Rant: I used to think pre-finishing was a waste of time until last month

For years I always built cabinets first and finished them after assembly. It seemed faster and I hated handling finished panels. Then a client in Portland pointed out all the dust in the corners after I sprayed their kitchen. I tried pre-finishing the box parts on a bathroom vanity last month and it took a little longer upfront but the final assembly was cleaner and I saved an hour of touch-up work. Has anyone else made the switch and stuck with it?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_sullivan11d ago

Wendy, the hour of touch-up isn't just the time fixing dust nibs. A lot of that saved time comes from not having to mask off interiors or clean up overspray in tight corners. I did a small kitchen last year with 14 cabinet boxes and pre-finishing saved me almost a full day of taping and rework. Plus the finish quality on the inside edges is just better when you spray them flat before assembly. There's less runs and sags that youd never see until the client points them out later.

shanec6111d ago

Funny how saving a little time upfront costs you triple later.

wendy_lee4811d ago

…but is an hour of touch-up really that big a deal? I mean, you spend that time upfront cutting panels instead. Seems like a wash to me unless you're doing huge production runs where every minute counts. I'll stick with my way, dust be damned.