Finally we come to the last entry in this series centered around kitchen cabinets. You have probably seen advertisements for Kitchen Cabinet Refacing everywhere – that offer to give your existing cabinet a so-called face lift,  for about half the cost of buying and installing new cabinets.

This really is the case. You can save about half and sometimes more depended on how extensive you want to go with upgrades.

I am going to share with you the process that we use to reface cabinets.  First we remove all the existing doors and drawer fronts.  We check to make sure that the drawer boxes are sturdy and in good shape.  This includes making sure the drawer slides are in good working order.

Next we establish what type of wood we are going to use for the reface. In this case we will use maple.  We will cover all the exposed sides of the existing cabinet boxes with 1/4″ maple veneered plywood. 

Next we will use 1/4″ thick maple hardwood to cover over the face frames of the cabinet boxes. The width of these pieces will depend on the width of the stiles and rails we are going to cover.

It is best to rent an air compressor and a pinner gun, if you do not already have access to this equipment, to install the above mentioned plywood and hardwood.  Using this method with some good carpenters glue,  will leave very small holes to fill later.

The doors and drawer fronts can be ordered from a number of door manufacturing companies.  A simple method of ordering the correct door sizes is to just match the old doors and drawer fronts you took off.

However, in some cases you may want to change the amount of overlay the doors have over the face frames and then you will have to take measurements before you order.  For instance you may want doors that overlay 1/2″, 3/4″ or full overlay doors which cover up most of the face frame.

Also,  you will need to decide on the type of hinges you want to use. If you like to see the hinges, there are several different styles out there to give you just the look you desire. If you are looking for hidden hinges, those are available as well.  Make sure you check with the manufactures installation specifications so that you know exactly which hinges to use.

The next step will be to stain and finish the beautiful new wood cabinets, doors and drawer fronts.  Again, I recommend you use a good oil based stain and let it dry for 24 hours before applying a finish.  A natural finish is becoming more and more popular today.  People like to see the natural beauty of the wood and the lighter color seems to brighten up a room.

Unless you have accesses to spray equipment and have some experience using it,  I recommend using an acrylic finish on the cabinets.  Applying it with a good “dense” foam brush will give you a spray-like finish.  The foam brush makes it easier to spread and does not leave brush markes.  Try practicing on some scrap wood or on the back side of the lower cabinet doors.

After you are done, you will have beautiful looking cabinets and believe me, know one will be able to notice the difference between these and new cabinets.

To find out more about where to order doors and drawer fronts go to: www.waltzcraft.com

To find out more about where to get the acrylic finish go to: www.polyclay.com/varathane.htm

For more information on cabinet refacing check out: www.renuremodeling.com/index.asp