cabinet refacing vs new cabinets

14 years ago

I currently have wood kitchen cabinets that are 25+ years old. Need to update, but will not be doing significant remodeling. Suggestions?

Featured Answer

thegriers

14 years ago

Our house is just as old. We just finished re-modeling our kitchen. Ourselves. It turned out great and everybody says they'd never have known we didn't hire someone to do it. As far as the cabinets go because of the cost what we did was paint the boxes and ordered online new cabinet doors and drawer fronts unfinished, primed them then used a paint sprayer to paint them. If you order online be prepared to wait a little and also look for all wood. We added modern hardware and it was amazing. The cabinets looked brand new. Spraying them made them look professionally done. The doors and drawer fronts look great and like new cabinets now that they're all done. We put in a new tile back splash that really turned out great. If you look around enough you can find really cheap tiles that can make a great back splash and really make a big difference. Good luck.

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Comments (16)

Emily Hurley
14 years ago
I have cabinets of probably the same age. We thought about refacing, but when we got an estimate, it was almost as expensive (seemingly) as buying all new cabinets.

That said, if your cabinet boxes are in good shape and configured in a way you like, you may be better off refacing than starting from scratch. There may be more cost effective avenues than the one we looked at.

Our cabinets are painted, so luckily we ended up just dong some repainting to tide us over until it is time for a larger project.

Any pictures of yours you can share to get a better idea of what you are working with?
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PRO
Wild Development Design & Renovation
14 years ago
Where do you live? I have a great guy in the Phoenix area if you're interested
PRO
Reico Kitchen & Bath
14 years ago
Great suggestions above! Just compare costs before you do anything. As Emily mentions above, refacing can be near the cost of actually replacing. Good luck!
PRO
Ideal Kitchen Cabinet Refacing of Naples
14 years ago
Refacing is a good option if your boxes are in good shape, I always recommend the refacing if you could save some money, but sometimes is almost the same price as replacing with new cabinets, hope this helps!
youregorgeous
14 years ago
@Wild development: could you please post the name of the refacing person you have in phoenix? Cheers
PRO
Marie Hebson's interiorsBYDESIGN Inc.
14 years ago
Refacing is expensive sometimes even more than new cabinetry, depends upon how honest your cabinetry supplier is. You are also restricting yourself to the exact same foot print as you had before - which - depending upon the time the kitchen was designed, tends to not lend itself to modern conveniences such as recycling bins, dishwashers, corner lazy susans, custom pull-outs etc., etc. I always suggest if you want a quick change, then refinish/paint. If you want longevity, then replace.
PRO
Wild Development Design & Renovation
14 years ago
Integrity Custom Cabinets and Cabinet Refacing 602 790 5797....
decoenthusiaste
14 years ago
see rustoleumtransformations.com for one possibility
thegriers
14 years ago
As I said above, we ordered the new cabinet/drawer fronts online unfinished where you can get very low prices and did all the work ourselves. We did ours for drastically less than replacing. And they look like new. We kept the same layout and used an off white paint sprayed on with a paint sprayer, put on updated hardware and it turned out great.
PRO
Brickwood Builders, Inc.
14 years ago
We have found over the years that folks are just not happy with refacing. If you like your current layout, painting the existing boxes and putting on new doors and drawer fronts as thegriers describes above has worked better for us. If you then want a glaze, look for a highly qualified faux painter in the area to apply the glaze. Use new hinges and hardware to update the look. We don't recommend diy painting for most people as they tend not to spend the appropriate amount of time and effort in cleaning and prepping the existing cabinetry.
PRO
Budget My Build
12 years ago
If your considering painting the cabinets yourself, we have a blog that may be helpful.
http://budgetmybuild.co/remodeling/how-to-paint-kitchen-cabinet/
The hardware can make a big difference as well, here is a link to a blog that may also be helpful. http://budgetmybuild.co/kitchen-design/in-depth-kitchen-cabinet-hardware/
PRO
DAYORIS Doors / Panels
11 years ago
If you really like the cabinets current design than I would recommend to do refacing on them. Our company creates custom furniture but we also specialized in refacing doors, kitchens and much more. More information about our custom furniture or refacing services can be found over at http://www.dayoris.com.

Sincerely,
The DAYORIS Team
PRO
Dura Supreme Cabinetry
11 years ago
My best advice is, make sure to have a professional do the refacing job. We see a lot of homeowners DIY and the cabinet finish only lasts 1-5 years before pealing and scratching off. Then they have to purchase all new cabinetry because of the poor finish. It's best if you are going to refinish, to do it right. Mandi @ Dura
PRO
The Kitchen Company
10 years ago
You may have already made a decision or completed your project as this question was posted some time ago but if we can't be of help to you, hopefully we can provide some helpful information to homeowners having trouble making the same decision. We often get asked "should I reface or replace my cabinets?" and we always recommend entirely replacing the cabinets because it is a much better investment than refacing. The cost of new cabinets is usually about the same as the cost of the materials for refacing and replacing your old cabinets will give you the opportunity to rethink the kitchen design and create a more functional, up-to-date space. New cabinets can also last for decades and many cabinetry lines come with a limited lifetime warranty. For more information, check out our blog post on the topic: http://www.thekitchencompany.com/blog/should-i-reface-or-replace-my-kitchen-cabinets/
PRO
Jordons Cabinet Refacing
10 years ago
Cost for refacing and refinishing varies based on materials. New solid maple doors with a good custom finish and matching maple veneer for cabinet boxes costs about 4x more than thermofoil doors and laminate.

Cabinet refinishing using factory type finishes (dye stains, pigmented lacquers, glazes, CV topcoats) is a lot more expensive than spraying with an alkyd or acrylic paint.