The Benefits of Resurfacing Your Cabinets Instead of Replacing Them

Replacing your cabinets can cost tens of thousands of dollars and sometimes even more in some cases. Most people aren’t prepared to spend tens of thousands of dollars just to get a new look for their cabinets. For that reason, more and more people are starting to opt for cabinet resurfacing instead of replacement. 

Resurfacing your cabinets can come with all sorts of benefits that you might not be aware of, but what are they? More importantly, how can you know if resurfacing your cabinets is the right option for you and your home? Keep reading and learn more about how it works below.

You Can Save Money When Resurfacing Your Cabinets

As mentioned before, replacing your cabinets with brand-new ones can cost quite a lot of money. This is especially true if you decide to choose luxurious cabinets made out of rarer or more expensive materials. Many people choose to replace their cabinets for a variety of reasons, and one of those reasons is that they don’t know that resurfacing is a great alternative option. 

Many people think that once their cabinets start to get a bit worn down or beat up that it’s time to get rid of them, but this doesn’t always have to be the case. Also, if you’re tired of the way your cabinets currently look, you don’t have to replace them to get a new look either. Instead, you can just try cabinet resurfacing. 

But what is cabinet resurfacing exactly and what does it involve? As the name suggests, resurfacing involves giving your cabinets a new appearance on the surface. Usually, this has to do with replacing the doors of the cabinets and sanding down and painting the rest of the cabinets. 

That way, the structure of the cabinets will still remain intact. All you’re really doing is changing the exterior of the cabinets and how they look. As a result, your cabinets will look completely new and different and you won’t have to go through all the hassle of replacing them. 

The Details

The best thing about all this is that you can save money when resurfacing your cabinets. But how? Replacing cabinets can be quite expensive because not only do you have to pay for the cabinets themselves but you also have to pay for the removal of the old cabinets and the installation of the new ones. 

When you hire professionals to do this for you, it can end up costing you quite a lot of money. But when you hire professionals to resurface your cabinets, you will only have to pay a fraction of the cost of replacing them. This is because there won’t be all the additional labor of moving a bunch of cabinets in and out of your house. 

Instead, the main focus will be on changing the exterior of your current cabinets. This doesn’t require anywhere near as much labor as replacing the cabinets entirely. For that reason, you won’t have to spend as much money when you hire professionals to do this for you. 

As a result, you can get all the benefits of cabinets that look new without having to spend an arm and a leg to get them. 

What a Replacement Quote Usually Leaves Out

There is a moment in almost every kitchen project where a homeowner looks at a resurfacing quote, then looks up what cabinets cost, and thinks: for that money, I could just buy new ones.

Sometimes that is true — of the cabinets themselves. What it misses is that a set of cabinets is not a finished kitchen. Before those new boxes are usable, someone has to tear out the old ones and haul them away, take off the countertops (which usually do not survive being removed, so you are buying new ones as well), disconnect and reconnect the sink, faucet, and disposal, deal with any outlets or under-cabinet lighting that have to move, install and level the new cabinets, and then patch the drywall, paint, and flooring that the old ones had been hiding.

Every one of those is a line item, and none of them sit next to the cabinet price you found. That gap between what cabinets cost and what a replaced kitchen costs is usually thousands of dollars wide, and it is the single most common surprise in the whole process.

Are You Trading Down on Materials?

This is the question almost nobody asks, and it matters more than the first one.

Plenty of older kitchens were built with solid wood or plywood cabinet boxes. Cabinets at the affordable end of new are frequently particleboard or MDF with a printed finish on the outside. They look new, because they are new. That does not make them better made.

So it is worth being honest about what is being swapped. If the boxes you already own are solid and square, replacing them with cheaper material means spending a large sum to end up with lower build quality — a downgrade wearing the word new. Nobody notices on installation day. People tend to notice the first time something under the sink leaks.

That is the real argument for resurfacing: the structure in most kitchens is worth keeping, and it is often better than what a replacement budget will actually buy you. If you are weighing the two, the full cost comparison is worth reading first.

None of which makes replacement the wrong choice everywhere. When the boxes themselves are failing, when water has got into them, or when the layout has to change, replacing is the only thing that actually solves the problem — and no new door or finish will. The point is simply to know which of those situations you are in before you spend the money.

Change the Appearance of Your Entire Kitchen

When you have the same cabinets for many years in a row, your kitchen can start looking a bit dull and uninteresting. You might even start to dislike the appearance of your current cabinets. This is especially true if your cabinets are worn down and covered in scratches, stains, chips, and other signs of damage. 

Not many people realize that just by changing the appearance of their cabinets, they can change the appearance of the entire room. And you don’t have to replace the cabinets in order to do this. The great thing about resurfacing your cabinets is that you can choose exactly how they want. 

You’ll have just as much freedom to choose a design, pattern, or color as you would when shopping for new cabinets. All you have to do is tell the resurfacing professionals what you want the cabinets to look like. Often, when you find a resurfacing company, their website will have some samples of what you can have your cabinets look like. 

After all, there are many different cabinet styles to consider. You can make your cabinets white and glossy if you want to make your kitchen look more modern and minimalistic. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you can instead choose a more rustic, natural wood style for your cabinets to give the room a warmer and more old-fashioned vibe.

What You Need to Know

Or you can try something completely different and choose a vibrant paint color or pattern for your cabinets. And, of course, you can always opt for the appearance of natural wood so you can show off the grain of your cabinets. The possibilities are endless when you choose to resurface your cabinets. 

This will allow you to change the entire appearance of your kitchen. This is very important if you find that your kitchen looks too boring or dark. You can immediately light up a dark kitchen just by resurfacing your cabinets so that they are a lighter or more interesting color. 

On the other hand, if your kitchen seems too bright or busy, you can instead resurface your cabinets so that the cabinets can add a sense of calm and peace to the room. Matching the cabinets with certain features in the room can also do the room’s design a lot of good. 

For example, if your countertop is a type of light and creamy quartz, you can always choose to have your cabinets resurfaced to match that color. On the other hand, if your floors are a type of rustic tile or wood, you can always reveal the wood under the paint of the cabinets so that the cabinets will fit the rest of the room better. 

Your resurfacing professional should be able to help you figure out what look would be best for your cabinets. 

Resurfacing Your Cabinets Is Fast

No one likes it when a bunch of workers is making a racket in their home. This is the case when you choose to replace your cabinets. The problem with choosing cabinet replacement over resurfacing is that you will find the process will take quite a long time. 

This is because, as mentioned before, the professionals will have to carry out the old cabinets, install the new ones, and so on. While that process might seem straightforward, it still takes a long time. After all, the workers need to make sure that they remove all the old screws and supports and ensure that the new cabinets are screwed into place correctly so they don’t end up falling out of place. 

Besides that, assembling and disassembling the cabinets will also be required which will only add to the time required to finish the project. Depending on how many cabinets you plan on replacing, this entire process can take a very long time. It might take the entire day to complete, if not several days. 

What to Know

Of course, this could be frustrating to deal with, especially if you use your cabinets quite often. Fortunately, when you choose to resurface over replacing your cabinets, you won’t have to deal with this problem so much. This is because resurfacing requires significantly less time than replacement. 

This is because, after all, resurfacing your cabinets doesn’t require as much labor. Instead of carrying cabinet parts in and out of the house, the professionals will instead only have to worry about changing the exterior of the cabinets. This will involve scraping off any paint, sanding down the exterior parts of the cabinets, and then giving the cabinets a new look. 

This may involve giving the cabinets a new coat of paint, using a type of veneer for the wood, and so on, depending on how you want your cabinets to look. Overall, resurfacing your cabinets should only take a few hours or, at most, a day or so. After that, you can get back to your cabinets and enjoy their new appearance. 

All About Resurfacing Your Cabinets

Resurfacing your cabinets comes with more benefits than you might expect, especially when compared to cabinet replacement. This is because resurfacing your cabinets is a much more affordable option and, beyond that, you can give your cabinets a completely new look for only a fraction of the price of replacing them. 

To learn more about how it works, click here.