"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message
...
In article , "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

Get ready to spend very little money, but more time than you want.

I'd go over the surface with some medium-fine sandpaper, vacuum the
bejeezus
out of it to eliminate dust, spray on some primer, and them spray on a
coat
of HIGH GLOSS ENAMEL. What you want is something smooth, snag-free and
easy
to wipe with a sponge.

Yeah, I had a feeling folks would go for gloss enamel. I hoped to
avoid the 1-2 weeks smell of new enamel. I really don't want to
spray either but I can think about it. I'll have to make that
decision quickly -- if I'm going to spray, I had better do it
before I refinish the frames.

As for the sanding... I've refinished a stack of these cabinets,
taking off the old poly, sanding sealer (I think) and stain to
get back to clean wood. Lots of molding too. Taking care of the
MDF inside walls will be a walk in the park in comparison ;-)

The only reason for the sanding is not to achieve perfection, but to
eliminate what I imagine to be a grainy surface that'll annoy you for the
next 20 years. I think you know what I mean.

As far as the smell, is this a bathroom that's used daily for showers? If
not, you should be beyond the smell in a few days. Certainly not the 24 hour
lie on the paint container, but not 2 weeks, either.