Grace Woodwork
What Cabinet Refacing (or Resurfacing) Really Means
Refacing, resurfacing, refinishing, painting: the words get used loosely, and the price difference between them is large. This guide explains what each one actually involves so you can compare quotes.
Cabinet refacing in one paragraph
Refacing means keeping your cabinet boxes and replacing everything you see on the front of them. The doors and drawer fronts are new, the hinges and pulls are new, and the face frames and exposed sides are covered so they match. Inside, the cabinets are the same ones you had.
Because the boxes stay, so do the plumbing, the countertops and the layout. That is both the appeal and the limit: refacing changes how a kitchen looks, not how it works. If you need more storage, a different layout or an island, that is a new-cabinet job.
Refacing, painting, refinishing and replacing side by side
| Option | What is done | Boxes and layout | Published cost (average kitchen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painting | Existing doors and frames cleaned, sanded, primed and painted | Kept | about $2,000 to $6,500 |
| Refinishing | Existing doors and frames stripped and restained, or painted | Kept | about $1,500 to $4,500 |
| Refacing (resurfacing) | New doors, drawer fronts and hardware; frames and sides covered | Kept | about $5,000 to $13,000 |
| Replacing | Old cabinets torn out, new ones installed | Can change | about $4,500 to $15,000, plus tear-out and often counters |
Other guides publish wider ranges for refacing: Fixr about $3,000 to $13,500, Forbes Home about $1,350 to $12,500, and Angi a typical $4,484 to $10,586. Material is the biggest swing: HomeGuide lists laminate as the least expensive, wood veneer in the middle and solid wood the most.
Is your kitchen a refacing kitchen?
Refacing only works when the boxes are worth keeping. HomeGuide notes the boxes need to be structurally sound, because refacing only covers the outside. Signs that they are:
- Boxes are solid, square and dry, with no swollen particleboard under the sink
- You like the layout and the countertops
- The door style is what dates the kitchen, or the doors are damaged
Signs that they are not: water damage in the boxes, cabinets pulling away from the wall, or a layout you would change if you could. Angi also notes that when a thermofoil finish is splitting, refacing is a better fit than refinishing, because the damaged doors are replaced instead of patched.
Materials used for refacing
Wood veneer is a thin layer of real wood glued to the frames, with solid wood or veneered doors to match. It can be stained or painted. HomeGuide describes it as more durable than laminate.
Plastic laminate is the least expensive facing and comes in many colors and wood looks. It can chip on impact, and later it can only be painted, not stained.
Rigid thermofoil is a vinyl skin heat-pressed over fiberboard doors. Angi says it lasts about 10 to 15 years with care and can blister or peel near ovens and dishwashers without heat shields.
At Grace Woodwork we build refacing doors and drawer fronts in our own shop. See cabinet refacing for how we do it, or what cabinet painting costs if painting is the better fit.
Common questions
What is cabinet resurfacing?
Usually the same thing as cabinet refacing: new doors and drawer fronts, with the cabinet frames covered to match. HomeGuide treats the words as synonyms. Some companies, including Angi, use resurfacing as an umbrella for refacing, painting and refinishing, so ask any company what its resurfacing includes.
How does cabinet refacing work?
The old doors and drawer fronts come off. The face frames and visible cabinet sides are covered with new wood veneer or another facing. New doors and drawer fronts, built to the sizes of the openings, are hung with new hinges and pulls. The boxes and layout stay.
Is refacing cabinets cheaper than replacing them?
Usually. HomeGuide puts refacing an average kitchen at about $5,000 to $13,000 and full replacement at about $4,500 to $15,000, but replacement also brings tear-out, disposal and often new countertops. Painting the existing cabinets costs less than either.
How long does cabinet refacing last?
Published estimates range from about 10 to 20 years (Angi) to 15 to 30 years for wood veneer applied professionally (HomeGuide). The boxes underneath have to be sound for any of that to hold.
Can I reface cabinets myself?
Peel-and-stick kits exist, but getting veneer to lie flat on frames and building doors that fit and hang straight is skilled work. If you only want a new look, painting is the more forgiving do-it-yourself job.
Send a photo and we will tell you what it needs.
A phone picture is plenty. You will hear what the piece needs, what it will cost and roughly how long it will take before anything starts.
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