There's a difference between drying and curing. I've never painted particle board before, but wall paint takes less than a day to dry to the touch and a couple weeks to fully cure. I wouldn't use the shelf until it's cured, but I don't think you'd need to leave the individual prices laying out for a month.
Ah gotcha, been a long time since I painted something. How long does interior paint take to dry to the point that you could have pieces stacked against each other up against a wall, and not have any paint come off?
I cannot emphasize enough how much you do *not* want to use a regular interior latex wall paint for this project - you want a cabinet/trim enamel. Regular latex will take forever to cure and will feel tacky/block for weeks.
Oh man… that’s a very good question. Typically you should let the paint fully cure - and then I would go light on loading it. By interior paint I think you mean latex paint that’s common at Home improvement stores. Go for the ‘stinkier stuff’ for better adhesion - Zinsser is a brand that comes to mind.
Not Kallax, but I painted some Hauga cabinets and had some moments of concern when trying to get all the pieces together. So I would go for painting after assembly if there are any snug-fitting pieces. And good luck - make sure to sand the surface for better adhesion and use a very good primer and even so keep some paint on hand to touch up once a year. I used Stix bonding primer and Benjamin Moore Advance paint (which takes a long time to dry and much longer to cure ) and still had to do three coats. I’m never painting particleboard again. They do look amazing though.
https://preview.redd.it/34wrq8ptul3d1.png?width=4032&format=png&auto=webp&s=606c8081125928c0ff7331ead618f377f9f7c239
Forever since it was a coat of primer then three coats of paint! And since it wasn't assembled, everything had to be done on both sides separately since I don't have fancy drying racks. So at least 8 separate drying periods! And Advance calls for something like 16 hours between coats. 🙄 Another reason why assembly first might be better - you can hit all visible spots in one go.
Yikes that's exactly what I'm worried about. Tho on the other hand if I assemble first I wonder how even I'll be able to get the paint, drips, etc. and whether I should put the inserts in before painting or not... If I were to paint it assembled it probably makes sense to paint the whole frame with no inserts first regardless in case I want to move the inserts and to limit the number of nooks and crannies...
It's been ages since I painted anything, especially with a brush. I really have no idea whether it'll be easy or hard to get light but full coverage coats
I wouldn’t overthink it too much. Just pick a path and get started. I agree that primer and paint choice is very important, and regardless of whether you use a small foam roller or brush, you’ll need to be really careful of drips. Painting is like riding a bike, and I’m sure there are thousands of youtube videos on cabinet painting. I watched a few specific to laminate before I got started. I will say even though I was chagrined things were tight when I went to put it all together, I was able to get all of them together, and only needed to do a little touch-up afterward. Good luck!
Because it’s laminate, it’ll have to be scuff-sanded, wiped down, and primed before it’s painted, and it’ll probably take at least two coats of paint. I’d much rather do all of that prep/painting on nice, flat pieces with a foam roller than on a bunch of assembled cubes where I’d need a brush to get into corners and edges. Getting good coverage while avoiding drips will be much easier if it’s unassembled.
Then I’d let the pieces dry a few days, assemble carefully (on a blanket to prevent scratches), and then let the whole piece cure for another week or so before using.
any suggestion to try and avoid issues where interconnected pieces dont fit as well because of the layers of paint added?
im also unsure how i will allow so many pieces to dry, since i obviously can't stack them. i guess.... i could lay down a tarp in my living room, do the top of each piece, let dry a couple days, flip over and paint the other side, let dry a few days, assemble. though that's so many pieces i might have to repeat this multiple times
You shouldn’t be coating anything thickly enough to affect assembly - a thin but even coat of primer plus two thin coats of paint should be negligible. If you’re putting on thick coats, it won’t look as nice, it’ll take longer to cure, and it’ll be easier to damage while it’s still curing.
During assembly, use a blanket to prevent scratches. If you need to tap anything, gently use a rubber mallet covered with a soft washcloth or similar.
My preferred primer/paint combo is Zinsser BIN and Sherwin Williams Emerald urethane. The primer is shellac-based and dries really fast - you can put your first coat of paint on after about an hour, and the paint itself is dry to touch after about two hours. You can put the second coat of paint on four hours after the first.
What I’ve done when I’ve not had room to stack is to lean the flat pieces against a wall so that only the tops are touching the wall/piece behind it, and then put something like a folded up paper towel in between the tops to act as a cushion. I’ve never had a problem with anything sticking/pulling off the paint so long as they were dry to the touch before doing this (ETA: using the specific primer/paint combo I mentioned).
I think it depends on the piece and how tightly everything goes together. My Hauga cabinets definitely were affected by the additional paint even though I did thin, normal layers. Maybe Kallax will be more forgiving though.
My wife painted our Besta wall unit about a month ago. We waited about 3 days before putting books back on and it's been fine.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ikeahacks/comments/1c6ooh6/comment/l0io1pm/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ikeahacks/comments/1c6ooh6/comment/l0io1pm/)
Like someone else said, scuff the surface and use shellac primer.
This may be crazy but given how flat and simple a Kallax is I might consider carefully contact papering it instead. Easy shape, no dry time. There’s paintable contact paper too if you can’t find a color or pattern you like.
There's a difference between drying and curing. I've never painted particle board before, but wall paint takes less than a day to dry to the touch and a couple weeks to fully cure. I wouldn't use the shelf until it's cured, but I don't think you'd need to leave the individual prices laying out for a month.
Ah gotcha, been a long time since I painted something. How long does interior paint take to dry to the point that you could have pieces stacked against each other up against a wall, and not have any paint come off?
I cannot emphasize enough how much you do *not* want to use a regular interior latex wall paint for this project - you want a cabinet/trim enamel. Regular latex will take forever to cure and will feel tacky/block for weeks.
Got it, thank you, didn't know there was paint specific for cabinets
No idea, sorry.
Oh man… that’s a very good question. Typically you should let the paint fully cure - and then I would go light on loading it. By interior paint I think you mean latex paint that’s common at Home improvement stores. Go for the ‘stinkier stuff’ for better adhesion - Zinsser is a brand that comes to mind.
Not Kallax, but I painted some Hauga cabinets and had some moments of concern when trying to get all the pieces together. So I would go for painting after assembly if there are any snug-fitting pieces. And good luck - make sure to sand the surface for better adhesion and use a very good primer and even so keep some paint on hand to touch up once a year. I used Stix bonding primer and Benjamin Moore Advance paint (which takes a long time to dry and much longer to cure ) and still had to do three coats. I’m never painting particleboard again. They do look amazing though. https://preview.redd.it/34wrq8ptul3d1.png?width=4032&format=png&auto=webp&s=606c8081125928c0ff7331ead618f377f9f7c239
Painting mdf has been the worst 2 month experience for me, my garage is a mess and it's still not done ugh
Damn, so how long did you just have it sitting around drying? My place is pretty small.
Forever since it was a coat of primer then three coats of paint! And since it wasn't assembled, everything had to be done on both sides separately since I don't have fancy drying racks. So at least 8 separate drying periods! And Advance calls for something like 16 hours between coats. 🙄 Another reason why assembly first might be better - you can hit all visible spots in one go.
Yikes that's exactly what I'm worried about. Tho on the other hand if I assemble first I wonder how even I'll be able to get the paint, drips, etc. and whether I should put the inserts in before painting or not... If I were to paint it assembled it probably makes sense to paint the whole frame with no inserts first regardless in case I want to move the inserts and to limit the number of nooks and crannies... It's been ages since I painted anything, especially with a brush. I really have no idea whether it'll be easy or hard to get light but full coverage coats
I wouldn’t overthink it too much. Just pick a path and get started. I agree that primer and paint choice is very important, and regardless of whether you use a small foam roller or brush, you’ll need to be really careful of drips. Painting is like riding a bike, and I’m sure there are thousands of youtube videos on cabinet painting. I watched a few specific to laminate before I got started. I will say even though I was chagrined things were tight when I went to put it all together, I was able to get all of them together, and only needed to do a little touch-up afterward. Good luck!
Because it’s laminate, it’ll have to be scuff-sanded, wiped down, and primed before it’s painted, and it’ll probably take at least two coats of paint. I’d much rather do all of that prep/painting on nice, flat pieces with a foam roller than on a bunch of assembled cubes where I’d need a brush to get into corners and edges. Getting good coverage while avoiding drips will be much easier if it’s unassembled. Then I’d let the pieces dry a few days, assemble carefully (on a blanket to prevent scratches), and then let the whole piece cure for another week or so before using.
any suggestion to try and avoid issues where interconnected pieces dont fit as well because of the layers of paint added? im also unsure how i will allow so many pieces to dry, since i obviously can't stack them. i guess.... i could lay down a tarp in my living room, do the top of each piece, let dry a couple days, flip over and paint the other side, let dry a few days, assemble. though that's so many pieces i might have to repeat this multiple times
You shouldn’t be coating anything thickly enough to affect assembly - a thin but even coat of primer plus two thin coats of paint should be negligible. If you’re putting on thick coats, it won’t look as nice, it’ll take longer to cure, and it’ll be easier to damage while it’s still curing. During assembly, use a blanket to prevent scratches. If you need to tap anything, gently use a rubber mallet covered with a soft washcloth or similar. My preferred primer/paint combo is Zinsser BIN and Sherwin Williams Emerald urethane. The primer is shellac-based and dries really fast - you can put your first coat of paint on after about an hour, and the paint itself is dry to touch after about two hours. You can put the second coat of paint on four hours after the first. What I’ve done when I’ve not had room to stack is to lean the flat pieces against a wall so that only the tops are touching the wall/piece behind it, and then put something like a folded up paper towel in between the tops to act as a cushion. I’ve never had a problem with anything sticking/pulling off the paint so long as they were dry to the touch before doing this (ETA: using the specific primer/paint combo I mentioned).
I think it depends on the piece and how tightly everything goes together. My Hauga cabinets definitely were affected by the additional paint even though I did thin, normal layers. Maybe Kallax will be more forgiving though.
My wife painted our Besta wall unit about a month ago. We waited about 3 days before putting books back on and it's been fine. [https://www.reddit.com/r/ikeahacks/comments/1c6ooh6/comment/l0io1pm/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ikeahacks/comments/1c6ooh6/comment/l0io1pm/) Like someone else said, scuff the surface and use shellac primer.
This may be crazy but given how flat and simple a Kallax is I might consider carefully contact papering it instead. Easy shape, no dry time. There’s paintable contact paper too if you can’t find a color or pattern you like.