Replace my cabinets or reface them?
We get asked this question all the time…. This usually depends on a variety of circumstances. We are guessing if you are reading this article you are trying to decide which route to take for your kitchen. We will go though some of the pros to each for you, in the end only you can decide which direction you want to take.
Pros to re-facing your cabinets
1.Cost– When a company comes into re-face your kitchen cabinets they take off drawer fronts and doors. They install a wood or plastic veneer to the cabinets face frame and side panels. They replace your drawer fronts and doors, while replacing your old hardware such as door handles and knobs. This can all be done without removing walls, countertops, and replacing the cabinet box. Permits are generally not needed for this.
Cost can range from $3000 – $10,000 depending on size and materials.
2.Time – Generally this process takes far less time to complete then a complete kitchen replacement. Most of them take under a week.
3.Clean – Since it does take much demo, this should keep dust and debris to a minimum.
Pros to replacing your cabinets
1.Design/layout – You get to have the option to move things and redesign your kitchen space. You don’t have to keep your poorly designed kitchen. It can now be customized to fit you and your family’s needs. This is a big reason most people opt to do replacement over re-facing.
2.Selections – When you replace all of the cabinets you can now take a look at the quality of the new cabinets being installed into your home. We use a very high quality custom cabinet by a local company. They have different levels of cabinets to fit a wide range of costumers needs. Box cabinets are a good way to go also, if you decide to replace them.
3.Options – Overall you can start fresh all the way around, new layout, all new cabinets, new drawers, pullouts, maybe take out a wall. You aren’t as limited to what you can do when you replace your cabinets.
Take a look at your current layout, your current quality of cabinets, your current countertops, appliance’s, sink, faucet, backsplash. What is your overall goal when done? Most people decide if they are redoing more than just the cabinets then the cost difference starts to not make as much of a difference. There is a lot of factors involved in this decision so we recommend speaking with one or two contractors that do re-facing or replacing to get a better feel for what the right decision is for you.