Cabinetry

Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing

Refinishing existing cabinet doors and frames — a sprayed, even finish on the cabinetry you already have, without a demolition.

Photos coming soon

In short Cabinet refinishing strips and re-finishes your existing cabinet doors, drawer fronts, and face frames rather than replacing them. Doors and drawer fronts come off and are sprayed in the workshop, where the finish lays down far more evenly than it can on site; the fixed frames are finished in place. It is a practical option when the cabinet boxes are structurally sound and you want a different color or a finish that has stopped looking good — and it is the wrong option when the boxes themselves are failing.

A good fit for

Solid wood or wood-veneer cabinet doors and face frames in sound condition
Kitchens where the layout works and only the finish is tired
Color changes across an existing kitchen
Cabinets with a failing factory finish that is peeling, yellowing, or worn through at the handles

Not the right fit

Thermofoil or laminate-wrapped doors, where there is no wood surface to refinish
Cabinet boxes with water damage, swollen particle board, or failing carcasses
Kitchens where the layout is being changed, since new cabinetry makes more sense than refinishing the old

Cabinet refinishing sits between a repaint and a replacement. The cabinetry stays; the finish on it does not. When the boxes are sound and the layout works, it changes how a kitchen looks without a demolition.

Material decides everything

The first question is what the doors actually are. Solid wood and wood veneer refinish well. Thermofoil — a vinyl film heat-wrapped over a substrate — and plastic laminate do not, because there is no wood surface for a finish to bond to. This gets checked before anything else is discussed, and if the answer rules refinishing out, we say so.

Why the doors leave

Doors and drawer fronts come off, get labeled by position, and are sprayed in the workshop. A finish sprayed in a controlled environment is more even than any on-site application, and it keeps the fumes and overspray out of an occupied house. Fixed face frames have to be finished in place, and they are matched to the doors.

When to replace instead

If the carcasses have water damage, if particle board has swollen, or if you want a different layout, refinishing is money spent on cabinetry you will want gone. We look at the boxes, not just the doors, before recommending the work.

Step 1

Check what the doors are made of

Solid wood, veneer, thermofoil, and laminate are not all refinishable, so the material is confirmed before anything else is discussed.

Step 2

Label and remove

Doors and drawer fronts are labeled by position and taken off with their hardware, so everything returns to exactly where it came from.

Step 3

Strip and prepare

The old finish is removed and surfaces are sanded and cleaned, with any damage at handles and edges repaired.

Step 4

Spray the doors in the workshop

Doors and fronts are finished off-site, where dust control and spray conditions give a far more even result than brushing on site.

Step 5

Finish the frames and rehang

Fixed face frames are finished in place to match, then doors are rehung and adjusted so gaps sit even.

Common questions

Can you refinish thermofoil or laminate cabinets?

No. Thermofoil is a vinyl skin over a substrate and laminate is a plastic sheet — neither is a wood surface a finish can bond to. If that's what you have, refinishing isn't an honest option and we'll tell you so rather than take the work.

How long will my kitchen be out of use?

It depends on the size of the kitchen and the finish, and we won't quote a general figure. What we can say is that the boxes stay usable while the doors are in the workshop — you lose the doors, not the kitchen.

Is refinishing better than replacing?

It's better when the boxes are sound and you like the layout. It's worse when the carcasses are damaged or the layout doesn't work, because you'd be putting a good finish on cabinetry you'll want to replace anyway. We'll look at the boxes before recommending it.

Why spray the doors off-site?

A sprayed finish in a controlled environment lays down far more evenly than anything applied on site, and it keeps the overspray and the smell out of your house. Fixed frames have to be done in place, and they're finished to match.

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