Cabinet refacing is an alternative to replacing your cabinets. It might take longer to complete but if you put in the time, refacing can be a satisfying DIY project. The amount of work required is determined by how much restoration you need. It might seem strange but the less severe the damage the more work will be required. Let me explain.

If you just need to fix moderately damaged doors, you will need to take them down, sand them, fill any holes with putty, paint or stain and re-hang them. However for severely damaged doors you can replace the entire door and all that is needed is to stain or paint and hang them. Regardless of the effort, cabinet refacing costs less than replacing an entire cabinet system.

As most cabinets are found in the kitchen, we will be referring the kitchen cabinet refacing in this hub. Unless you are redesigning the entire kitchen it won't be necessary to remove the entire cabinet structure, unless it is damaged to the point that it needs to be replaced. Basically refacing refers to restoring the doors and drawer fronts of your cabinets whether you're updating the cabinets' hardware or refinishing the entire cabinet doors or drawer fronts. The cabinet structure itself can still be cleaned up and refinished but those other areas are what you are generally more concerned with. Depending how much effort you are willing to put forth it can take you as long as two and a half months to complete your project.

The first step in refacing kitchen cabinets is to clean them thoroughly. This may require you to remove the doors so that you can clean around the hinges and handles or pulls. You should wear some heavy duty rubber gloves and eye protection when using a cleaning agent like a dissolvent to remove severe dirt. This dirt will most likely include residue from cooking and needs an industrial cleaner to remove it.

When you remove the doors and hardware, be sure to keep them all together and perhaps put the hardware in plastic bags with labels to match to their respective doors when it comes time to re-hang them. Also you want to mark the backs of each door to coincide with their respective hardware. Once you get this out of the way you can begin applying the solvent to remove dirt, old finish or paint, whatever is required to get the cabinets really clean. Of course the type of surface will dictate the kind of cleaner you will need to use on the cabinets. One tip: The cleaner you can get them the better the cabinet refacing will be.

Sanding is the next step in your kitchen cabinet door refacing after you've cleaned all the grime and removed the old paint or finish. This will help remove any final remnants of finish that the cleaner couldn't remove. It also is important as your new finish will adhere better to a sanded wood. Start with a coarse grade sandpaper to really get at the leftover finish or paint. Once that is removed you should move to finer grades. Coarse paper on bare wood can leave an uneven surface if too much pressure is used. The finer grade will leave a light dusting on the surface which can easily be wiped away with a damp paper towel. You don't want the paper towel to soak the newly sanded wood.

Hopefully by the time you have your cabinet doors and drawer fronts sanded you know how you are going to reface them. Aside from a basic stain or painting, you have a few options to totally reface kitchen cabinets. Three of the most popular options are laminates, wood veneers and a newer technique called thermofoiling.

Laminating your cabinets is the least expensive way to go as far as your cabinet refacing cost goes. One downside of plastic laminates is that it doesn't look as nice or professional as the other techniques. But if the surfaces of the cabinets show more wear that sanding could fix then this is a better route than staining or painting.

Wood veneer will be the second least expensive way to go. This will give the appearance of natural wood but works like laminate. It has an adhesive backing that peels and sticks right on the face of your cabinets. The best part is you can find wood veneer in any practically any wood type.

Thermofoil is the most expensive route you can take for resurfacing kitchen cabinets but it is the best looking option. It acts just like the laminate and wood veneer with an adhesive backing but your choices are far greater for décor. Aside from wood grains you can also have the option for solid colors, marble or granite effects and metallics. They are easily maintained and do not chip.

Once you've resurfaced your cabinets simply reattach them with the labeled hardware and you have a brand new room with great looking cabinets. The best feeling will come from the fact that you did the cabinet refacing all by yourself.

Below is a video from Home Depot that offers their cabinet refacing services if you don't want to do it yourself.