FINE FINISHING PAINTING SERVICES
One of the most enjoyable and beautifying home improvements is to change the finish of your woodwork.  Minnesota Best Painting excels at the fine finishing work to make your woodwork stand out and bring value to your home.

We provide every type of fine finishing, including enameling, lacquering, antiquing, distressing, varnishing, staining, painting, of cabinets, trim, woodwork, and furniture.

Enameling - Enamel paint is a general term used for paint that dries to a very durable, hard finish. It is an excellent choice for painting pieces that will be used outdoors or will otherwise be subjected to heavy wear, such as doors, stairs, chairs, and trim. Enamel paint should not be confused with porcelain enamel (or "enamelware"), which is made from fired, powdered glass. Enamel paint is a more general term that refers only to the hardness of the finish, and can apply to both oil- and water-based paints. Learning how to work with enamel paint is a matter of knowing where it should be applied and how to apply it.

We will advise you if enamel paint is suited for your project. Because of its durable finish, enamel paint is well suited to areas that will be subjected to excessive wear. The paint is a good choice for wooden or metal furniture, both outdoors and indoors. It is also well suited to doors and areas of trim that might be subjected to repeated bumping or scraping. Because of its hard, usually glossy finish, enamel paint is also very easy to clean. This makes it ideal for applications like kitchen or bathroom trim. Enamel paint is not available in a matte finish. Therefore, it is not well suited for painting walls or other areas where a glossy sheen would be distracting or impractical.

Lacquering - Lacquer finishes have been used for centuries to give woodworking projects a tough, durable and water-resistant clear finish. Today's lacquers are available in both spray and brush-on styles, but both have the advantage of being among the fastest-drying of all woodworking finishes. Because of the similarity of the names, lacquer is often confused with shellac. The confusion often comes from the fact that shellac comes from the lac beetle, but lacquer does not. Instead, lacquer is derived from the resin of a specific tree commonly referred to as a varnish tree. This resin is harvested from the tree's sap, and is then refined and mixed with lacquer thinner to create the common woodworking finish. Lacquer is commonly used with some paints to give a strong, durable paint finish.

Antiquing - Antiquing adds a distinctive antique finish to your furniture, cabinets, and woodwork.  Whether it is a weathered look or crackle finish, Minnesota Best Painting has the right paints and painting tools to do the job right.  We create your heirlooms of the future.

Distressing - What's old is chic again. Achieving a distressed look on furniture and cabinets is popular today. In our grandmothers' day, if a piece of furniture or a picture frame was distressed, it meant it had been around for generations and most of the paint had worn off in areas that had been rubbed by hands or nicked by being moved too many times. Today, the distressed look is sought-after, and it can add character and style to many types of decor. Minnesota Best Painting lightly sands the piece, paint once or twice with multiple colors, sands to distress the finish and apply a finish.

Varnishing - A transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss sheens by the addition of "flatting" agents. Varnish has little or no color, is transparent, and has no added pigment, as opposed to paints or wood stains, which contain pigment and generally range from opaque to translucent. Varnishes are also applied over wood stains as a final step to achieve a film for gloss and protection.

Staining - A wood stain consists of a colorant suspended or dissolved in an agent or solvent. The suspension agent can be water, alcohol, petroleum distillate, or the actual finishing agent (shellac, lacquer, varnish, polyurethane, etc.). Colored or 'stained' finishes, like polyurethane, do not penetrate the pores of the wood to any significant degree and will disappear when the finish itself deteriorates or is removed intentionally. Minnesota Best Painting can change the stain color of your wood giving a whole new look to your kitchen or bath or woodwork throughout your home.

Painting - You might think aside from walking and maybe riding a bike, painting wood would be a close third in the "things that are really easy to do" category. This might be the case if the wood you are painting is attached to an old barn. When setting out to paint wood, you have a couple of options: do it well or do it sloppy. You should strive to do the best you can, so with a little patience and a good technique, you can paint wood as good as any professional or save yourself the hassle and hire Minnesota Best Painting to prep and prep and prep, paint the even strokes, then finish and finish and finish, leaving you and you family time to enjoy the beautiful result.

Cabinets – Are you looking to change your cabinet look?  There are so many choices.  Are you considering a white (or off-white) to create a light and clean look in a kitchen? Cabinets in shades of white are enduring and versatile, appearing in cottage, traditional, and even modern kitchens. Or perhaps a rich darker wood finish that is always in fashion. Perhaps you are envisioning a color for a unique and stylish look. Minnesota Best Painting can educate you on one finish or color vs. another. We will also show you on the best way to clean your new finish to maximize your investment.

Woodwork and Trim - Whether it's a quick cleaning or a complete strip-down, you can always count on Minnesota Best Paint to remedy a tired, old wood finish. We will advise you whether it is better to do a simple cleaning or if it is time to remove the existing coatings and get back to the original material, giving you the opportunity to change the color and finish.

Furniture - Painting wooden furniture is a way to give new life to an older chair or other type of wood piece. It is possible to paint, stain, distress, actually apply any fine finishing to furniture and adapt the piece to just about any color scheme.

Minnesota Best Painting fine finishing is a detailed process to ensure a lifelong beauty for your home.

• We prep the area for the painting project with drop cloths.
• Open the windows to allow proper ventilation.
• Remove the hardware from the furniture.
• Patch any chipped, holed, or pitted surfaces with wood filler.  This is a good time to fill holes if the hardware is going to be changed.
• Sandpaper the surface to remove any protective varnish or lacquer.
• Prime the surface so the finish to be applied will adhere evenly. We prime often-used surfaces extra think for added coverage.
• Sand the primed surface after it has dried.
• Paint with appropriate high quality tools for a flawless application and last for several years.
• Apply multiple coats as needed to achieve desired visual effect.
• Seal the surface with a lacquer or sealant to protect from nicks and scratches.  This adds a slight gloss.  The furniture piece should be allowed to dry completely before moving.