Cabinet Refacing in Charlotte, NC

What cabinet refacing actually is

Refacing keeps the cabinet boxes — the frames and carcasses fixed to the walls — and replaces everything you see. The old doors and drawer fronts come off and are discarded. The exposed faces and ends of the boxes are covered with a new veneer of real wood or a rigid laminate. New doors and drawer fronts, made to match, go on with new hinges and hardware.

The layout does not change. Because the boxes stay, so do the countertops, the plumbing and the appliances, and the kitchen stays usable while the work is done. A typical kitchen takes three to five days on site, after the new doors have been made.

• Kept: cabinet boxes, face frames, shelves, countertops, layout
• Replaced: doors, drawer fronts, hinges, pulls
• Covered: face frames and visible end panels, in matching veneer
• Common add-ons: soft-close hinges and slides, new drawer boxes, crown molding, roll-out shelves, an added island or pantry cabinet

What refacing costs

Angi and HomeAdvisor put cabinet refacing at an average of about $7,220, with most homeowners paying between $4,501 and $10,546. For comparison, Angi's average for a full kitchen remodel is $26,945. Refacing is the middle option: more than painting, much less than new cabinets.

People often ask what it costs to reface a 10-by-10 kitchen. That phrase is an industry yardstick for a small kitchen with roughly twenty to twenty-five linear feet of cabinets, and it generally falls in the lower half of the national range. The figure for your kitchen depends on the following.

• The number of doors and drawer fronts — the main driver
• Material: rigid thermofoil and laminate cost least, wood veneer more, solid wood doors most
• Door style — a flat slab or Shaker door costs less than a raised panel with detailed profiles
• Hardware and upgrades such as soft-close hinges, new drawer boxes and roll-outs
• Extras: crown and light-rail molding, glass doors, added or modified cabinets

Refacing, painting, refinishing or replacing

There are four ways to change how cabinets look, and they suit different situations. Painting is the least expensive: Fixr's 2026 data puts it at about $4,000 on average, with most kitchens between $2,500 and $6,500. Refinishing — stripping and re-staining or clear-coating wood — averages $3,113 according to HomeAdvisor, typically $1,989 to $4,498. Refacing averages about $7,220. New cabinets cost several times that once demolition, countertops and installation are included.

The choice follows from what you want to change. If you like the door style and want a new color, paint. If you have good wood and want a different stain or a restored finish, refinish. If you want a different door style or a different material, reface. If you need a different layout, or the boxes themselves are failing, replace.

Are your cabinets good candidates?

Charlotte grew fast through the 1990s and 2000s, and more than four in ten homes here were built since 2000. The kitchens in those houses were typically fitted with builder-grade oak or maple face-frame cabinets, or with thermofoil doors over engineered-wood boxes. Twenty to thirty years on, the doors look dated while the boxes are usually perfectly sound. That is the ideal case for refacing.

The test is the boxes. Open the doors and look at the cabinet floors, especially under the sink, and at the sides and face frames.

• Good candidates: solid wood or plywood boxes, square and firmly attached, with a layout you are content with
• Marginal: particleboard boxes that are intact but swollen at edges, or shelves that sag
• Poor candidates: water-damaged or delaminating boxes, cabinets pulling away from the wall, widespread mold under the sink
• Not a refacing job: any plan that moves the sink, range or refrigerator or changes the cabinet layout substantially

The downsides and the hidden costs

Refacing has limits, and it is better to know them before signing. It does not improve the inside of the cabinets unless you pay for new drawer boxes and interior work. It does not fix a poor layout. The result is only as durable as the adhesive bond and the edges of the veneer, which is where low-quality work fails. And because it costs a good deal more than paint, it makes most sense when you want a change that paint cannot deliver.

The costs people do not expect are usually upgrades that seem small one at a time: soft-close hardware, new drawer boxes, molding, a matching panel for the dishwasher or refrigerator, and pulls. Ask for the quote to list each of these with a price. Ask also what the warranty covers and for how long, particularly for peeling and delamination.

Comparing contractors and big-box programs

Home improvement chains sell refacing through local installers, and many homeowners start there. It is a reasonable quote to collect. Compare it with independent local companies on the same terms, because the materials, the installer and the warranty matter more than the brand on the contract.

• What exactly is the veneer and the door made of — solid wood, wood veneer, thermofoil, laminate?
• Who installs it: employees or a subcontractor? How long have they done this work?
• Is the price itemized by doors, drawer fronts, veneer, hardware and add-ons?
• What is the lead time for doors, and how many days on site?
• What does the warranty cover, and who honors it?
• Can you see and handle a sample door, and visit or see photographs of completed local jobs?