How to Reface Kitchen Cabinets?

Kitchen Cabinets are the essential elements of every home’s kitchen and interior that affect the area’s overall appearance. Thus, interior designers and homeowners give special attention to their kitchen cabinets as they know it will change the feel and vibe of their applications. These particular area elements can get damaged, warp and scratch over time if they are not made from durable wood materials such as MDF panels. This is when homeowners should replace or reface kitchen cabinets.

Most people think they should replace their old or damaged kitchen cabinets with new ones, costing them a considerable amount of money. However, there is a sufficient explication for eliminating unwanted kitchen cabinets, refacing them with particular techniques. The method this article introduces is a DIY technique to reface kitchen cabinets with only simple tools, which are as followed:

• Screwdriver (4-in-1 will be more helpful during the refacing process)
• Brand nail gun for more stable fixture creation
• Caulk gun
• Circular saw (other says are also practical but may be challenging to reface kitchen cabinets with them)
• Cordless drill
• File
• Different drill bits
• Slitter (laminate can be functional)
• Miter saw
• Paper cutter
• Other carpentry tools equivalent to different wood materials

Overview

Refacing kitchen cabinets is an easy, quick and straightforward way of changing the look of the interior without causing mess and expense of an entire remodeling project. The process primarily covers the cabinet face frame with different surfaces depending on the kitchen’s overall design. The new surface can feature raised panels kitchen cabinet doors as most modern designs utilize this door type. After choosing the best cover, replacing the old doors and drawer front with new products is essential. To reface kitchen cabinets, homeowners will spend about one-third of what new cabinet systems would cost. Giving attention to details and having some experience with tools is required to reface kitchen cabinets by yourself. However, it does not require master-level experience in carpentry. The only skill which is essential for having the best results is to measure and cut accurately.

Steps To Reface Kitchen Cabinets

The process of refacing kitchen cabinets involves doors and drawer removal and covering the front edges of the products with peel-and-stick wooden materials. Then it requires hanging the new doors with cup hinges which are easy to adjust and install. Attaching new kitchen cabinet surfaces to the existing drawers and finishing the process with molds, replacement, and new hardware installation is the last step. However, there are other things to do to reface kitchen cabinets with the best quality.

1. Most original cabinets in the kitchen are basic and entry-level. It is essential to consider the uniqueness and the future design of the kitchen before starting the refacing process.
2. Choose the color and the material, whether it should be MDF panel or plywood precisely. After choosing the materials for the cabinet refacing, be careful with finishes as they should match the kitchen’s appearance.
3. The third step is the most critical stage in which measurement is done. Measure the dimensions of the kitchen cabinet precisely and write them down to remember.
4. Choose a suitable cup hinge if an inset or lip door is converted into overlay doors for the refacing application.
5. For sizing the door, defining the extending part past the face frame is required. This step is to overlay distance measurement. There are various practical hinges available to choose from for this step. However, the extra door width can cause issues. Thus, it is crucial to carefully measure inside corners and between the doors to ensure that there is enough space.
6. Measuring inside corners with or without rotating shelves is often challenging. Use a scissors-hinged door, a pair of hinged doors that can be practical to reface kitchen cabinets. However, the easiest way to know the dimension of the inside corner is to ask the cabinet door supplier for help figuring the sizes and double-check the measurements or calculations before refacing the kitchen cabinets.
7. Sand the corners of the cabinets for refacing preparation. Since this step can create dust, it is better to empty the cabinets and remove the doors by unscrewing the hinges that fix the opening to the face frame.
8. After preparing and cleaning cabinets, it is time to transform the kitchen cabinets by installing the end MDF panels. If the face frame overhangs the existing panel, it is essential to add a filler for creating a flush surface.
9. Measure and cut the end panel to size to fit the front edge with the surface of the face frame and then install the MDF panel with construction adhesive or few brads.
10. Cut corners in the requiring sizes and bond them by pressing them with tools. The pressure direction must be from top to bottom at the edges, and it should be firm enough to make it stable.
11. Hang the door by lining up the center of the hinge and drill a hole. Attach the bottom and top hinges by driving a screw through them into the stile.
12. Align the drawer box with the previous measurements and drive screws through them into the front face. Check if the screws didn’t go through the face of the new refaced kitchen cabinet.
13. Finish the procedure by installing cove molding along the MDF panel wall in the kitchen cabinets and cover the toe-kick with a thin strip of wood finished to match the rest of the cabinets.