Cabinet refinishing is a good—and affordable—option if you want to freshen up and modernize your kitchen. If you want to completely transform the look of your kitchen, then cabinet refacing is the better choice.
If budget is your main consideration, refinishing is often the cheaper option. Estimates have shown that refinishing cabinets costs about 2/3 the cost of refacing, and refacing costs about 70 to 80 percent the cost of installing replacement cabinets.
REFINISHING IS MUCH CHEAPER THAN REPLACING OR RESURFACING
But, you'd be surprised how little you'll save when you choose to reface your cabinets instead. You might only save around 30%-50% of the cost of complete replacement by choosing to reface them.
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.
While painting cabinets may seem like the cheaper and easier option, refacing your cabinetry is a very cost-effective way to give your home a significant facelift without breaking the bank in the process. If you're happy with the layout and condition of your existing cabinetry, refacing can be a very sensible idea.
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.
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.
With proper care, refaced cabinets can last decades, but a few factors will affect the lifespan and overall durability of your refaced cabinets, including: The original condition of your cabinets. Who performs the refacing and the quality of their work.
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.
Refacing cabinets is a quick and easy way to change the look of your kitchen without the mess and expense of a complete remodeling. You simply cover the cabinet face frame with self-sticking wood veneer and the end panels with 1/4-in. plywood. Then replace the old doors and drawer fronts with new ones.
Cost of Cabinet Refacing
Typically, most homeowners spend between $4,151 and $9,238 on refacing cabinets. Kitchen cabinet refacing costs are determined by: Materials used: Wood veneers cost $2,500 to $6,000, and you can choose from woods such as oak, birch or walnut.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Applying polyurethane over the stained surface is the easiest part when it comes to refinishing kitchen cabinets without stripping them. Apply one coat, allow it time to dry, and apply another coat. Repeat this process until you are satisfied with the results. Two or three coats will give you a beautiful finish.
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.
The typical price range to strip, sand and paint kitchen cabinets is $5 to $10 per square foot. Prior to painting, paint stripping, sanding and applying putty costs $2 to $3 per square foot, depending on the current condition of the cabinets and the extent of any damage.