Expert: Eileen Cronk - 2/17/2010

Question
Hi..I painted our kitchen cabinets with a general paint for kitchens bought at Walmart, then put two coats of a polyurethane-clear satin to protect it. I didn't sand before because I read that if your cabinets don't have a glossy finish theres no need. I just washed them down with TSP first. The lower cabinets are fine..but they are a darker color. The upper cabinets are white and were fine the first couple of weeks, then we started seeing yellow streaks all over them. What did I do wrong and is there an easy fix? Thank You

Answer
Hi Kim
Sorry this has happened.
You are experiencing bleed through.
What you did wrong was not applying a primer that prevents this.
There is no easy fix. You must sand, apply a primer like "Kilz" which prevents this bleed through of the underlying surface, then repaint and clear coat.
Make sure you use a waterbased poly as oil based poly will turn yellow over time.
This is a very common thing that has happened.
Sorry not better news.
Regards
Eileen