CustomCabinets

Refacing Cabinet Doors

Refacing cabinet doors can be a really cost-effective option for someone looking to save a bit of money in a kitchen or bathroom remodeling project. After all, if all of the hardware and wood in the doors on the cupboards is in good shape, there's little reason to consider making extensive remodeling changes to the cabinet. A complete kitchen cabinet replacement can be much more expensive than is needed. Instead, by refacing these pieces, you'll end up with the completely new look you want for your kitchen or bathroom at a fraction of the cost of new materials.

When trying to make the decision about refacing cabinet doors, you will need to take an honest look at your cupboards. Try to put your feelings about how they look aside. Instead, you need to spend your time evaluating the functionality and the condition of the parts of the cupboards. If you don't feel like you can do this honestly, you may want to hire a designer or a contractor who can give you an expert opinion on the condition of the materials.

Options for Refacing Cupboards

If you make the decision that refacing is the way to go with your cabinet, the next step is to make sure that the doors can undergo this process. Depending on the types of materials from which the doors are constructed, it might be impossible to remodel them in this fashion. Again, you may need to hire a designer or a contractor to help you figure out whether refacing cabinet doors is even a workable solution with your existing materials.

When you're ready to make the remodeling change to your cabinet, the first step is to decide just how extensive the process of refacing cabinet doors will be in your kitchen or bathroom. You do have a few different options for refacing cabinet doors, some of which involve much more extensive work than other options. As you attempt to make this selection, just keep in mind the amount of work you want to do and the amount of time you want to spend on refacing your cupboards.

The first option is to simply paint the cabinet doors and the cupboards themselves, which will provide a brand-new look for the least amount of money and time invested. A coat of paint will do wonders for the look of your kitchen and bathroom, and that new color might be just the change you were seeking. Keep in mind that some types of wood stain and laminate do not accept paint very well, which means that you may have to do quite a bit of prep work to the doors before you can begin painting. The prep work might make this option less appealing for your cabinet.

You also can re-stain the cupboards, which is a bit more work than a simple paint job. You will need to strip the existing stain or paint off the doors before beginning this type of refacing project, and this is a time-consuming process that involves a lot of work by hand. A new stain color and style will give an amazing new look to a cabinet, though, so refacing cabinet doors in this manner is time well spent.

If you have laminate veneer on your cupboards that you want to remove, this type of refacing project will be the most difficult and time consuming. Refacing cabinet doors by attaching new laminate requires some precise cutting work by hand, as well as working with strong adhesives. Even stronger chemicals may be required to remove the old veneer from the cupboards. Unless you have some experience in this type of work, you may want to hire someone to handle attaching new laminate veneer to the cupboards in your kitchen or bathroom.

Hiring a Contractor

Not everyone will want to perform the process of refacing cabinet doors themselves. Although you can save quite a bit of money by doing this work yourself, you also will want the work to turn out with a really nice look, which means the safest bet is to hire a contractor to help you with the work. By visiting a Web site that specializes in custom cabinets and cupboards, you may be able to find some contractors by providing a few pieces of information about your project to the Web site, which then will have interested contractors contact you.

If all of these suggestions are out of your budget range, there is one other option that is extremely inexpensive for refacing cabinet doors. Consider purchasing some new hardware for the cupboards. You'll be amazed at the way new handles and drawer pulls can make a kitchen or bathroom look. Installing this type of hardware is as easy as using a screwdriver, so almost anyone can handle this type of work.