Water-Damaged Kitchen Renovation
Isn’t water awful? Disaster. Ruins Six Nations rugby matches (I wish the Aviva had a roof) and is a demon for kitchens. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t let the stuff anywhere near a kitchen. Far too much chance of damage, if you ask me.
I’m not talking about burst pipes and flooding here. We all understand it’s not good for the kitchen if you’re knee deep in water. That’s obvious. (Though the way my kids splash about the place with water, maybe it isn’t. Note to self: blanket ban on water pistol fights in the house.)
No—I’m talking about the few drops of spilled water when you’re working away at your sink, or when you’re cleaning. That’s the bad stuff: the stuff you pay no heed to. It can accumulate and seep into unseen cracks and crannies, where over time it can do real damage to the paint of your kitchen fittings.
I’ve been tackling exactly this kind of damage to a client’s kitchen this month. It was the kitchen company itself who asked me to investigate why the paint was peeling and repair it.
BEFORE: no mastic had been applied and the water damage is clear.
(The colour difference is due to the different lighting conditions when the pictures were taken.)
AFTER: I made sure to apply mastic to prevent the water damage from happening again.
Repainting a water-damaged kitchen
When I got there, I was greeted by a terrible sight. Paint was flaking off surfaces so badly, it looked like someone had let off a machine gun in the kitchen. It rocked me to my core. Some sights you just can’t shake. They stay with you in your nightmares forever. I try to talk to my wife about it, but she doesn’t get it. Nobody does, unless you’re in the business. It’s the price we pay as kitchen painters: the last line of defence between civilians and peeling kitchen paint.
I could see straightaway what the problem was. There was no mastic to seal the gaps where the kitchen units connected with other surfaces, such as the counter top. Over time, water had built up and soaked into the wood, drip by dreadful drip, eventually getting under the paint and separating it.
Water had also seeped into some of the joints between the wood making up cabinets and doors. The effect was no less devastating. More flake than you get on a 99 ice cream cone.
BEFORE: water-damaged doors in the kitchen by the sink.
AFTER: All better. (The colour difference is due to the different lighting conditions when the pictures were taken.)
The benefits of hand painting a kitchen
This can happen with a spray-painted kitchen, which this one was.
Spray painting happens at the factory. That’s only sensible. Can you imagine the mess if you spray painted after it had been installed in your home? (Note to self: add spray paint to the list of things the kids are not allowed to have.)
Because a spray-painted kitchen is fitted after it has been painted, the gaps between components aren’t sealed. When you hand paint a kitchen, they are. I meticulously fill any gaps so you don’t get what we call “shadow lines”, black lines where components meet but aren’t close enough to create an even, closed surface. So you get shadows. I do this because it looks much better when you eliminate the shadow lines. It also seals any gaps, preventing water from getting in and causing mischief.
If you notice flaking in your kitchen, check for gaps where water might have crept in. And ring me. I can help return your kitchen to its former glory. (A quick advertisement there: this post was brought to you by Lee Reeve, hand painter of kitchens.)
The finished kitchen.