasing your cabinets, followed by sanding and priming. Why do we clean first? Because without that step sanding can actually grind grime into the surface causing adhesion problems later. It’s “little” things like this that separate us from the amateurs.
Paint and primer in one?
Watch out for this one! New paint products on the market tout you can skip priming by using their product. That might be fine for walls, but never take that path when it comes to redoing your cabinetry. Primer is the Velcro that binds your cabinet to your paint and nothing is a satisfactory substitute.
How many years of experience?
Lately we've seen people trying to supplement income in this slow economy by suddenly claiming they are cabinet refinishing experts! They claim years of experience, but most of it is painting exteriors of homes! They lump the time together, knowing you probably won't check. We are experienced cabinet refinishers. Period.
Insides of cabinets painted?
This comes up occasionally, usually because a competitor touts it as "included". While we'll certainly paint the interiors if you really want it, we'll never spend your money unwisely, and honestly, this one's a gimmick touted by production painters who, armed with sprayers, make their money by quickly spraying everything and moving on. Your extra labor of emptying your entire kitchen (which also makes it unusable) minimizes the taping off they must do. It's the typical approach to painting apartment cabinets or exterior house painting, but spraying everything in sight can never duplicate the hand crafted, layered beauty of the faux finishes for which we are famous.
How many steps are there?
Each of our finishes begins with cleaning, sanding, and priming. Cleaning and sanding takes one to two days for most kitchens. After priming comes painting, the addition of glazes and/or stains, and finally two seal coats of high end sealer. Totally, this adds up to about 10 days, partly because each step must dry before beginning the next one. When we're done you'll feel like you're walking into the brand new, beautiful kitchen of your dreams! Remember, though, that with our process your kitchen remains functional during the entire process.
Professional Grade Products
We use only high end products on your cabinetry, many of which are unavailable to the general public. Our paints are cabinet grade only (did you know cabinet paint and wall paint are not the same), and are self-leveling which means no brush or roller marks. Our glazes and stains are designed specifically for use on wood. We use only non-yellowing sealers that dry to a diamond hard finish, are designed to withstand the special demands of high traffic, moisture rich kitchens, and meet or exceed all USA standards for durability and chemical resistance as set forth by the Furniture, Kitchen Cabinet and Millwork Association.
Be sure to peruse photos of our cabinet samples and finished projects under the "Cabinets" tab, then give us a call today to get started on your kitchen remodel.
We’ve developed the following list to help you in the bid selection process. When you compare, we're confident you’ll see why so many families choose Focal Point Studios for their cabinet refinishing project.
Your location or ours?
We have our own production shop, so we are able to offer you the option of either completing your refinishing job at our shop or in your own home. We have a process for each location, and the steps to completion are the same. Our equipment and process ensures your kitchen remains functional for the duration of the project, and we won't convert your garage to our workshop. By being able to offer you choices, we can provide full service options to meet the needs that best suit your lifestyle and time frame. When getting bids, make sure you know whether areas of your home will be rendered unusable.
Removing and rehanging doors, and replacing hardware
This is tedious, and if you’re replacing hardware, it can require a lot of patience to get the doors to hang properly when remounted to the frames. Make sure all bids spell out what is and is not included. (Ours do, of course!) If you're changing hinges we're happy to take this chore off your hands.
Finishing both the fronts AND backs of doors
We’re always surprised when we hear others out there do not finish the backs of the doors. Why not? Because it's as many steps as the fronts and so, takes a lot of extra time. When we refinish your cabinets, you’ll never be embarrassed when you open a door in front of guests!
Proper preparation
This is absolutely critical to a lasting, quality finish, yet lots of people who “do cabinets” gloss over the prep work or skip it totally. Why? Because it’s hard work, and it takes time. House painters and general painters are known as "production painters" because they must get in and get out quickly to make their money. Armed with a sprayer, they want to move on as quickly as possible. Faux finishers may be great at wall art, but when it comes to cabinets, many look for products that advertise you can avoid sanding and priming. It’s the part of our job that's definitely NOT fun, but it’s the absolute foundation to a quality finish. We never omit these steps, so you'll never have to worry about the quality of your finish. Our professional production process ensures your cabinets will continue to look beautiful for years to come.
Every cabinet job begins with cleaning and degreasing your cabinets, followed by sanding and priming. Why do we clean first? Because without that step sanding can actually grind grime into the surface causing adhesion problems later. It’s “little” things like this that separate us from the amateurs.
Paint and primer in one?
Watch out for this one! New paint products on the market tout you can skip priming by using their product. That might be fine for walls, but never take that path when it comes to redoing your cabinetry. Primer is the Velcro that binds your cabinet to your paint and nothing is a satisfactory substitute.
How many years of experience?
Lately we've seen people trying to supplement income in this slow economy by suddenly claiming they are cabinet refinishing experts! They claim years of experience, but most of it is painting exteriors of homes! They lump the time together, knowing you probably won't check. We are experienced cabinet refinishers. Period.
Insides of cabinets painted?
This comes up occasionally, usually because a competitor touts it as "included". While we'll certainly paint the interiors if you really want it, we'll never spend your money unwisely, and honestly, this one's a gimmick touted by production painters who, armed with sprayers, make their money by quickly spraying everything and moving on. Your extra labor of emptying your entire kitchen (which also makes it unusable) minimizes the taping off they must do. It's the typical approach to painting apartment cabinets or exterior house painting, but spraying everything in sight can never duplicate the hand crafted, layered beauty of the faux finishes for which we are famous.
How many steps are there?
Each of our finishes begins with cleaning, sanding, and priming. Cleaning and sanding takes one to two days for most kitchens. After priming comes painting, the addition of glazes and/or stains, and finally two seal coats of high end sealer. Totally, this adds up to about 10 days, partly because each step must dry before beginning the next one. When we're done you'll feel like you're walking into the brand new, beautiful kitchen of your dreams! Remember, though, that with our process your kitchen remains functional during the entire process.
Professional Grade Products
We use only high end products on your cabinetry, many of which are unavailable to the general public. Our paints are cabinet grade only (did you know cabinet paint and wall paint are not the same), and are self-leveling which means no brush or roller marks. Our glazes and stains are designed specifically for use on wood. We use only non-yellowing sealers that dry to a diamond hard finish, are designed to withstand the special demands of high traffic, moisture rich kitchens, and meet or exceed all USA standards for durability and chemical resistance as set forth by the Furniture, Kitchen Cabinet and Millwork Association.
Be sure to peruse photos of our cabinet samples and finished projects under the "Cabinets" tab, then give us a call today to get started on your kitchen remodel.