Cabinet refacing in Fort Wayne

What cabinet refacing is

The old doors and drawer fronts come off. The face frames and the exposed end panels get a thin layer of wood or laminate veneer glued over them. Then new doors, drawer fronts, hinges and pulls go on.

The shelves, the countertop, the sink and the plumbing stay put, so nobody tears out a cabinet or resets a countertop.

When your boxes are good enough to reface

Refacing only works on boxes that are sound. Open a few doors and check:

• The box sides, backs and shelves feel firm, with no swelling or crumbling at the edges.
• The floor of the sink base is dry and hard when you press it.
• The cabinets sit tight to the wall and the run looks level.
• You like the layout. Refacing changes the look of a cabinet, never where it sits.

Boxes that fail one of those checks need work first. A soft sink base can often be fixed on its own (see cabinet repair in Fort Wayne). If most of the boxes are swollen, or you want an island or a different layout, new cabinets are the better spend.

Refacing, refinishing or replacing

These three get mixed up a lot. Here is what each one changes.

Option	What changes	What stays	National range
Refacing	Doors, drawer fronts, hinges, pulls, veneer on frames and end panels	Boxes, shelves, countertop, sink	About $4,200 to $10,200
Refinishing (painting)	The color of the doors and frames you have	Everything else, door style included	$2,500 to $6,500
Replacing with custom cabinets	Boxes, doors, layout if you want it	Usually nothing but the walls	About $2,800 to $13,000 for the cabinets

The ranges overlap because each guide averages kitchens of every size. Painting keeps your door style. Refacing gets you a new door style without touching the boxes. Replacing is the only one that fixes a bad layout, and it usually brings tear-out, cabinet installation and often a new countertop with it. If painting sounds closer to what you want, read about cabinet painting. If the layout is the problem, start with custom kitchen cabinets in Fort Wayne.

Veneer and door options

The veneer on the frames and the new doors should match, so they are picked together.

• Wood veneer in oak, maple, cherry or walnut. It takes stain like solid wood and goes with solid wood doors. It can be touched up and refinished later.
• Rigid thermofoil (RTF), a vinyl skin pressed over MDF doors. Smooth, wipes clean, and comes in solid colors and wood looks. It can lift or bubble next to an oven or a self-cleaning range that vents heat sideways, so ask about a heat shield there.
• Plastic laminate, the hardest-wearing surface of the three. Good for busy kitchens and rentals, in flat colors or wood grain prints.
• Painted doors on MDF or hardwood, with matching painted veneer on the frames.

For door style, shaker is the common pick, and it works painted or stained. Slab doors suit a modern look and pair well with laminate. Ask for a sample door in your finish and look at it in your own kitchen light, morning and evening.

How refacing works, step by step

1. Measure. A cabinet maker measures every door and drawer opening and checks the boxes for damage.
2. Choices. You pick the door style, veneer, hinges and pulls. Small add-ons, like a new end cabinet or pull-out shelves, are planned now.
3. Doors are made. Doors and drawer fronts are built to the measured openings. Your kitchen works as usual while you wait.
4. On site. Old doors come off. Frames get cleaned, repaired and covered in veneer, end panels too.
5. Hang and adjust. New doors and drawer fronts go on with new hinges. Pulls are mounted on a template and every gap is adjusted even.

How long the kitchen is out of use

Once the doors are ready, refacing usually takes a few days on site. You can still use the sink and the counters most of that time, and dishes can stay on the shelves if you clear the fronts. Expect glue smell and some noise on veneer days. The fridge and range keep working throughout.

How much cabinet refacing costs in Fort Wayne

National cost guides put kitchen cabinet refacing at about $4,200 to $10,200. The count of doors and drawer fronts sets most of the price. The veneer and door style set the rest.

What moves the price	Why
Number of doors and drawer fronts	Each one is built, finished and hung
Wood veneer vs. thermofoil or laminate	Stained wood takes more finishing time
Door style	Inset and raised panel doors take more shaping and fitting
Added cabinets or new end panels	New boxes are built to match the run
Soft-close hinges, pull-outs, organizers	Hardware and inserts add parts and labor
Old paint in a pre-1978 house	Lead-safe setup and cleanup add time

Permits and older Fort Wayne houses

Refacing needs no permit from the Allen County Building Department, since nothing structural, electrical or plumbing changes. That changes if you add under-cabinet lighting on a new circuit or move the sink while the doors are off. Those are electrical or plumbing jobs, and they need a permit.

In a house built before 1978, the old finish on painted frames may contain lead. Under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, paid work that disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted surface in a room needs an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm. Sanding or scraping painted face frames before the veneer goes on can cross that line in one kitchen. Ask to see the firm's certificate before work starts.

Refacing questions