What Is Cabinet Refacing?
By Woodrow AamesRefacingCabinet.com Columnist
Resurfacing kitchen cabinets can be a cost-effective way of transforming your kitchen. While the cost varies by the size of the job and the materials you use, cabinet refacing projects cost much less than a complete new set of cabinets, and the finished product can add pizzazz and value to a tired, drab kitchen. Depending on your budget, you can also include options like a new countertop, spanking new molding, and fresh drawer liners.
Many people don't really know what cabinet refacing is, and confuse it all the time with fresh paint and hardware projects. Cabinet refacing is the use of wood veneer, laminates, or rigid thermofoils that are applied to the doors and drawer fronts of your existing cabinets. The cabinet refacing materials come in a wide range of colors, grain and texture patterns, as well as durability.
When resurfacing kitchen cabinets, your contractor first prepares the surfaces of the removed doors and drawer fronts, scouring and/or roughing them up, then applying the new facing with special adhesive or nails. The entire project can be finished with new trim, toekicks, and hardware. You can also choose self-adhesive veneer.
Costs for Resurfacing Kitchen Cabinets
A cabinet refacing effort can cost between $4,000 on the low end and $8,000 for a project that includes new sinks and countertops - still much less money than the $20,000-$35,000 cost of a new kitchen. Add in the hassle of having to relocate or walk around a dusty, noisy kitchen during a complete replacement job (which can take upwards of a month) and you'll see additional, intangible savings when resurfacing kitchen cabinets, which can be done in as little as a day.
It's certainly worth your time to investigate cabinet refacing option.
Sources
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,220605,00.html
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/refacingcabinets1
About The Author
Woodrow Aames has written articles and profiles for Yahoo, Microsoft Network, Microsoft Encarta, and other websites and print magazines around the world. He holds an MFA degree and has taught English abroad.
