Most kitchens that get torn out didn’t need to be. The boxes are usually sound — it is the finish that has gone, and the colour that has dated. Refinishing addresses both, in under a week, without losing the use of your kitchen.
Where it makes sense, and where it doesn’t
We would rather tell you no than take a job that disappoints you. Refinishing works well on:
- Solid wood doors and frames, painted or stained, in any condition short of falling apart
- MDF and thermofoil doors where the foil is still bonded
- Boxes that are square, with drawers and hinges that still work
It does not work on:
- Thermofoil that is peeling or bubbling. Once the foil lifts, nothing is going to stick to it. Those doors need replacing — the boxes usually don’t.
- Water-swollen particleboard, typically under the sink. It can be replaced, but it cannot be painted back to flat.
- A layout you dislike. A beautiful finish on a kitchen that doesn’t work is still a kitchen that doesn’t work.
How it is done
The finish is the whole job, and the finish is decided by the preparation. In order:
- Doors and drawer fronts come off and are labelled, so every one goes back exactly where it came from.
- Everything is degreased. Kitchen cabinets carry years of cooking oil, particularly above the hob. Paint does not stick to it, and skipping this step is the single most common reason a refinish fails within the year.
- Scuff-sanded, then bonding primer. The primer is what grips the old finish; the topcoat only has to grip the primer.
- Sprayed, not brushed. Two coats of a cabinet-grade finish. Brush marks on a cabinet door are visible from across the room in a way they never are on a wall.
- Cured before rehanging. Cabinet coatings are touch-dry in hours and hard in days. Rehanging too early is how you get doors that stick to their frames.
What it is like to live through
Boxes are done in place, with the kitchen masked off. Doors are sprayed off-site, so the spraying and the smell do not happen in your house. You keep the use of your counters and appliances throughout; you lose the doors for most of the week.
Typical kitchen: four to six working days, depending on the door count.
What it costs
Cabinets are priced by door and drawer count, not by kitchen size, because that is what the work actually is. We count them on the video walk. As a rule it lands well under a third of what replacing the same cabinets would cost — but we would rather quote your kitchen than quote a rule.
The instant estimate on our home page covers interior and exterior wall painting. Cabinets need the count, so that one is a short conversation rather than a form.