Refinishing the existing cabinets (part 1) - stripping the paint and varnish

Our existing cabinets are solid wood, so I decided to refinish them instead of purchasing new cabinets. I estimated that this would save us around $5 ,000 - 7,000. It would require a little bit of work (stipping paint, sanding, installing new hardware, etc.), but it seemed to be well worth the cost savings. The first step was to strip all of the existing paint and varnish off the cabinets. It took me about 2 weeks (I have a full time job and can usually only work nights and weekends on this), and I did learn a lot along the way. Here is my advise for stripping cabinets:

Choose a good paint stripper

I can't stress this enough. Do not attempt to save a couple bucks by buying a cheap paint stripper. You will save a lot of time and energy in the long run and it is worth the extra $20 - $30 that you'll end up spending. With that said, the absolute best paint and varnish stripper I found was the Citristrip Safer Paint & Varnish Stripping Gel from Home Depot. Not only does it work brilliantly, but it is Safe for Indoor Use, contains no harsh fumes, easily strips multiple layers, and is biodegradable. I do have a bit of advice before using it though. The directions say "apply and wait 30min to 24hrs before removing". I tried waiting about 1 hour and the gel did strip some paint, but it was tough to remove and required some very heavy scraping. The next day I tried to wait the full 24hrs, hopefully allowing the gel to soak through. Wow, what a difference! The paint (all four layers that were on my cabinets) came off like butter. There was literally no effort to remove it. And, some of this paint was on for over 30 years. Another word of advice - do not buy the Citristrip Aerosol spray. The aeosol spray surprisingly does not have the same stripping power as the gel. I went through 5 of the 1/2 gallon containers to strip 12 wall cabinets and doors and 8 base cabinets and doors. TOTAL COST: $97.35 (at $19.47 each)

Get a workbench

When I first took off all the cabinet doors and drawers so I could strip them, I didn't have a workbench that I could use to help me with the job. I made the mistake of trying to lay the doors and drawers on my garage floor to apply the stripper and scrape the paint. This was a royal pain in the butt, but I didn't want to fork over $300 for a workbench. So, I did a little bit of research on the internet and found that I could build my own bench for around $20! I actually built 2 to help with this job. Check it out for yourself at hammerzone.com - A Cheap And Sturdy Work BenchFor About $20. I not only saved time and stress while stripping my cabinet doors, but I now have 2 workbenches for future projects. TOTAL COST: $58.00