A painter is refinishing a set of oak kitchen cabinets.

He missed proper surface preparation for the specific substrate and environment, specifically:

1. Inadequate Degreasing: Dish soap leaves a surfactant residue that prevents adhesion. Near a stove, you have polymerized cooking oils (acrylic/polymer chains) that require a solvent wipe (denatured alcohol, acetone, or TSP substitute) followed by a clean water rinse and dry rag. "Clean" means zero residue.
2. No Primer on Bare/Factory Oak: Oak has high tannin content and open pores. Waterborne alkyd raises grain and pulls tannins. You need a stain-blocking, adhesion-promoting primer (shellac-based like B-I-N, or waterborne bonding primer like STIX/Extreme Bond) to seal tannins and bridge the glossy factory finish to the topcoat.
3. Insufficient Mechanical Profile: 220-grit on a hard, slick factory conversion varnish/catalyzed lacquer is too fine. You need 120–150 grit to create a mechanical "tooth" (anchor pattern) for the primer to lock into.
4. Recoat Window Violation: If he sprayed the second coat outside the manufacturer’s recoat window (usually 1–4 hrs or after 24+ hrs for waterborne alkyds), intercoat adhesion fails.

The Fix: Strip the peeling doors. Clean with TSP or Krud Kutter + Scotch-Brite pad, rinse thoroughly. Sand 120–150 grit. Vacuum/tack. Prime with shellac-based (B-I-N) or waterborne bonding primer. Sand primer 220–320. Topcoat 2 coats waterborne alkyd per spec.

Ref: PDCA P18 (Surface Prep), ASTM D6386 (Adhesion), Manufacturer TDS for specific recoat windows.

He missed proper surface preparation and priming — specifically, removing existing finish and applying a bonding primer before topcoating.

Oak cabinets typically have a factory finish (often lacquer, polyurethane, or catalyzed varnish) that is non-porous and slick. Degreasing with dish soap removes oils but does not remove or etch the existing finish. Scuffing with 220-grit sandpaper is insufficient to create adequate mechanical adhesion on a hard, cured film — especially on vertical surfaces near heat (stove), where thermal cycling accelerates failure.

Waterborne alkyd enamels, while durable, require a properly prepared substrate. Without removing the glossy factory finish or using an adhesion-promoting primer, the paint only sits on top — leading to interfacial failure (peeling in sheets), especially where heat and humidity fluctuate.

What he should have done:

1. Strip or heavily sand the existing finish to bare wood or a uniformly dull surface (use 120–150 grit, then finish with 220).
2. Clean thoroughly with a tack cloth or denatured alcohol to remove dust.
3. Apply a high-adhesion primer designed for slick surfaces — e.g., a shellac-based primer (Zinsser BIN) or a bonding acrylic primer (like Gripper or Extreme Bond). These penetrate and seal while providing tooth for topcoats.
4. Then apply the waterborne alkyd enamel per manufacturer’s recoat times.

Code/Standard Reference: While not a structural code issue, this violates ASTM D4236 (labeling of hazardous art materials) implications for proper use and manufacturer’s product data sheets (PDS), which universally require proper surface prep. Failure to follow PDS voids warranty and leads to premature failure.

Bottom line: No primer on a slick, finished surface = guaranteed peeling. This is a prep failure, not a paint flaw. Recommend stripping, priming, and recoating — or consult a professional finisher for cabinet-grade results.