Refacing, Refinishing, Or Replacing Cabinets?

WHAT IS CABINET REFACING?

Cabinet refacing is the process of replacing old cabinet skin panels with new ones to give your cabinets a fresh new look. It entails removing the door and drawer fronts and replacing them with veneer that matches your new doors and drawers.

WHAT IS CABINET REFINISHING?

Refinishing kitchen cabinets incorporate maintaining the current cabinets but changing the color or finish. The procedure consists of sanding the original cabinet from the wood and repainting it with new paint or lacquer.

WHAT IS CABINET REPLACING?

Replacing your cabinets includes removing the old system and replacing it with all-new cabinets, from the cabinet box structure to the doors. All of your current cabinets are removed, and new cabinets, doors, and hardware are installed. Because the measuring and leveling components can be complicated, this is normally done by experienced installers.

THE PROS AND CONS TO CABINET REFACING

PROS:

1. Countless Styles

In this modern-day world, there are many options you can choose from. Ranging from dozens of paint colors to wood veneers. 

The options consist of custom finishes, various colors to paint onto, laminates, stains, and wood veneers. 

It is essential to know what your style is and the type of your own home. Since there are many varieties you can choose from, it is all based on your personal preference on what you prefer. 

2. Environmental Friendly

Because you are preserving trees that would have been cut down to construct cabinet boxes, refacing is significantly more environmentally beneficial.

If you want a lovely image in your kitchen, you don't have to sacrifice nature. Of course, it is also possible to sell or donate the old cabinets, but this might be time-consuming.

It is possible to dispose of your kitchen cabinets in a landfill, but it is not environmentally friendly. Toxins, greenhouse gases, and leachate are all produced by landfills.

Refacing also means utilizing fewer materials, which means you'll be helping to save the environment by reducing waste. There would be less waste filling up the world because you wouldn't have as many materials.

When you have your cabinets changed, the old cabinetry must be destroyed, and new cabinetry materials must be purchased. You can reduce the environmental impact of your project by having your cabinets resurfaced rather than replaced.

3. Protecting Your Countertops 

Granite and quartz countertops are gorgeous, but they can be brittle. Some portions, such as the narrow areas around the sink cut-out, can snap if the slab is not correctly supported. It may be practically impossible to remove kitchen cabinets without causing damage as a result of this.

When you reface your kitchen cabinets, the chance of countertop damage is much reduced.

The granite counters are supported by cabinet boxes that are left in place. The drawers and doors are simply taken out. As a result, you won't have to deal with any cracks or damage.

CONS:

1. The Appearance

Cabinets tend to get rusty over time and get old. When you replace them, it’s an entirely new upgrade. 

You get a new face, a new style, new materials, etc. You’re making an essential improvement for the house when you install new ones.

2. An Advance Of Practicality

Searching around for an object you’re trying to find can be time-consuming and annoying. 

Installing new cabinets can allow space for you to customize the furniture to meet your needs. 

You could add pull-out drawers, more storage for the garbage, rotating shelves, and other features could be added to make the cooking experience less stressful.

3. Functionality Issues

There may be issues with cabinets, water damage, paint stains, stenchy smells, or many other ones. 

The issues will not disappear by only refacing the cabinet. Refacing will only hide the issues, although the issue would not be resolved and they would show up again.

THE PROS AND CONS TO CABINET REFINISHING

PROS:

1. Keep Cabinets in Excellent Condition

A fresh finish on your cabinets does more than simply look good. It also protects your cabinets from scratches, scuffs, food stains, water damage, and other wear and tear.

Having to constantly change cabinets and buy them from a store can be tiring, adding a finish to the cabinets can make it last for many months, even years!

Kitchen cabinets should be changed when they are in bad condition or when you feel the need to update the appearance of your kitchen as interior design trends change. Kitchen cabinets of high quality can last for up to 50 years. That is presuming the cabinets have been well-maintained.

It's not unusual to hear about clients who have kitchens that were created in the 1960s and 1970s since kitchen cabinetry at the time was built to last. If you've got high-quality custom kitchen cabinets in good condition, then you won't need to replace them for at least 25 years on average.

2. Less Time Required

A full kitchen cabinet replacement can take a long time, resulting in further downtime — picture not being able to use your kitchen for four weeks. 

Instead, get your kitchen cabinets refinished to avoid this. Repainting is a more convenient and easy-to-implement refinishing solution.

Refinishing only takes around less than a week, after which the cabinet doors are reinstalled — you may continue to use your kitchen throughout this period.

Even refacing the cabinet doors takes longer than refinishing them, so anybody searching for a quick fix should choose cabinet refinishing. Your kitchen appears new and rejuvenated with a fraction of the effort required to remodel it.

Although the matter of time needed to refinish cabinets is determined by the quantity of cabinets to be refinished, other considerations are also significant. The amount of stripping and sanding required depends on the present finish and degree to which you wish to replace the cabinets, and the cabinet design itself dictates how challenging the job will be.

CONS:

1. Causes Wood Dust

Sanding away the current coat of finish as well as a portion of the wood surface is typical when refinishing wood cabinets. This has the potential to generate airborne dust, which may be messy and dangerous if inhaled. 

Always have a proper ventilation system in place or leave the area while the specialists take over.

Refinishing your cabinets usually necessitates a lot of sanding, which generates a lot of dust. So, anticipate a coating of dust to cover everything from the cooktop to the tile floor when you refinish kitchen cabinets.

2. The cabinet's overall structure and condition is Unchanged

The entire process only contains painting over the existing cabinets rather than recreating new kitchen cabinets. If your cabinets are in a bad condition, and there are many problems, refinishing won’t help. 
 
The amount of damage on a cabinet is difficult to fix, imagine you dropped your phone into the ocean, you could take it to the store and have someone fix it.

Despite the fact that the phone’s system will still not be as great as it was before, google pages will take longer to load, the power button stops working, your apps constantly crash, etc. 
 
A cabinet’s condition is just as important as a phone’s condition, think about it. They are very similar to one another, it would make life much easier if everything around you actually works.

THE PROS AND CONS TO CABINET REPLACING

PROS:

1. The Ability To Change The Kitchen’s Layout

The key benefit of upgrading your cabinets is that you may redesign your kitchen.

If you don't like your current kitchen or bathroom arrangement, changing cabinets allows you to personalize it, however you are restricted by the form and size of the area.

With a comprehensive cabinet replacement, you may also replace old or broken cabinet components such as shelves or drawers.

And, of course, if the arrangement of the area isn't working for you, you should change your kitchen cabinets.

If your main gripe about your kitchen is that the cabinets are all in the wrong places (or there aren't enough of them), rather than that they're out of date or your least favorite color, the only remedy is to replace them with a more deliberate plan.

If your current cabinets aren't deep enough to store your saucepans or tall enough to handle your muffin pans, changing them entirely may be the preferable alternative.

If a homeowner wants to make big design or layout modifications, starting afresh is a preferable option.

2. The Solution To Fixing Damaged Areas

Out of all the 3 options mentioned, refacing and refinishing does not fix the root of the problem. It only conceals it, and makes it look more visually appealing to guests.

Replacing the whole cabinet is like buying a new product to replace the one you had before, a brand new fresh start or new page. It’s a nice feeling to see that your kitchen can look just as brand new as the kitchens you see in the magazines.

Cabinet hinge screws won’t stay? Fixed. Is the kitchen cabinet damaged? Fixed. Cabinet doors won’t close? Fixed. 

The point is that replacing the entire cabinet will be the solution of half of the problems that are ongoing in your kitchen.

Replacing the kitchen cabinet will alter the appearance of your kitchen. They have the ability to quickly improve the aesthetic attractiveness of the entire kitchen.

From classic to modern, the cabinets are one of the key character defining characteristics of the kitchen, therefore changing them out for a different design may have a significant influence on the entire style of the kitchen.

3. Update Your Style

If you see a contemporary kitchen idea that grabs your eye, you can  incorporate them into your own house with replacement cabinet doors. 

Choose from a wide range of popular designs, finish the doors how you like, put them up, and marvel at how modern and current your kitchen appears. When it comes to updating your kitchen, start with new cabinet doors.

One of the primary reasons why many homeowners choose to update their cabinets is for aesthetic purposes rather than functional ones.

Perhaps you have an older kitchen with cabinets built 50 years ago, and it's just time for an update.

If you're bored with the look of your kitchen, one of the greatest ways to entirely refresh the room is to replace your cabinets!

Because cabinets are one of the most visible focus points in the kitchen, replacing them allows you to entirely change the appearance of the space. If it's time for a makeover, your cabinets are a great place to begin!

CONS:

1. Time-consuming

The finished product can take a while, can take up to 6 weeks. It depends all on the style of cabinet you choose. 

If you are in need of the kitchen, or the kitchen is urgently needed. Replacing may not be the best option.

Compared to refacing and refinishing, replacing takes a good amount of time. Refacing takes about 2-4 days, refinishing takes about 3-5 days, and refinishing takes about 6 weeks.

In the end, it all depends on work complexity, manpower availability, type and quantity of kitchen cabinets. If additional work will be involved or the whole kitchen layout will be changed, more work hours might be necessary.

Replacing cabinets is frequently only one task in a partial or total kitchen renovation project, and it can be difficult to separate work with the countertop, sink, or appliances by hours and simply estimate the time for kitchen cabinet replacement.

2. Environmentally Unfriendly

When you replace cabinets, you are using fuel for the transportation of lumber. This merely adds to the amount of pollution in the atmosphere.

Old cabinets, which can contain formaldehyde and other hazardous substances, are disposed of at a landfill.

It's reasonable that many homeowners choose to dispose of their old cabinets in a nearby landfill.

Other solutions, such as selling or donating the old cabinets, are frequently time-consuming and inconvenient for homeowners once a kitchen remodel is started.

Although disposal of kitchen cabinets in landfills is possible, it is not a sustainable practice. Toxins, leachate, and greenhouse gases are produced by landfills.

When you pull out your kitchen cabinets and completely replace them with recycled wood, the process itself necessitates the use of extra fossil fuels. This is due to the fact that recovered wood is often custom milled before being constructed into cabinet boxes, doors, and drawer fronts.

When the cabinets are finished, they must be sent frequently from suppliers that are far away.

Why Replacing Cabinets is the Safe-go

Replacing Cabinets is the one solution that can fix all of the problems in one go. It would be easier if we could fix our problems with an instant snap. However, we don’t get to do that for our life, but we could do that when it comes to restoring your cabinets to its top notch look. Oftentimes, clients choose refacing, but they don’t realize that there are more benefits when it comes to replacing cabinets.