Cabinet refacing is a kitchen remodeling method that updates the appearance of your cabinets without replacing the cabinet boxes. New doors, drawer fronts, and hardwood refacing material are installed to create the look of brand-new cabinetry at a lower cost and with less disruption than a full kitchen remodel.
Kitchen Remodel Options
At its core, cabinet refacing is an alternative to traditional kitchen remodeling methods. We are all familiar with the main two: full kitchen remodel and painting cabinets.
A full kitchen remodel involves a much longer time frame than refacing. For us, the average full remodel takes a minimum of 8 weeks. It involves permits, loud and disruptive demolition, crews moving in and out of your home, and comes at a higher price tag than other methods. Typically, $45,000 is the least amount we can do a turn key remodel for in the Quad Cities. And that only accounts for small kitchens with very basic layouts.
The other well-known alternative, painting your cabinets, is the opposite of a full remodel. Often used to update your kitchen at minimal cost. This is a great method for quick flips, homeowners on a tight budget, or homeowners that simply can’t justify spending more than about $10,000 on their kitchen (for whatever reason).
Cabinet refacing is the middle ground between these two kitchen remodel methods. Quad Cities homeowners get benefits that are closer to the final results of a full remodel
– New door and drawer front style
-Completely new cabinet finish (painted OR stained)
-Soft close doors and drawers
-Options to add organizers
-Minor layout modifications (replacing a few cabinets or even adding an island/peninsula)
Yet they also get a price tag that skews closer to painting their cabinets. Most refacing projects land between $10,000-$25,000.
The other great advantage of cabinet refacing is that you can also scale the project up or down according to your needs. These additional items can be included or left out of your project:
-Countertop replacement
-Under cabinet lighting
-Backsplash
Because these items can be done a la carte, your transformation is scalable to your needs. If your counters are in great shape, you can leave them in place during a cabinet refacing project.
How Does Cabinet Refacing Work?
You may be asking yourself: “So how does this cabinet refacing thing work?”
Well the answer is simpler than you might think. The overall idea of cabinet refacing is that you reuse your existing cabinets. You don’t NEED to change the configuration of your kitchen, just the appearance.
We start by removing the doors and drawer fronts on your cabinets. So your kitchen just looks like boxes without doors.
Once those are removed, we apply ¼” hardwood to the frames/sides of the cabinets. We use ¼” thick hardwoods on the frames because they are extremely durable (more on that later).
(View our supplier’s website here)
Finally, we install your new doors and drawer fronts that match the finish of the hardwoods we applied to the face frames. And that’s it – your kitchen looks like you installed brand new cabinets but really we just applied new FACES to the cabinets. That’s why we call it Re-Facing!
Aside from saving you on the cost and hassle of a full remodel, cabinet refacing also saves your time. Most cabinet refacing projects can be completed in 5 days or less.
That’s why we love this method (and our customers do too).
You get the best of both remodeling methods:
– Complete transformation and customization of a full kitchen remodel
-Cost and time savings offered by painting.
How Much Does it Cost?
Cabinet refacing is truly the middle ground between painting and a full remodel.
And the pricing follows suite.
Most cabinet refacing projects cost between $10,000 and $25,000. Now this applies to the “refacing only” project style. As in, were only changing the cabinet appearance, not countertops, or backsplash.
In our experience, most FULL refacing projects (that include those aforementioned upgrades) start around $35,000 and have a top line around $50,000.
If you want to get a ballpark cost for your kitchen, use our calculator here.
So what drives the cost up or down in a cabinet refacing project? These are the top 4:
- The number of doors and drawer fronts.
- All of your new doors and drawer fronts have to be built from scratch. The wood species, stain or paint color, and door profile/shape are all things that you get to choose. It’s only natural that the more doors and drawer fronts you have, the higher investment will be. There are no “stock” options for cabinet doors. They all have to be ordered and made to the 1/16th of an inch to make sure they perfectly fit your kitchen
- All of your new doors and drawer fronts have to be built from scratch. The wood species, stain or paint color, and door profile/shape are all things that you get to choose. It’s only natural that the more doors and drawer fronts you have, the higher investment will be. There are no “stock” options for cabinet doors. They all have to be ordered and made to the 1/16th of an inch to make sure they perfectly fit your kitchen
- Drawer boxes and organizers
- In our projects we see about a 50/50 split of customers that need their drawer boxes replaced and those that don’t. Drawer boxes are one of those hidden workhorses in your kitchen that go unnoticed. Until they go wrong. If your drawer boxes are hard to open, peeling, or falling apart, you should replace them as part of your project. The advantage to replacing them is that you can upgrade them to soft close and our drawer boxes are dovetailed solid hardwood. No more cheap, builder grade drawers! Depending on if you choose to replace yours or not will effect the price of your project.
In addition to drawer boxes, we can also add select organizers.
Roll Trays, trash pullouts, spice pullouts. These can all be added to customize your kitchen but they do add additional cost.
- In our projects we see about a 50/50 split of customers that need their drawer boxes replaced and those that don’t. Drawer boxes are one of those hidden workhorses in your kitchen that go unnoticed. Until they go wrong. If your drawer boxes are hard to open, peeling, or falling apart, you should replace them as part of your project. The advantage to replacing them is that you can upgrade them to soft close and our drawer boxes are dovetailed solid hardwood. No more cheap, builder grade drawers! Depending on if you choose to replace yours or not will effect the price of your project.
- Additional/Replacement Cabinets
- On almost every refacing job we’ve done at least 1 or two cabinets need to be replaced. And that’s ok! With cabinet refacing you have that flexibility. Common situations we see:
- Fridge is too tall, replace cabinet above fridge
- Add an island or peninsula
- Replace a broken or failing cabinet
- Add a few cabinets to the end of a run for more countertop space
- Obviously, if we replace or add cabinets this will effect the cost of your project. We’ve even had projects where we take a hybrid approach (replacing the upper wall cabinets and leaving the lowers). The point is, refacing is really flexible and we can tailor almost any situation to your needs
- On almost every refacing job we’ve done at least 1 or two cabinets need to be replaced. And that’s ok! With cabinet refacing you have that flexibility. Common situations we see:
- Those bonus features.
- Adding countertops, backsplash, and undercabinet lighting are all items that will effect the final quote
Who Is It a Good Fit For?
As much as we’re passionate about cabinet refacing, it’s not a good fit for everyone. There are a few scenarios that just don’t make sense for clients:
- You need to make major layout changes
- The benefit of refacing comes from using your current cabinets and layout. Major layout changes are a better fit for a full remodel. In general, if 30% or more of your cabinets need replace, refacing is not the right fit.
- The benefit of refacing comes from using your current cabinets and layout. Major layout changes are a better fit for a full remodel. In general, if 30% or more of your cabinets need replace, refacing is not the right fit.
- Your cabinets are too far gone.
- Some cabinets can’t be saved. Water damage is a strict no go. If you see visible signs of swelling or mildew on multiple cabinets, refacing is not recommended. Cabinets that are structurally falling apart or bowing should not be refaced either. (Quick note – that does NOT include shelves. We can easily replace bowed/sagging shelves)
Over the years of refacing we’ve found the following things to be true with our clients that love their project:
- They can’t justify throwing out perfectly good cabinets. Makes sense, cabinets can last a long time, sometimes they just become outdated.
- They value their time. 5 days is a much easier timeline to digest than 8+ weeks. AND homeowners can still use their appliances during the project, which means minimal disruption
- They don’t want to spend $50-$100k on a kitchen. We get it, for some people it just doesn’t make sense!
How Long Does It Take?
Here is the typical timeline of a cabinet refacing project.
- Products have 3-8 week lead time
- Day 1: Remove doors, drawers, and prep cabinets
- Day 2-3 Apply refacing stock to boxes
- Day 4 Install doors and drawer fronts
- Day 5 Install trims, hardware, and final adjustments
Why Choose Riverbend Kitchens?
Refacing is a niche service in the Quad Cities. Not a lot of companies offer it in our area. Nonetheless, our customers want to know why they should choose to work with us. These are our top reasons:
- Lifetime warranty.
- It’s important for a company to stand behind their products. Our cabinet refacing projects come with a lifetime warranty. This protects you in the event of:
- Doors warping
- Delaminating refacing stock
- Hinge/glide failure
- Failed drawer boxes
- Factory finish failure
- It’s important for a company to stand behind their products. Our cabinet refacing projects come with a lifetime warranty. This protects you in the event of:
- Premium materials.
- Remember how we mentioned we use ¼” hardwoods applied to the faces of your cabinets? It matters. Some companies will use thin veneers for the entire project. These don’t hold up over the long run. All the materials on your project are built in high tech, controlled factory settings.
- Remember how we mentioned we use ¼” hardwoods applied to the faces of your cabinets? It matters. Some companies will use thin veneers for the entire project. These don’t hold up over the long run. All the materials on your project are built in high tech, controlled factory settings.
- Dedicated Installers
- Our in house refacing team focuses solely on cabinet refacing. Meaning you’re getting professionals dedicated to their craft, every time.
- Our in house refacing team focuses solely on cabinet refacing. Meaning you’re getting professionals dedicated to their craft, every time.
- Less Stress
- Done in 5 days or less. Customize the project to your needs. Use your kitchen during the project. Financing available.
Want to find out how much refacing will cost for you? Contact Us for your free quote
OR
Dive Deeper with this Featured Refacing Project
