Cabinets - replace or re-paint?

6 years ago

I'm sprucing up my laundry room with pretty blue paint (Berry Mojito from DE), getting new washer/dryer, moulding and new flooring. I want the two cabinets - a wall cabinet with 3 doors above the w/d and a floor to ceiling pantry/broom closet - in the room to remain white. I love their dimensions and they are in great shape overall except the broom closet bottom door doesn't shut very well anymore after about 30+ years in this old 1947 house. For the cabinet above the w/d you can't tell the doors aren't shutting properly. They have little push-button magnet closing mechanisms that don't operate anymore. The floor to ceiling broom closet/pantry bottom door, on the other hand, doesn't close well and it is obvious to see. It doesn't stay "stuck" in the door's inner contour as it should and it is usually slightly ajar.

Now my question: my contractor/painter immediately said without hesitation that I should replace both the cabinets. I assumed that they could be painted, given some new knobs, and be good to go with a little TLC given to the doors. I even found a YouTube video of how to add thin wood overlay to the face of plain cabinets like mine to make them shaker style, but my contractor said it would be better to buy new. So, I'm wondering what others think. I shopped around and it will be costly to buy two new cabinets and they a) have to be special ordered to get the dimensions I want since my tall pantry is 16" deep instead of the usual 12" (too shallow) or 24" (sticks out too far since it is across from an entry door) for pantry closets and the cabinet above the w/d is 18" deep instead of the standard 12" available in stock in the stores and b) probably won't be as well-built and solid as the ones I have now. A search for just finding a place to make new doors alone indicated it is very expensive and about the same price to just get all new cabinets. I don't care if the doors just sit flush against the cabinet openings when closed. I don't need them to have any fancy closing hardware. So, what do you think? Why would I replace them and not just beautify them? I could go tomorrow and buy two new cabinets off the shelf at a cabinet warehouse I found, but they would be less appealing to me depth-wise. And I asked my guy if he could reduce the depth of a broom closet I could buy in stock at the store from 24" deep to 18" deep and he wasn't positive about it. I always hear they don't make 'em like they used to, so what do I do? Is it a huge, tedious job to clean up/paint already hung cabinets and fix their doors? (Pics show original dingy laundry room with the old appliances)

Featured Answer

jhmarie

6 years ago

You could keep and paint the the present cabinet boxes and buy new doors. I had two broken doors in an old bathroom cabinet. I took them took to a local cabinet maker and asked for new doors that would fit the same space, and he made them unfinished (not painted or stained) so I could finish them myself to match the rest of the cabinet.

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Comments (8)

Kaelie Darby
6 years ago
I would say replace them. Even though keeping the old ones would probably save you some money, I think replacing them with new ones would be better because then you can have them customized just the way you want. Also new cabinets will probably be more durable and long lasting.
C M thanked Kaelie Darby
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
6 years ago
What would be the point of repainting something that does not function. Get new this is the perfect time to do so and in the bargain better storage too.As for broom closet I guess it depends on what you store there how deep it needs to be. Get base cabinets and hang them on the wall if you want deeper ones I have that and it is a PITA to get at the stuff in the back I would stay with 15” deep ones above the W/D. All I see in yours is a bunch of stuff that has no reason to be in a laundry room. I think you need to declutter and figure out exactly what you need for storage , Maybe a wider broom closet could take care of that.
apple_pie_order
6 years ago
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Keep what works for you. The pantry door may be warped. Check with a good straight yardstick or carpenter's square if you have one, and check to see if the pantry opening is still square, too (for example, earthquakes and land settling can make a house settle oddly). You can order a new partial overlay door from a local cabinetmaker. You may only need new hinges as they can get twisted and warped after years of not fitting right.
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J.A. Nessralla
6 years ago
My humble opinion is to paint & fix what you have. If you cannot fix the door (but it sounds like you definitely can give it a try!), then try working with the local hardware store (or a Lowes, Home Depot) to get doors cut using the older ones as a template. New construction will be custom, but it will be expensive & there will always be something that doesn't quite fit right. I painted cabinets that everyone told me to rip out & gut but now they love them (we painted with a pearl finish & gave the cabinets a nice shine). GOOD LUCK, it's going to be great!
katinparadise
6 years ago
Are the doors you currently have standard size? You might look at someplace like Cabinet Door World and price out some doors. Just guessing 4 doors at 18x30 and 1 at 18x60, I came up with an unfinished shaker door price of under $350.

Your current doors look to be plywood though, and I'm sure any competent carpenter could build you new ones for a reasonable price.
mainenell
6 years ago
Have new unfinished doors made. You could get any style you want and with new hardware could even have soft close hidden hinges.
raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
6 years ago
I had similar looking, 50+ year old, built in cabinets that the doors wouldn't close - didn't seem to fit in the opening, were lower on one side. A good close look revealed that the hinges were no longer positioned properly on the frame and were letting the doors sag.

I unscrewed the hinges from the frame and took the doors off, filled in the hinge holes with wood putty, and let that cure for a couple of days. Then, I set the doors into the openings (they fit!) and marked where the screws needed to be (where to drill the pilot hole). If I had had a helper, I would have just had her or him hold the door in position while I re-attached the hinge. That fixed the problem - perhaps your issue is the same?