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If you are looking for a way to upgrade your kitchen without completely replacing your cabinets, you can replace the cabinet doors. This is a cost-effective way to refresh the look of your kitchen without the hassle of a total remodel.
What Will It Cost to Replace My Cabinet Doors?
Before you can replace the cabinet doors, you need to check the condition of the cabinet boxes. You need to take a look inside and check for things like mold, water damage, or structural issues. If you don’t find any issues or damage, then you can begin planning for new cabinet doors.
You will first need to choose a material for your cabinet doors. There are a variety of materials to choose from, such as solid wood. The cost will play a major role in the material that you choose; three common material options for cabinet doors include:
Solid Wood– Depending on the current price of lumber, solid wood tends to be the most expensive option, but it does offer the highest return on investment. Solid wood is offered in various wood species, along with custom sizing to meet your style needs.
Vinyl Laminate– Vinyl laminate is heated and pressurized onto a medium-density fiberboard core. This material is available in various colors and textures to match your kitchen’s design. They are also installed fully finished with no need for additional paint or staining.
Medium-Density Fiberboard (MDF)– MDF is an engineered composite wood that is easy on your wallet and versatile.
At Desirable Kitchens and Refacing, we can help you choose the right material for your needs and your budget and install the doors to the cabinet boxes as well.
After choosing your material, you will need to determine the sizing for your cabinet doors. If you plan to order a door identical to your current cabinet doors, then it will be simple to size your doors. You will just need to measure your current cabinet doors from the outside edge to the outside, recording the measurements to the nearest 1/8th of an inch.
If you are doing this yourself, make sure you are confident with a measuring tape, so you don’t waste money on improperly measured doors. Alternatively, you can give us a call, and we can come out and complete a full refacing project for you!
If you have already removed the doors and still need to measure, it will take a few extra steps since you no longer have the edge of the existing door as a point of reference. We recommend that you start by measuring the cabinet box opening. Measure this twice and record to the nearest 1/8th of an inch.
Once you’ve made your measurements, you need to determine which style of kitchen cabinet doors you want.
Three common options include:
Full Overlay– For frameless or face frame cabinets, you can choose a full overlay. With a full overlay, the cabinet doors will totally cover the frame of the cabinet box.
Partial Overlay– for framed cabinet boxes, you can go with a partial overlay. This style is where the cabinet doors only partially cover the cabinet box’s frame.
Inset– Framed cabinet boxes work well with inset cabinet doors where the cabinet door fits inside of the cabinet box and sits flush with the frame of the cabinet box.
Now that you’ve chosen the type of installation you want, you can finish your measurements. If you want cabinet doors with a partial overlay, you will need to add one inch to the width and height of your cabinet door.
Before you can have your cabinet door installed, you need to decide how you want to proceed with your cabinet hardware. If you plan to replace the current doors with new doors that are the same size, you may be able to reuse your hinges and hardware. If you plan to buy new hinges and hardware, then you will need to verify the overlay, size, and hinges will all work with the new doors.
This is all part of cabinet refacing and, hopefully, something you thought about before you went out and ordered kitchen cabinet doors. You can paint your cabinet face frames to match the new doors; however, if not properly done, the paint can flake off, among other things, and a short moment into the future, you are left with cabinets that do not look like they were just revamped. Wood veneers are a better way to go about this. However, these can be challenging if you haven’t worked with them before.
While replacing your cabinet doors can be done DIY, we recommend that you work with professionals at Desirable Kitchens and Refacing to ensure you get the result you want. Homeowners looking for kitchen cabinet doors in Pittsburgh can rely on our experienced team to deliver amazing results. Contact us today to get started!
