One day you will be tired of looking at the same old cabinets in your kitchen. When that time comes - is it better to replace the entire set of cabinets or to simply reface your existing ones? There are several items to consider when deciding which direction to take.
Refacing can be a less expensive route to take to breathe new life into your kitchen cupboards. Replacing the entire cabinets generally costs more for the equipment itself (ie. new structures, new doors, new hinges, and new shelves). The cost of the cabinets is just the beginning of possible expenses when replacing cabinets.
Total replacement of the existing cabinets breaks down into the following general steps:
- Existing cabinets need to be torn out. This costs time and/or money depending on whether you are doing the demolition yourself. If doing it yourself, the wood and materials need to be taken to the dump and disposed of.
- Purchasing new kitchen cupboards.
- Installing the new cabinets. Installation costs a considerable amount of money if paying for the service. If you are doing the work, you will be putting in a considerable amount of time and you need to know what you are doing.
- If you managed to buy the exact same size of cabinets as before, you may be finished at this point. However generally cabinets are slightly different and may require redoing parts of your floors. You may require new countertops to fit properly onto the new cabinets. You may need to paint in spots or repair walls or floors that became damaged during the ripping out of the old cabinets or the installation of the new ones.
Refacing is obviously a much less expensive route to take when considering the above points. However, there are times when it makes more sense to renovate the cabinets completely than to reface.
Here are some of the situations where replacing might be a better solution than refacing:
- You would like a new kitchen floorplan or layout. You may need a change of layout to improve floor space usage.
- You need more cupboard space. Often increasing cupboard space requires redesigning the layout of the cabinets.
- You would like new specialty cabinets such as a wine rack, pull out drawers or a display cabinet.
- The interior of your cabinets needs replacing. Refacing only changes the exterior of the doors
If you are happy with your current layout and storage space, refacing the cabinets can be a good option for you. If you want to improve the look of your kitchen in order to better sell your home, refacing can make a big difference for much less than replacing. If you would like more involved changes with a different floorplan, replacing may be the better option.