If you love the way your cabinets and appliances sit and function, refacing is a perfect option to retain the kitchen you love, but with a style update. Refacing your kitchen cabinets costs at least half as much as remodeling the entire thing. So you save a ton of time, money, and energy by choosing this option.
One way to make your kitchen remodel more cost-effective is to reface your kitchen cabinets rather than replace them. Refacing kitchen cabinets is the process of replacing just the cabinet doors while preserving the cabinet boxes. This is a great way to cut costs during your remodeling project.
Refinishing these hardy cabinets, instead of replacing them, can both conserve wood and money. Opting to refinish, rather than replace, kitchen cabinets is more cost-effective, too; Ballard says it can save you up to $5,000. Of course, if your cabinets aren't wood, refinishing may not be an option.
Refacing is about 30 to 50-percent less than replacement. Expect to pay about $12,000 to $20,000 for contractor-grade cabinets. Best when the cabinet boxes are in solid shape and cost is an issue. Best when doing a whole-kitchen remodel or when cabinet boxes are in poor shape.
How Long Does Cabinet Refacing Last? If your cabinetry is made from solid wood in good condition (i.e. your shelves and frames are still very strong) then you can usually expect a refacing project to last for another 15-20 years before needing a replacement.
Price out replacing your kitchen cabinets and painting will look better and better. The cost to paint a kitchen is typically 1/3 to ½ the cost of replacing. The paints applied to cabinets are also very durable and will last just as long as new cabinets in most cases.
With proper care of professionally painted kitchen cabinets, you can expect your newly painted cabinets to last 8-10 years. However, there are a few things that can drastically shorten this timeframe, leaving you needing them repainted 3-4 years later.
Refacing is a word that is interchangeable with the term resurfacing, especially when it comes to cabinet makers and professional remodelers. It simply means that the face, meaning the front or visible surfaces are getting a facelift. So in essence, they mean the same thing.
Using laminates to reface your cabinets often compromise their durability and reduces their life span. For higher end cabinet refacing services, your cabinets' old doors are replaced by solid wood doors. Wood veneer finishing is also used. These will yield much better and more long lasting results.
Cabinet refacing can cost up to 50 percent less than a full replacement because fewer materials are needed. Refacing also means fewer materials ending up in the landfill because when your old cabinets are removed, there's often nowhere else for them to go.
The cost to paint kitchen cabinets is lower than you might think—certainly lower than replacing or even refacing them. On average, homeowners spend $809 to repaint the doors and cabinets in their kitchens, with a typical range of $395 to $1,234.
Sanding is usually better than stripping. To begin with, stripping is a lot more work than stripping with a paint-and-varnish remover, except in cases where the old finish has flaking off. You must sand through this coloring all the way to get an even color for refinishing once you have cut through it.
You can expect painting contractors to charge $50 to $100 per door, $120-$170 per cabinet, and $20-$30 per drawer. Painting your kitchen cabinets yourself will be considerably less expensive. Your base cost would be anywhere from $200 to $600, depending on the brand of paint and the supplies you will have to buy.
As mentioned earlier, cabinetry usually tends to be the most expensive part of a kitchen remodel. It can cost up to $15,000 even in a relatively minor remodel with a budget of about $30,000. In an upscale remodel, choosing kitchen cabinets can take up nearly 20 to 40 percent of the entire budget.
Kitchen Remodeling Made Easy and Affordable.
Lowe's cabinet refacing with National Refacing Systems uses your existing cabinets while transforming your kitchen with premium-quality cabinet doors, drawers, hardware, and accessories.
Refacing cabinets is a quick and easy way to change the look of your kitchen without the mess and expense of a complete remodel. However, most DIY approaches involve self-sticking wood veneer or laminates. These will peel and chip over time and once the damage is done, it's difficult to repair.
When refacing, an installer removes the doors and drawers, laminates the existing cabinet boxes in the new color, style and material and then replaces the doors and drawers fronts with all-new. Refinishing requires sanding the existing cabinets, doors & drawers, then reinstalling all of the existing kitchen components.
Can I Paint Cabinets That Have Been Refaced? You can give your cabinets a new look by replacing them with Refacing cabinets and then painting them. Surfaces must be thoroughly prepared and the paint must be used correctly in order to achieve this.
What is the difference? As mentioned above, when you are refacing your cabinets, you are putting new material on top of the existing cabinet frames and replacing doors and drawer fronts. When refinishing cabinets, all you are doing is changing the finish, or color, of the existing materials.
Detailed Patterns, Warped or Damaged Cabinets
If your cabinets have detailed patterns or they are warped, chipped, cracked or have other damage to them, then painting your kitchen cabinets is not the way to go – it most definitely won't solve your cabinet problem.
Average cost of painting kitchen cabinets professionally. The average cost of painting kitchen cabinets is $100 per drawer face and $175 per cabinet door. This usually averages out to a cost of $5,000 for a medium-sized kitchen. However, the cost commonly ranges from $3000 to $10,000.
On average, this trend alone can boost a home's value by $1,547. By painting your kitchen cabinets and then pairing them with some new hardware that dollar amount can increase significantly.
Doors typically require a good amount of time, because you need to paint both sides and let them fully dry in between coats. You can begin with the back side of your cabinet doors. Apply one coat, wait 24 hours and then move on to your second coat of paint.
Friction from loose hardware can cause paint to tear, chip and peel, even if you've used the best paint for kitchen cabinets. Regularly tighten hardware to prevent it from contributing to a paint chipping problem. Sometimes the paint on kitchen cabinets peels behind closed doors — literally.