How to Remove Old Paint on Cabinets

Part of the Video Series Home Remodeling Tips

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If there are layers of old paint on a cabinet in your home, learn how to trim it off and repair the cabinet doors with the easy do-it-yourself tips in this free online home improvement video.

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Tags: bathrooms, diy, door, fix, kitchen, remodel, repair
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Posted by imnoexpert on Monday, 17 March, 2008 at 12:12 PM

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Modern cabinets have an adjust system at the hinges. This action isnt even a last resort and certainly isnt expert! One other thing, this website is so full of adverts, its very discouraging to use it.

Video Transcript

How to Remove Old Paint on Cabinets
Common problems that you have in older homes is all the years of paint, and it rubs, as you can tell from the center right there. Now what you want to do is you can trim off both doors, or you can just rim off one. What I usually do is just trim from the top to the bottom, all the way down to the wood when it’s just old paint.

And what you want to do is get an x-acto or a box cutter, and you’re just going to trim off this outside edge; you can see how it’s built up with paint there. Just don’t cut towards yourself. And you’re just going to trim down to the wood. It’s okay to gouge the wood a little bit because you’re going to have to repaint it, but you don’t want to gouge it too much. You can also use a plainer, if you’d like, or a really, really rough piece of sandpaper - I just find this to be easiest.

You want to check to make sure you got the right spot, and voila, it does close. It still rubs a little bit, so you want to maybe trim off some on this side. You don’t have to take off all the paint, you just have to trim off some of it. And you can sand it smooth and repaint it.

About the Expert

Expert: Lee Wallace has a degree in architecture from Texas A&M University. Read More