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Cabinet Refinishing vs. Refacing vs. Remodeling

The terms refinishing, refacing and remodeling are used by Cabinet Coatings to describe the different coating services we offer our customers. Each service solves a unique problem for homeowners. But they also share many similarities with one another.

Here’s a brief definition of each service we offer here at Cabinet Coatings of America:

  • With cabinet refinishing, your original cabinet doors and cabinet boxes are sanded, primed, cleaned and then coated with our ultra-durable, water-borne acrylic finishing product.
  • With cabinet refacing, we apply the same great coating process to your cabinet boxes, plus we install brand new cabinet doors to give your kitchen, bath or laundry room an entirely new look and feel.
  • With cabinet remodeling, we remove one or more cabinet boxes from your home and resize them to fit new appliances or accommodate a major room remodel. The same coating process is applied to the resized and original cabinet boxes. Customers can also choose to have their cabinet boxes refaced with new cabinet doors as well.

This article looks at these services in more nuanced detail, comparing factors such as:

Alternatively, you can give us a call at (480) 641-9611 to speak directly with one of our cabinet coating experts. We’re always happy to answer your questions.

Purpose of cabinet refinishing, refacing and remodeling

Let’s consider three hypothetical situations, where each homeowner has a unique problem that they’d like to solve:

Hypothetical situation #1: Refinishing

Tammy and Joe are selling their home, but their kitchen and bathrooms are dated and the coloring of the cabinets haven’t aged well. The cabinets themselves, however, are in great shape. Updating them with a new color would open up the kitchen and bathrooms and help them sell their home faster.

The problem is they’re on a hard budget. Replacing the cabinets is out of the question. But using a standard paint product would make them look cheap. So Tammy and Joe decide to hire Cabinet Coatings to apply their ultra-durable water-borne acrylic finishing product to give their old cabinets a glossy, satin finish that will modernize all the cabinets in the home.

Some of the benefits of refinishing include:

  1. It’s the ultimate budget-conscious coating service which can be used for cabinets around the entire home.
  2. Traditional cabinet replacements could take weeks and coat your entire home with dust and debris. With a cabinet refinishing, we’re in and out of your home in just 1 week.
  3. It’s a long-term solution. Oil, lacquer and epoxy finishes crack and flake off when applied to wood. Cabinet Coatings refinishing product is warrantied to not crack, fade or peel for 5 years.

Hypothetical situation #2: Refacing

Sara and Michael have lived in their home for 10 years and it’s beginning to show its age. The kitchen offers the most opportunity to revitalize their home, and the cabinets offer the biggest opportunity to brighten up and modernize the kitchen.

A full cabinet replacement isn’t an option for Sara and Michael’s budget. But their flat-panel cabinet doors are boring and lacking a modern touch. They could hire someone to install cheap stick-on veneers over their current cabinet doors. But these veneers could start to peel and crack within a year or two.

The pair decides the best option is to call Cabinet Coatings to apply a fresh finishing product to their original boxes, plus install brand new doors on each cabinet for a completely revitalized, modern look.

Some of the benefits of refacing include:

  1. It’s a perfect middle ground between a complete remodel and a simple recoating project. Cabinet boxes don’t really go out of style. They’re just boxes after all. That’s not true of cabinet door styles, which do become dated over time. A fresh color on an outdated door style may not revitalize your cabinetry. But new doors almost always do the trick.
  2. A full replacement could force homeowners to live in a disaster zone for weeks. With refacing, the cabinet doors are made off-site and only installed when they’re ready. Usually, we’re only in the home for a week.
  3. Some companies reface cabinet doors with cheap slap-on veneers. But the quality of brand new solid wood cabinet doors just can’t be beat in terms of price and appearance.

Hypothetical situation 3: Remodeling

Joseph and Emily are replacing their outdated kitchen appliances with brand new ones. The problem? Their cabinets were built exclusively to house their old appliances. Because their new appliances are larger than the old ones, they know they have to make alterations to the cabinetry. But they don’t want to spend over $10,000 to replace all their cabinets.

Cabinet Coatings offers a perfect solution. They can resize some of their cabinet doors to ensure the new appliances fit. On top of that, they can touch up their kitchen with a new color and even brand new hard-wood cabinet doors.

Some of the benefits of remodeling include:

  1. Homeowners don’t have to go to extreme lengths to install new appliances. They can simply resize their current cabinet boxes to ensure the new appliances fit.
  2. With a remodel, homeowners also have a chance to apply the same beautiful refinishing product on their original cabinet doors and boxes. They can even have new doors installed if they’d like (in some cases, new doors may be necessary to fit the resized boxes.)

How Much Do Cabinet Refinishing, Refacing and Remodeling Projects Cost?

Below you’ll find the upper and lower range for Cabinet Coating’s refinishing, refacing and remodeling services:

  • Cost of a cabinet refinishing: $2,000 to $10,000
  • Cost of a cabinet refacing: $7,000 to $15,000
  • Cost of a cabinet remodel: $7,000 to $30,000

What factors change the price?

Some of the most common price factors in a cabinet refinishing, refacing or remodeling project include:

  • The type of service being requested (refinishing, refacing or remodeling)
  • The size of the project (number of rooms and cabinets)
  • The customer’s chosen finish
  • The scope of cabinet modifications (exclusively for cabinet remodels)
  • Special requests by the customer for new hardware (soft-close drawer tracks, hinges, pulls, etc.)
bathroom cabinets

The number of cabinets, the scope of the modifications and other factors will influence the price of a cabinet redesign.

Process: How Our Services Differ

Cabinet Coatings has a 3-step process we use for every project, whether it’s cabinet refinishing, refacing or remodeling:

  1. We provide a free consultation and quote
  2. We spend between 1-3 days in your home over the course of a week to complete the job
  3. We perform a walk-through and final assessment with the homeowner

That being said, differences do exist for each step of the process based on the type of service you select.

Step 1: The Free Consultation & Quote

Here’s what always happens during step 1 of our process:

  • Our refinishing expert, Chuck, will arrive at your home, listen to your goals and answer questions you have about the project.
  • Color samples will be provided for you to review. If you need some time to think about a color, no problem.
  • A written quote for the project is emailed to you at the end of the consultation.

Depending on the service, Chuck may also perform the following steps:

  • Share door samples for homeowners that are looking to replace their cabinet doors (cabinet refacing and cabinet remodeling)
  • Take measurements for one or more cabinets that need to be resized (cabinet remodeling)

Step 1 can take between 1-2 hours or longer in your home.

Step 2: Refinishing & Installation

Here’s what happens during step 2 of our process:

  • The cabinet boxes are washed, patched and sanded down in preparation for their coating. The cabinet doors, meanwhile, are uninstalled and taken back to the workshop to be washed, sanded and coated 2-3 times with our high-performance finishing material.
  • We return to the home on a separate day to apply 2-3 coats of the same ultra-durable finishing product to the cabinet boxes.
  • On the last day in the home, the cabinet doors are reinstalled with all the necessary hardware.

Depending on the service, we may also:

  • Have brand new cabinet doors manufactured to replace your original doors. These new doors will be coated at our workshop and installed on the last day in the home (cabinet refacing)
  • Remove one or more cabinet boxes from the home and take them back to the workshop to be resized. These boxes are returned to the home and reinstalled prior to being coated (remodeling)

Step 2 tends to take a week to complete on average.

Step 3: Final Walkthrough

This step never changes. We join the homeowner on a walkthrough to ensure their expectations are met and they’re 100% satisfied with the job we performed for them.

Want Stunning Cabinet Makeovers for the Fraction of the Price of a Full Cabinet Replacement?

Cabinet Coatings is the premier destination in the Phoenix valley and Arizona for cabinet refinishing, cabinet refacing and cabinet remodeling projects. No other cabinetry business in the valley has been around as long as we have. And that experience shows in our work every day.

If you have a project in mind that you’re excited to get started, then give us a call today at 480-641-9611. We look forward to hearing from you!

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