Cabinets are the biggest line on almost every kitchen quote — usually a third of the whole job. So when a refacing company tells you they can transform the same kitchen for a third of the price in four days, it lands hard.
Sometimes they are right. The deciding factor is not aesthetics or budget. It is the condition of the boxes you already own, and whether the kitchen’s layout is one you actually want to keep.
What each option actually means
Refacing keeps your cabinet boxes exactly where they are. New doors and drawer fronts go on, and the visible box edges get covered in a matching veneer or laminate. New hinges and handles finish it. From two feet away it reads as a new kitchen.
Refinishing is a step below that — the existing doors are sanded, primed and sprayed. Cheapest of the three, only viable on solid wood doors in sound condition, and you keep the existing door style.
Replacing tears out the boxes and starts over. It is the only route that changes the layout, the cabinet sizes, or the internal storage.
The cost comparison
Costs below are for a typical kitchen with 25 linear feet of cabinetry — around 20 doors and 8 drawers.
| Refinishing | Refacing | Replacing (stock) | Replacing (custom) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical total | $2,200 – $5,500 | $7,000 – $14,500 | $9,500 – $20,000 | $22,000 – $48,000 |
| Per linear foot | $90 – $220 | $280 – $580 | $380 – $800 | $880 – $1,900 |
| Time on site | 3 – 5 days | 3 – 5 days | 1 – 2 weeks | 2 – 4 weeks |
| Kitchen unusable for | 2 – 4 days | 1 – 2 days | 1 – 2 weeks | 2 – 4 weeks |
| Layout can change | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Expected life | 8 – 12 yrs | 15 – 20 yrs | 20 – 30 yrs | 30+ yrs |
That last point is where refacing quotes drift. The headline number covers doors and veneer. Add new drawer boxes with soft-close runners, a couple of pull-out organisers and a new panel to hide the dishwasher, and a $9,000 reface becomes $13,500 — which is now inside stock replacement territory, for boxes that are still thirty years old.
Check your boxes before you decide anything
Refacing is only sensible if the carcasses are worth keeping. Take ten minutes with a torch and check all of the following:
- Material. Plywood boxes are worth keeping. Particleboard boxes with a printed finish are usually not — the screws that hold new hinges will not stay put in swollen chipboard.
- Under the sink. The most common failure point. Any softness, swelling or a bottom you can push a thumb into means that box needs replacing regardless.
- Square and level. Doors that will not close flush now will not close flush with new doors either. Refacing hides ugly; it does not fix crooked.
- Face frames. Splits or old hinge holes in the frame make it hard to hang new doors cleanly.
- Shelves. Sagging shelves are cheap to replace on their own — but if every one sags, the material is telling you something.
If four or five of those come back clean, refacing is a genuinely good deal. If two or more fail, you are about to spend $10,000 dressing up cabinets that will need replacing in eight years anyway.
The layout question that settles it
Ask yourself one thing: if money were not a factor, would you move anything? Not upgrade — move. A wider space beside the range. A drawer stack instead of that deep low cupboard nobody reaches into. The fridge somewhere that does not block the doorway.
If the honest answer is yes, refacing will not satisfy you. You will spend $11,000, and every one of those frustrations will still be there, now behind doors too new to justify replacing. If the answer is genuinely no — the kitchen works, it just looks tired — refacing is the best value in the entire remodelling world.
What refacing includes, and what it does not
| Item | In a typical reface quote? | Add-on cost if not |
|---|---|---|
| New doors and drawer fronts | Yes | — |
| Veneer on visible box edges | Yes | — |
| New hinges | Yes | — |
| Handles and knobs | Sometimes | $180 – $600 |
| New drawer boxes | Rarely | $90 – $200 each |
| Soft-close upgrade | Sometimes | $8 – $20 per door |
| Interior repaint or reline | No | $400 – $1,100 |
| Crown moulding | Sometimes | $400 – $900 |
| New countertop | No | $2,200 – $6,500 |
That last line catches people. Refacing does not touch the countertop, so a dated worktop stays dated beside beautiful new doors. If you are replacing the counter anyway, the removal work overlaps with cabinet replacement — which narrows the price gap further. Worth reading our quartz vs granite comparison before deciding.
Which returns more at resale
Both do well, and refacing does better as a percentage precisely because it costs less. A $10,500 reface that lifts the kitchen from dated to current recovers most of its cost at sale. A $38,000 custom replacement recovers roughly two-thirds.
But percentage recovered is the wrong metric if you are staying. Over fifteen years of daily use, drawers that open properly and a layout that fits how you cook are worth more than a number on a spreadsheet. The full picture on kitchen spend sits in our kitchen remodel cost guide.
Common questions
Can I reface laminate cabinets?
Yes, if the substrate is sound. Rigid thermofoil and melamine boxes take veneer fine as long as they are not delaminating or swollen. Peeling foil on the existing doors does not matter — those are going anyway.
Is refacing a DIY job?
Doors and hardware, yes, if you are careful and patient. Veneering the face frames cleanly is the hard part — the corners and the reveals around each opening are where amateur jobs announce themselves. Budget $2,800 to $5,000 for doors and materials if you take it on yourself.
Can I just paint them instead?
On solid wood or MDF doors, yes, and professionally sprayed results look excellent for eight to twelve years. On thermofoil or printed particleboard, paint adheres badly and will chip along every edge within two years. Test an inside door edge with an acetone-dampened cloth first — if colour lifts, it is not wood.
How long does refacing actually take?
Three to five days on site after a lead time of three to six weeks for the doors to be made. Your kitchen stays usable for most of it, which is the underrated advantage — no takeaways for a fortnight.
Keep reading
Working out your own number? Our free renovation cost calculator gives you the range for your size and area in about ten seconds.
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