Questions
The ones customers actually ask, answered properly. If yours is not here, the estimator is usually a faster route than a phone call anyway.
The finish
- What is 2PAC painting?
- 2PAC (also written 2K or two-pack) is a paint system where a base component is mixed with a hardener immediately before spraying. The two react and cure chemically rather than simply drying. On cabinetry that gives a hard, washable, chemical-resistant finish that survives daily handling, cleaning products and the steam coming off a dishwasher in a way single-pack paint does not.
- What does Coastal 2PAC spray?
- Joinery and cabinetry. Kitchen, laundry, bathroom and wardrobe doors, drawer fronts, flat and end panels, routed and V groove profiles, scalloped and piped fronts, skirting boards, bulkheads, cornices, constructed pieces, and clear finishing over timber veneer.
- Should I choose satin or gloss?
- Satin for most kitchens. It spreads light across a broad band, so fingerprints and smears do not announce themselves, and it is more forgiving across a long run of doors. Gloss returns a sharp reflection, which looks superb and shows every imperfection underneath it: it is a feature finish rather than a default.
- Why do darker colours cost more?
- Darker colours run over a translucent base mix rather than a white one, and they need more material to reach an even depth of colour. The price list carries a loading of $10 per square metre for darker colours and $20 for black satin and gloss, on top of the flat panel rate.
The process
- Why does preparation affect the cost so much?
- A two-pack finish magnifies whatever is under it. Sanding scratches, unsealed MDF edges and old filler all telegraph through the sheen. Most of the hours in any job go into preparing the board: spraying is the short part. Two doors that look identical in a photograph can differ by a day of preparation.
- What surfaces can be sprayed?
- MDF raw or primed, melamine and laminate, timber veneer, solid timber, machined and routed board, and doors that have been 2PAC finished before. Each needs a different preparation and primer. Laminate or vinyl wrap that has already started lifting is the one worth sending photos of first.
- Do you pick up and deliver?
- Yes: the published price includes pick up and return delivery. Doors and panels are collected from you, finished at the workshop in Molendinar, and delivered back wrapped.
- Do the doors get sprayed at my house?
- No. Everything is sprayed in a controlled booth at the workshop. That is the whole point: dust, temperature and cure are controlled in a way they simply cannot be on site, and two-pack needs that control to reach the finish it is capable of.
Kitchens
- Can you respray my kitchen without replacing it?
- That is the usual reason people call. The doors, drawer fronts and panels come off and come to the workshop; the carcasses stay in your house. You get a different kitchen for a fraction of the cost of a new one, and you keep a working sink and fridge the whole time.
- Can you spray melamine or laminate doors?
- Generally yes: it is a preparation question rather than a paint question. Where a laminate or vinyl wrap has already started lifting from the board, we need to see photos first, because sometimes the honest answer is that the door has had its life.
- My doors are chipped or swollen. Can they be saved?
- Chips, dents and hardware holes usually fill and sand back cleanly, and the price list carries a bog and fill repair minimum for that. Water damage is the one that sometimes cannot be saved: MDF that has swollen has changed shape permanently. Send photos and we will tell you which it is.
Colour
- Can you match my existing colour?
- Usually. Best case you have the paint code. Next best is a physical sample we can put under booth light: an existing door, a drawer front, an offcut. Matching from a photograph alone is the least reliable, because both your camera and your screen shift the colour. There is a $50 colour match fee on the price list.
- Is white hard to match?
- Whites are the hardest, not the easiest. There are dozens of them and they shift under different light, so a white that matches in the workshop can look wrong in your kitchen. If you are extending an existing kitchen, bring us a real door rather than a code from an old invoice.
Profiles
- Why do routed and profiled doors cost more per square metre?
- Because a square metre of routed door is not a square metre of flat door. Profiles take more passes, lighter ones, and more time getting into internal corners without filling them in. The price list separates flat panels, routed profiles, V groove and scalloped work for exactly that reason.
- Will my V grooves or routing lose their shape?
- Not if the film build is kept even. Too much material in a cut turns a V into a U and softens the shoulders of a routed shaker. The technique is to build on the face and stay light in the detail, then check it by sighting along the run rather than looking at it square on.
Pricing and estimates
- How much does 2PAC spraying cost?
- The published rates start at $100 per square metre for satin on flat panels and $110 for gloss, with loadings for darker colours and black. Routed profiles start at $150, V groove is $130 and scalloped, piped or crenelated work starts at $220. Skirting, bulkheads and cornices are $45 per linear metre, and sections 80mm and below are $24. The full price list is on this site.
- How do I get an estimate?
- Use the Smart Job Estimator on this site. It walks through what you have, what needs doing, the material, its condition, the finish and profile you want, and the size or quantity, then asks for photos. It returns an indicative range and the likely process. From there it goes to the workshop for a human to review.
- Can I upload photos for a quote?
- Yes: up to ten, straight from your phone camera. The most useful set is: the whole run of doors, any damage, close-ups of the worst of it, the existing finish, and the edges. Photos are the single biggest factor in how accurate an estimate can be.
- Is the estimate a quote?
- No. It is indicative only. It is generated from the information and photographs you supply, and photographs do not show everything: a soft corner, an edge that has started lifting, or old filler under the coating. Final pricing is confirmed by Coastal 2PAC after the job has been reviewed or inspected.
Show us
the doors.
Nine questions and up to ten photos. You get the likely process, the rate lines it falls under and an indicative range: then it goes to the workshop for a human to look at properly.
Estimates are indicative only, worked against our published rates. Final pricing is confirmed by Coastal 2PAC after the job has been inspected or reviewed.
- 01What are we working onKitchen, robe, doors, panels, trim
- 02What needs doingNew, respray, repair, clear over veneer
- 03Surface and conditionMDF, melamine, veneer, and what state it is in
- 04Finish and profileSatin or gloss, flat or routed: the rate follows this
- 05SizeA band, or real measurements if you have them
- 06Photos and the result you wantUp to ten, then in your own words