Refacing can give your kitchen or bath the feel of a full remodel.
Basically, cabinets are boxes sitting on the floor or hanging on the wall. It can be quite expensive to replace the boxes. Refacing, or resurfacing is economical and a time saver. This type of renovation project produces minimal mess allowing you to utilize your kitchen/bath throughout the process. When you replace all your cabinets, you may need to match old unsquare walls/floors and this will add time and labor costs to the whole project.
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Renovation Inc., in the example above |
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Are you happy with the layout of your kitchen or bath? Have you been thinking about remodeling? If so then refacing could be the answers to your dreams.
When refacing, the exterior of your existing cabinetry is recovered or replaced with a new product, such as oak, birch, cherry, laminates, and more. By adding new cabinet doors and drawer fronts, opens up a variety of design choices from contemporary to turn-of-the-century styles. Modern finishes are tough, very durable and washable. This popular method is an affordable kitchen remodeling alternative making your work space more interesting and efficient. This approach can result in tremendous savings over completely gutting your kitchen and replacing with new cabinetry.
Refacing is a much better option than painting your cabinets. Painting only adds a few mils of thickness, won’t last nearly as long as new surfacing and will eventually age, discolor and chip. The results are short term.
Resurfacing your existing cabinets generally runs about one-third of what it would cost to totally replace your kitchen cabinets. This can save you thousands of dollars. “Refacing of cabinetry varies, but typically costs a couple of thousand dollars for small jobs, and up to $15,000 for larger projects,” states Ken Stores. Ken is the owner of Renovation Inc. www.renovationinc.net,a Lake Oswego firm that has been in the business of refacing since 1991. Renovation Inc. has a large showroom where they display all their products and you can also view the whole refacing process.
The reason your cabinet skeleton can be salvaged is because in most cases they are still in good condition. According to Peter Lackaff owner of Kitchen Man www.kitchenman.net, who specializing in refacing cabinets and has been serving the greater Portland and Vancouver area for over 11 years. “Many of the older cabinets were constructed out of solid wood, or perhaps birch plywood with solid wood face frames, and are worth recycling. The shelving in older cabinetry is solid. We can line the shelves with plastic laminate, dress the front edging creating a fresh new look.”
At the same time you reface your cabinets, the installers can also add more cabinets, move your existing cabinets around. Plus add many updated features such as new hardware, and counter tops from laminate, solid surface, granite, and wood. Additionally, adding a decorative crown molding can enhance the interior design of your kitchen/bath. At this stage you can also add new modern glides, rollouts, tipouts, take advantage of blind corners by adding a lazy susan, spice racks, appliance garages, microwave shelves, chef’s pantries, etc.
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Kitchen Man, in the example above matched existing upper cabinets above the sink and created new counter bases and all the cabinetry around the stove. Also replaced all countertops. |
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The objective of cabinet refacers is to make your kitchen/bath functional and more livable, by adding modern amenities to your home that may not have been state-of-the-art at the time your home was built. Our kitchen and bathrooms are the busiest places in our homes, and it makes sense to update them for functionality and attractiveness. The amount of time for installation is greatly reduced — about two or three days for smaller kitchens and up to a week for larger ones, and one to two days for countertops only.
A refacing company will clean up after every work shift so that homeowners can continue to use the facilities. They replace old hinges with good quality hidden hinges. Renovation Inc. also offers flooring of all types to add to your new look.
It’s a good idea to hire a professional instead of attempting to apply sheet veneer to your flat cabinet fronts and to do your own edge banding. Today’s water based glues need very even distribution, or it can cause delamination. Delamination can also happen with the moisture you are introducing in the lamination process, if you are unable to get the formula correct. And if you don’t put on the veneers at exactly the right time, for example, before the adhesive solvents have evaporated, this can also cause bubbling and peeling. So let the pro’s do this project for you.
By the time the work is done, you will feel as if the whole kitchen is new, and be satisfied that you have accomplished your goal of making your kitchen more functional, updated and at a substantial savings.
