FAQ

Painting kitchen cabinets in Canada costs roughly CAD $2,400 for a small kitchen, $3,900 for a typical 30-door kitchen and $5,400 for a large or two-tone kitchen, sprayed and installed.

Pricing is per opening, so you are not paying for square footage you do not have. The number covers degreasing, sanding, a dedicated bonding primer, two coats of catalysed 2K polyurethane, spraying the boxes on site, and reinstalling and adjusting every door. Grain filling on oak, new hardware and glass inserts are quoted separately.

Yes — substantially. Painting a typical kitchen costs $3,500–$5,500 against $18,000–$40,000 for new cabinets, and takes three to four days instead of four to eight weeks.

The trade-off is that paint changes colour, not structure or style. If your boxes are sound and you like the door shape and the layout, painting gives you most of the visual change for a fraction of the money. If you want different doors, refacing sits in between at roughly $9,000–$14,000.

Not if the preparation is done properly. Failures come from skipping degreasing or using wall-paint primer. We degrease, scuff-sand to 220 grit, use a dedicated bonding primer, then two coats of catalysed 2K polyurethane.

Catalysed 2K cures by chemical reaction rather than simply drying, so it reaches a hardness latex enamel never gets to. That is what stops it marking under a mug or sticking to itself where a door meets a frame. Our finish warranty is five years against adhesion failure, peeling and yellowing.

Oak yes, and we can grain-fill it for a smooth finish. Thermofoil and laminate only if the surface is completely sound — if it is already lifting or peeling, paint will not hold and we will say so.

Oak has open grain that shows through paint as texture. Some people like it; if you do not, grain filling before priming gives a flat, sprayed-MDF look. On thermofoil, the failure point is the adhesive under the foil, which paint cannot fix.

No. The doors leave for our booth on day one and the boxes are sprayed on site behind containment, so the kitchen is usable in the evenings apart from the day the boxes are coated.

Plan to empty the lower cabinets nearest the work and to keep pets out of the room during spraying. The coating is low-odour and we ventilate continuously, but it is still a work site for a few days.

Installed countertops in Canada typically run CAD $60–$135 per square foot. Engineered quartz averages $74–$96, granite $62–$71, and porcelain $112–$118, including template, fabrication, a standard edge, one sink cut-out and installation.

Price is driven by material first, then by edge profile, number of cut-outs and site conditions. A standard 10 ft × 2 ft L-shaped kitchen with an island runs roughly 55–70 square feet, so most Canadian kitchens land between $4,000 and $8,500 installed. Waterfall edges, mitred aprons and full-height backsplashes are the three add-ons that move the number most.

Most countertop projects are installed 7–10 business days after templating, and the on-site installation itself takes 3–5 hours for a typical kitchen.

The clock starts at templating, not at the quote. After the laser template is approved, fabrication takes 5–8 business days. Installation is a single visit — the old counter comes out, the new slab goes in, the sink is set and seams are polished. Plumbing is usually reconnected the same day or the next morning.

Quartz is better for low maintenance because it is non-porous and never needs sealing. Granite is better for heat tolerance and for buyers who want a unique natural slab. Both cost roughly the same installed in Canada.

Engineered quartz is about 90% ground stone bound in resin, so it resists staining from wine, coffee and citrus without sealing — but the resin can scorch above roughly 150 °C, so trivets are mandatory. Granite is quarried stone: heat tolerant, unique in every slab, and needs sealing about once a year to stay stain resistant.

Most kitchens need at least one seam because slabs are about 126 × 63 inches. Imperial places seams at sink cut-outs or inside corners and shows you the planned location before fabrication.

Seam visibility depends on the material more than the fabricator: busy, veined slabs hide seams well, while solid pale colours show them. We book-match veining across the seam wherever the slab allows, and bond with colour-matched epoxy tinted to the slab, not to a generic white.

Engineered quartz and porcelain never need sealing. Granite, marble and quartzite should be sealed on installation and re-sealed roughly once a year.

A simple test: drop a few beads of water on the stone and leave them for 15 minutes. If the stone darkens where the water sat, it is time to reseal. Sealing takes about 20 minutes with an impregnating sealer and a lint-free cloth.

Yes. Imperial installs on existing cabinets provided they are level within about 3 mm over 8 feet and structurally sound. We check this during templating.

Cabinets that are out of level can be shimmed during installation. Where a cabinet run cannot support a heavy 3 cm slab — for example over a dishwasher opening or a long seating overhang — we add plywood decking or steel flat-bar support, which we identify at templating rather than on install day.

Yes. Yes. Removal and disposal is offered as a line item and includes protecting cabinets and floors during tear-out.

If the old top is tiled or glued to a plywood substrate, removal takes longer and we will flag that at templating. We also coordinate plumbing disconnect and reconnect if you would rather not book a separate trade.

Imperial’s 15-year transferable warranty covers fabrication defects, seam separation and installation workmanship. Engineered quartz also carries the manufacturer’s own material warranty.

Excluded are impact chips, heat damage from placing hot cookware directly on quartz, etching of marble from acidic liquids, and damage caused by structural movement of the cabinets or building. The warranty transfers once to a new homeowner at no cost.

The visualizer is a design aid, not a colour-accurate proof. It shows realistic slab pattern, tone and contrast on your own kitchen photo, but screen colour and room lighting will shift the result — always confirm with a physical sample.

We recommend using it to narrow twenty options down to three, then ordering free samples of those three. Nothing beats putting a physical sample on the cabinet under your own kitchen lighting at night.

Yes. Imperial operates company-owned fabrication in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, and installs through vetted partner installers in Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada.

Lead times outside our own facilities are typically 2–4 business days longer because slabs ship from the nearest shop. Pricing is quoted delivered and installed, so freight is never a surprise line on the invoice.

Choose 3 cm for kitchen counters and islands — it needs no edge build-up and supports overhangs better. Use 2 cm for vanities, backsplashes and where a thin, modern profile is wanted.

A 2 cm slab can still read as thick if it is mitred to a 4 cm or 6 cm apron, which is common with porcelain. That mitre is a fabrication step, so it costs more than simply buying 3 cm material.

Use warm water with a pH-neutral dish soap and a soft cloth. Avoid bleach, ammonia, oven cleaner and abrasive pads on any stone or quartz surface.

For dried-on residue, lay a warm damp cloth over the spot for a few minutes and it will lift without scraping. Cutting boards protect both the knife and the polish, and trivets are non-negotiable on quartz.