poor finish on new bespoke kitchen

[muppetmommeh]

Hi. I'm hoping for some advice about how picky I can be with my kitchen company. I'm having a new bespoke painted kitchen fitted atm, and it looks lovely, but almost every cabinet door or drawer front already has a little chip or scratch in the paint - created by either the fitter, the granite fitter, the electricians, or plumbers. This doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the durability of the finish. Apparently the scratches will be touched up in the final snagging visit but I am wondering whether to ask to have them all re-sprayed with another coat. Also the inside surfaces of the cabinet doors have not been finished in the same smooth surface and do not feel 'wipe clean' - is this usual? Thanks for any advice - my OH is at sea and I am feeling stressed about accepting poor workmanship/being an awkward customer.

I would ask for it all to be taken out. A kitchen should never scratch or chip that easily and I certainly wouldn't want a painted one. The steam from cooking or the kettle will eventually cause the paint to bubble and crack.

Plenty of people have painted kitchens. Do the company who are supplying it have a showroom? What is the quality of finish in their showroom? If you don't feel it is as you expected it to be then do tell them you are disappointed and ask them to put it right.

We had a painted chip installed last year and it didn't chip at all during the installation process. I did chip the inside of one if the drawers a few months later but the touch up paint worked well. That is the only chip that has happened in just over a year. I would be a bit concerned about the quality of your paint if it has chipped so much already.

Oops kitchen not chip!

FWIW we had an IKEA kitchen fitted recently and there was a tiny ding on the side of one door. You can't even see it as it's on the inside behind the hinge.

IKEA sent out a whole new door and arranged a convenient time to replace it at their cost. I'd expect a bespoke kitchen to a) be more durable b) have less cack handed fitters and C) be sorted instantly.

We had this problem and complained to the kitchen company. They investigated and admitted that the doors had been painted without a primer as an experiment. They ended up replacing all of the doors etc at their own cost. I would be interested to know which kitchen company you've used, and it's definitely worthwhile contacting them. Our new doors have no chips at all, there is a huge difference in the paintwork.

yes it doesn't sound good, a touch up wont fix the fact that the paint chips easily. And you will probably end up knocking the kitchen almost as much as the workmen did during normal use.
what paint did they use? Ive been looking into kitchen paints and people seem to say that the FB ones don't hold up well any more.