How a kitchen respray works, step by step

What happens from the first photo to the refitted doors, where each part gets sprayed, what you'll be asked to do, and what to ask before you book.

Updated 28 October 2026 · The Kitchen Resprayer

The short answer

A respray runs in much the same order everywhere: a quote, colour samples, booking, masking, spraying, refitting and a walk-through before you pay the balance.

What changes from firm to firm is where the doors are sprayed, how long you're without the kitchen (from a day to about ten), and what they'll ask you to do beforehand.

The job, stage by stage

1. The quote

From photos, a video call or a visit. Some firms quote from photos alone; Revamp says a visit is needed to be accurate; Colourhaus surveys first and fixes the quote in writing within 48 hours.

2. Colour samples

Colourhaus brings sprayed samples in each sheen to see in your own light; Spray Kitchen Elite offers test panels or colour cards. Choosing the colour: cabinet colours that won't date.

3. Booking

AP Sprayers says slots are usually 2 to 4 weeks out. Expect a booking fee or deposit (below), and ask for start and finish dates in writing.

4. Before day one

What you'll be asked to do varies a lot, from emptying every cupboard to nothing at all (see below).

5. Day one

Doors, drawers and handles are numbered so everything goes back where it came from, then the room is masked: floor film, appliances sheeted, worktops and tiles papered. One firm says masking alone takes 5 to 6 hours.

6. Spraying

Preparation first, then primer and two or more coats. Doors go to a workshop or are sprayed on site; end panels, plinths, cornice and carcass fronts are sprayed in place. Cupboard insides usually are not.

7. Refit

Doors go back in their original order, hinges are adjusted so they sit flush, and handles are refitted or redrilled. Spray Kitchen Elite says it tests soft-close too.

8. Walk-through

Colourhaus checks every surface with you before the balance is due; several others do a walk-through or sign-off against a checklist.

9. Aftercare

Firms say leave it 24 to 36 hours before use; Which? says paint takes about three weeks to cure fully. Some leave an aftercare sheet and touch-up paint. More on how long a respray lasts.

Three ways firms do it

Model	How it works	What firms say about it
On site only	Everything sprayed in your kitchen	SKR Specialists: taking a kitchen away "would cost thousands". Koolcreations lists limited access to the kitchen during the job as the downside
Doors away, fixed parts on site	Doors and drawer fronts to a workshop; panels, plinths and cornice in place	The most common model among the firms read. Ultimate Decor: "You simply cannot achieve the same result spraying doors in situ"
Workshop only	Doors and loose parts collected, sprayed and returned	The Kitchen Respray Factory's standard service; removal, refitting and on-site spraying of fixed units cost extra

Each firm's own description, read 28 October 2026. AP Sprayers adds that spraying the doors on site instead costs less, if you have the space.

We take the doors and drawer fronts away to be sprayed, spray the fixed parts in your kitchen, and bring the doors back to refit.

How long it takes, firm by firm

Firm	Model	Whole job	Kitchen out of use
SKR Specialists	On site	Usually within the day	24 hours to harden
We Spray uPVC	On site	1 to 3 days	While spraying
Complete Spraying Solutions	On site	1 to 2 days	n/a
Koolcreations	On site	Typically 3 days (2 to 5)	Limited access on site
Matt Finish	Doors away	Within one working week	1 to 2 days
Revamp Kitchen Resprays	Doors away	2 to 3 days on site	Doors back about a week later
Colourhaus	Doors away	3 to 5 working days	n/a
AP Sprayers	Doors away	2 to 3 days small, 3 to 4 medium, 4 to 7+ large	n/a
Ultimate Decor	Doors away	About 5 days	2 to 3 days core spraying
Spray Vision	Doors away	5 days	Doors away about two nights
Spray Kitchen Cabinets	Doors away	Most within 5 working days	n/a
ColourMy	Mostly workshop	3 to 10 days start to finish	n/a

Timings as the firms themselves publish them, checked on 28 October 2026. They are not an average: get your own firm's dates in writing.

What you'll be asked to do (firms disagree)

Emptying cupboards

SKR, We Spray uPVC and Complete Spraying Solutions ask for cupboards and worktops to be emptied. Koolcreations says drawers only. Ultimate Decor says the contents stay where they are. AP Sprayers says take out what you will need, because masked cupboards are hard to get into.

Cooking

ColourMy masks the hob, sink and oven last so you can cook after the team leaves. Ultimate Decor and AP Sprayers say the kitchen can't be used for cooking while the work is under way.

Children and pets

We Spray uPVC says keep children and pets away or upstairs. Spray Vision says its water-based on-site coating is safe with children and pets in the next room. Ask what is sprayed in your home.

Other trades

kitchenrespraying.co.uk says paint walls and ceilings after (masking tape can pull paint) and fit a new worktop before. Dee Valley says worktops or tiles can go in while the doors are away.

Handles

We Spray uPVC asks you to fill and redrill for different-sized handles before it arrives; Matt Finish, Revamp and Spray Vision do it themselves. Ask who does it.

Heating and access

SKR asks for the heating on an hour before and two hours after, and doors that rub to be adjusted first.

Fumes and extraction

Spray Vision sprays its two-pack paints only in its extracted workshop "because of the smell", and uses a water-based coating in the home. Ultimate Decor says odour from water-based products is minimal compared with solvent-based ones, but spraying still produces some airborne particles and vapour, managed with ventilation. ColourMy uses an extraction fan that changes the air at least 18 times an hour.

HSE says spraying two-pack isocyanate paints is one of the main causes of occupational asthma in the UK and belongs in extraction with air-fed breathing apparatus. So ask which coating goes on where: what is sprayed in the workshop and what is sprayed in your home.

Booking fees, deposits and your rights

Published terms vary. AP Sprayers charges a £100 booking fee (taken off the final invoice), 50% about a week before for materials and 50% when you're satisfied. Colourhaus takes 50% to secure dates and the balance after you sign off. Revamp asks for a £150 booking fee.

Which? says paying part of the cost, even just a deposit, on a credit card brings Section 75 protection for work costing over £100 and up to £30,000. Under the Consumer Rights Act a service must be done with reasonable care and skill; if it falls short you can ask for it to be put right at no extra cost, or for money off.

Questions to ask before you book

Stage	Ask
Quote	Is it from photos or a visit, and is the price fixed?
Colour	Can I see a sprayed sample in my own light?
Payment	Booking fee, deposit, and when is the balance due?
Where	What goes to the workshop, what is sprayed here, and in what coating?
Insides	Are the cupboard insides masked or sprayed?
Before	Do I empty the cupboards, and can I cook during the job?
Refit	Who refits, adjusts the hinges and redrills handles?
Finish	Is there a walk-through before I pay the balance?
After	Will I get touch-up paint, an aftercare sheet and the guarantee in writing?

For what a quote should itemise, see what a kitchen respray costs.

Where this comes from

All read 28 October 2026. Firms change their prices and terms; check the current position with them.

Common questions

It depends on the firm and how it works. Published figures run from a single day for some firms that spray everything on site, through 3 to 5 working days for many that take the doors away, to 3 to 10 days start to finish at one mostly-workshop firm.

Firms disagree. Some ask you to empty every cupboard and drawer, some only the drawers, and some say the contents can stay where they are. Ask your firm, and take out anything you'll need while the units are masked.

Again, it depends on the firm. Some mask the hob, sink and oven last so you can cook in the evenings; others say the kitchen can't be used for cooking while spraying is under way and to plan a few days of other arrangements.

Ask what will be sprayed in your home and in what. One firm sprays two-pack paints only in its extracted workshop because of the smell, another uses an extraction fan on site, and firms differ on whether children and pets should be kept away. No UK health source read addresses it directly.

Most firms take the doors and drawer fronts away to a workshop and spray the fixed parts in place; some spray everything on site; at least one sprays only in its factory. Each has its trade-offs, set out on this page.

Terms vary: published examples run from a £100 or £150 booking fee to 50% up front, with the balance after you sign off. Which? says paying part, even just a deposit, on a credit card brings Section 75 protection for work costing £100 to £30,000.

What a kitchen respray costs

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