Painting a former MDF cupboard door

[WolfOfBakerStreet]

Howdy,

I have a a kitchen cupboard door, the MDF plastic-like foil-wrapped whatever they are, like the photo below, and it (the MDF stuff) was cracked. I was unable to buy a straight replacement door, as nobody anywhere has the same size rails, so I've removed all the MDF and now it's just a wooden door. I want to paint it, as I think that could look OK, but I wondered if there is a special type of paint to use, to get it as close to looking like MDF as possible (glossy paint?) or if it's just a matter of painting it, and where I could go to get an exact colour match. I believe I've read B&Q or such will mix the paint for me right there? I have the leftover MDF so they could use that to get a match. All the cupboard doors in the kitchen are the same colour and style, so I want it to match as closely as possible.

 

[misterhelpful]

First off, what you are left with is an MDF door. The covering is just a vinyl type wrap which is applied to the door. (MDF is what the actual door is made of - Medium Density Fibreboard.)

As for getting a paint colour and finish to match, you will have a tricky job, as the colour matching is never 100% guaranteed and you won't really know how close it is until the door is fully finished and dry.
Most are a high gloss finish so, if that's what yours is, that's the type of finish paint you will need (most likely oil based to get the highest sheen), but getting a great finish will require some elbow grease. Obviously a satin finish would require a satin finish paint, etc.

You will need to prime the MDF with a suitable primer, then undercoat, and then you will probably need a couple of topcoats of the gloss/satin. The important part is to make sure you lightly sand between each and every coat, in order to get the smoothest possible finish, with a very fine wet and dry paper used before the final coat.

Spraying is an option, but for just one door would be a lot of effort. It could be worthwhile asking at your local garage, if they have a spray shop, whether they will do the door for you. Some will do it if they have the time, and will achieve a much better finish than anyone could get with a brush/roller.

 

[WolfOfBakerStreet]

Wow, thanks. Really helpful I think I'll look in to finding someone that could spray it for me. I intensely hate even mild DIY

 

[WolfOfBakerStreet]

This darn door is becoming the bane of my very existence

Not gonna go down the spraying route, as the one quote I've got for it so far was £120, not including the cost of me sending the door to the place in London that would do it and return cost. Painting it sounds like a massive hassle, with no guarantee it'll look any good when it's done. So I'm probably just gonna buy five new doors to match, as the door in question is a top cupboard door, and I'll obviously need to match all the top ones. All the bottom cupboard doors will have different sized rails, but be the same colour and style doors as the one's that I'm going to buy, my question is, is this something people do, or will it look not so good? I'm renting the house I'm in, so don't want to replace the entire kitchen on principle. The photo shows what I mean, the top doors will be different to bottom.