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What are some guidelines to know if you should replace your cabinets or just re-face them? How do you know if the actual box part of the cabinet is in good shape? I'm not sure I would get a truthful answer from either a re-facing company or a cabinet company
Rarely are the iitems that make it necessary to replace cabinets hard to see...
If the cabinets have suffered water damage or damage to the structure, especially near the hinges or the drawer glides, it is better to replace them.
If you want / need a different configuration for the appliances / sink(s), closets, pantries, or doorways that would require cabinets of different sizes it is a most certainly better to replace.
When you factor in the few times that re- facing cabinets makes sense it is hard to see why so many franchises exist. You really need have cabinets that are laid out in a way that you need / want, with no issues of structure or problems with damage. Hard to image that would be the ace after 27 years...
To be sure, I have seen some cabinets that are 40 or more years old that still are solid. If they have not been soaked or burned or climbed on or kicked through some cabinets could probably last 100 years. That said, 100 years ago no had a microwave, ice maker, recycling bin, charging station, automatic esperesso machine, et cetera...
At the other end, I hate to tell you how infrequently I see really awfu / ugly cabinet styles that are worth refacing. Even if they are relatively recent vintage, and solid, they really will not come out looking nice for a much cost savings over full replacement. It might happen once out of several dozen homes that I see listed for sale... Poor layout is still poor even if ti is prettied up...
What are some guidelines to know if you should replace your cabinets or just re-face them? How do you know if the actual box part of the cabinet is in good shape? I'm not sure I would get a truthful answer from either a re-facing company or a cabinet company
Anyone have experience with this??
Thanks!
I doubt you would get a truthful answer from a refacing company. Refacing is always more expensive then replacing, any day, any time and any place. With refacing it's like putting a nice new clean suit on a dirty unshowerd man with soiled underwear. In the end you will still have dirty pockets as well as a poorly laid out 27 year old kitchen.
I hear this every day. "My kitchen is 27 years old and still in good shape, just ugly". No they are not in good shape. They are in poor shape, ugly, not laid out in the proper place, don't have any bells and whistles or options of convenience to make your life easier.
Your goal now is to first STAY THE HELL AWAY from the big orange who only wants your little green. They charge full list price or MSRP on cabinets. That is thievery. Nearly all small cabinet showrooms discount heavy from list price and they actually employ Certified Kitchen Designers, unlike the big box stores.
Stay very clear of the Chinese brand cabinets. They are infested with formaldehyde and sulfur, enough to kill small children with undeveloped immune systems. Yes indeed there are documented cases of fatalities from Chinese cabinet exposure (and sheetrock) as well as cancer and asthma. Oh but you can buy a 12' x 12' all cherry wood kitchen for $895.00. Is it worth the risk to your family?
Most people come into the store with dollar signs in their eyes rather then pupils. Buying new cabinets does not have to be a life savings drain if bought properly. Research your brands, research what you like and don't like. Learn to like flat panel oak and not get obsessed with the pretty cherry which cost 30% more unless your budget really does permit it. Accept a basic box rather then all the bells and whistles you will surely fall for. Follow these rules and you really can find an inexpensive affordable new kitchen.
That said, 100 years ago no had a microwave, ice maker, recycling bin, charging station, automatic esperesso machine, et cetera...
Poor layout is still poor even if ti is prettied up...
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertsun41
,not laid out in the proper place, don't have any bells and whistles or options of convenience to make your life easier.
Are you sitting down Desertsun? Because I am about to agree with you.
As both posters mentioned above, we Modern Americans tend to "live" very differently in our kitchens than our mothers did. We often ~want~ our kids to be in the kitchen with us. Parties tend to end up there. In a 1970's kitchen were does the i-pad or laptop go??? Do you have space for warming drawers? A wine fridge?
You'll want to think about how you use your space.
Our cabinet maker talked us into replacing 99% of our cabinets...and I'm glad he did. Cabinet hardware technology has improved by leaps and bounds in the last decade, if not in the last few years. Little things like the hinges and the glides and the self-closing feature? Wow.
I think we also tend to have more gadgets. Stand mixers, multiple coffee-makers, etc etc. Working with the designer, we talked about how to store spices and where the garbage bin should be. We even designed a "Swiffer" closet to store my cleaning tools (an updated version of what my grandmother would have called a "broom closet" ).
So, yep I wanted to just put new doors on, get new counter tops, paint, and replace the floor. Lived with the kitchen for three years, cooked every day, threw many parties, and took copious notes. Oh, and saved every penny I could.
By the time we were really ready, I knew pretty much ~exactly~ what I wanted. We ended up gutting down to the stud walls and the floor plan changed for the better.
My one condern with all of this customization? That in the far-off future (say 30-50 years) people will have the "Star Trek" kitchen. One simple appliance stuck in the wall that does ~everything~. Our children and grandchildren will be cursing us for all of the little slide-outs and cubbies. Oh well, guess it will be their turn.
What are some guidelines to know if you should replace your cabinets or just re-face them? How do you know if the actual box part of the cabinet is in good shape? I'm not sure I would get a truthful answer from either a re-facing company or a cabinet company
Anyone have experience with this??
Thanks!
My cabinets are 21 years old. I am in the process of painting them white and will be replacing the counter tops with granite. If your cabinets look like they are not falling apart, I know you can paint and it is an amazing transformation! Best wishes.
Are you sitting down Desertsun? Because I am about to agree with you.
It can't be that bad now, can it? DS and I don't agree on everything either (framed vs. frameless cabinets), but I definitely do for every aspect on reface vs. replace, layout, features, and imported cabinets.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CTwoman
My cabinets are 21 years old. I am in the process of painting them white and will be replacing the counter tops with granite. If your cabinets look like they are not falling apart, I know you can paint and it is an amazing transformation! Best wishes.
That transformation is only in its looks, however. How about its function?
In my kitchen, the previous owners had a refinish/reface done on the cabinets, so they didn't look awful. Inside, however ... worn surfaces ignored or covered with contact paper. Non-adjustable shelves meant it couldn't hold some things and wasted space when such height wasn't needed. No blind corners (as in the adjacent cabinet did not extend into the corner at all), so it was even more wasted space. A layout that worked ... for one person; two, and you'll be bumping butts. Overall, that renovation to me was like lipstick on a pig, and just raised the question of "why did they even bother?"
YMMV, of course. But IMHO, getting new granite for old cabinets is like throwing good money after bad.
And sometimes, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a kitchen layout that's 30 years old. We've got the standard U-shaped kitchen that's not a galley but also not big enough for an island, and the current configuration of cabinets and appliances ends up being a perfectly acceptable work triangle. There's even a nice space specifically designed for a microwave.
Eventually we'll probably replace the cabinets because the current ones are just too kuntry for our tastes, even after some paint and swapping out fixtures. But we'll probably end up with an extremely similar cabinet configuration when we do.
And sometimes, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a kitchen layout that's 30 years old. We've got the standard U-shaped kitchen that's not a galley but also not big enough for an island, and the current configuration of cabinets and appliances ends up being a perfectly acceptable work triangle. There's even a nice space specifically designed for a microwave.
Eventually we'll probably replace the cabinets because the current ones are just too kuntry for our tastes, even after some paint and swapping out fixtures. But we'll probably end up with an extremely similar cabinet configuration when we do.
You may think there is nothing wrong with your 30 year old cabinets but if you ever really looked what is available today and what you are putting up with by your current antiques you might edit your post if you are honest. I can assure you there is no modern convenience in your cabinets to make your life easier. You just have storage boxes to hide things inconveniently. You may think there is nothing wrong with that but today inventions are about making the consumers life easier.
Is there anything wrong with driving a 30 year old car without power brakes, power windows, power locks, AM/FM, power steering, radial tires...etc ?? Maybe not, but things are a hell of a lot easier with a new car with all these modern conveniences like I am certain without any doubt whats so ever that you have in your car.
But when it comes to cabinets people try so hard to justify not buying new ones because they are blind by dollar signs in their eyes because they don't know how to buy new ones, where to buy new ones, or just plain scared to buy new ones. Because no one took the time to educate them how to buy new ones.
It's rather silly to compare complex mechanical entities to a series of, as you describe them, simple wooden boxes. And when said simple wooden boxes are laid out in a reasonably good manner- my work triangle is exactly what it should be, enough cabinet space that some of it is actually goes unused, everything I do use regularly is within easy reach, I see no reason to replace something that is currently perfectly functional with something that offers no increase utility other than 'it's new' if we go the budget/mid price route.
You may think there is nothing wrong with your 30 year old cabinets but if you ever really looked what is available today and what you are putting up with by your current antiques you might edit your post if you are honest. I can assure you there is no modern convenience in your cabinets to make your life easier. You just have storage boxes to hide things inconveniently. You may think there is nothing wrong with that but today inventions are about making the consumers life easier.
Is there anything wrong with driving a 30 year old car without power brakes, power windows, power locks, AM/FM, power steering, radial tires...etc ?? Maybe not, but things are a hell of a lot easier with a new car with all these modern conveniences like I am certain without any doubt whats so ever that you have in your car.
But when it comes to cabinets people try so hard to justify not buying new ones because they are blind by dollar signs in their eyes because they don't know how to buy new ones, where to buy new ones, or just plain scared to buy new ones. Because no one took the time to educate them how to buy new ones.
I don't feel a bit guilty for just having replaced 70 yr. old kitchen cabinets. They are being re-used/repurposed in the laundry & basement. They were in good enough shape by I wanted something new as I've never had "new" kitchen or bath before the current renovations. It is not necessarily bad or selfish to want something in a house that is of your own choosing rather than that of previous occupants.
I'm going to enjoy that my cabinets are hung high enough to fit the coffee maker underneath, unlike the old. I'll enjoy drawers that actually slide open on wheels and reclose with a light touch rather than having to hammer drawers back together and wax the bottoms with candles to get them to slide.
Everything has a lifespan and the kitchen cabinets I just replaced lived through 2.5 generations of use!
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Rarely are the iitems that make it necessary to replace cabinets hard to see...
