How to Reface Kitchen Cabinets
by Jonah
To reface kitchen cabinets you must properly prepare and plan. However, for those of you looking for a concise checklist or summary on how to reface kitchen cabinets, this page of Kitchen Cabinet Refacing is for you.
I will boil down the process of refacing kitchen cabinets to ten precise steps. If you’re either looking for the gist of the process while in the deliberation phase or if you’re an experienced home remodeler looking for a refresher, this cabinet refacing article should fulfill your needs.
1. Empty Kitchen Cabinets
This is a common sense way to start this process, but you’ll find it more tedious than you expect. You may be surprised just how much you kept up there. Try to keep boxes organized to minimize the time and effort required to place items back in the cabinets.
And I would hope this goes without saying, but be thorough. It isn’t fun to find some stray item in the back of the cabinet when you’re in the middle of the stripping or staining stages.
Some may say you can leave items in cabinets and drawers and just protect them with plastic or newspaper. I disagree. With stains, stripping agents, putties and sawdust flying and dripping about, you don’t want your food and utensils anywhere near this work area.
2. Protect Your Kitchen While You Work
Use plastic and cloth. Cloth helps prevent damage through thin materials (such as dropping that hammer or screwdriver) and plastic helps protect stripping solvent and stains from damaging surfaces such as appliance surfaces and counter tops.
Don’t be impatient here. Tape up and fold the plastic where necessary. Be thorough and meticulous or you may regret it later. Once you really know how to reface kitchen cabinets, you’ll understand how impatience can have consequences.
If practical, move your oven and refrigerator into a nearby room (set them on a cardboard and plastic). This step may even be necessary in many (if not most) cases.
3. Remove Cabinet Doors and Cabinet Hardware
Carefully remove cabinet drawers, cabinet doors and all cabinet hardware (cabinet knobs, pulls, hinges and drawer runners) so that you don’t accidentally damage any surfaces or structures.
Carefully organize doors and hardware with labels so that you know exactly where they need to return when you finish refacing kitchen cabinets. Don’t underestimate the value of this step. Your head will be spinning if you have several similar-looking doors and drawers without a labeling system.
4. Strip and Sand Old Cabinet Surfaces
Proper stripping requires the proper stripping solvent. Your local hardware store should be able to provide you guidance on which stripping solvent is most appropriate for your stain. Some of you may not require a stripping agent. You may be able to just cut to the sanding stage.
If using a stripping solvent, however, be sure to take proper safety precautions such as using protective gloves and properly ventilating the work area while using the stripping agent.
Always sand after stripping. Sand thoroughly but evenly. Uneven sanding jobs can lead to an uneven appearance for wood kitchen cabinet stains and even kitchen cabinet paint jobs.
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5. Clean and Prep Cabinet Surfaces for Refinishing
How to Reface Kitchen Cabinets
A stray dust bunny or clump of sawdust can throw a real wrench into your staining plans. Be thorough in making sure all surfaces are clean and clear. Utilize a tack cloth to be certain all debris have been removed.
Steps 4 and 5 often distinguish the people who know how to reface kitchen cabinets from those that simply do not understand the importance of being careful and thorough at this stage.
6. Apply Your New Kitchen Cabinet Stain or Cabinet Paint
Apply stain and paint evenly and do it all in one action. Splitting the job to different days may give an uneven appearance as varying humidity levels and temperatures can affect the way the stain or paint dries and then appears forever after.
7. Measure and Mark for New Cabinet Hardware Locations
Install hinges and drawer runners. Very carefully measure and space hardware locations, keeping door and drawer sizes in mind.
Remember to measure twice, install once.
8. Install New Kitchen Cabinet Hardware
I encourage you to install all cabinet hardware first, and then install the cabinet doors and cabinet drawers.
New hardware alone will give your kitchen a fresh new look. Placing all the hardware before placing the doors will help you determine maximum locations for screws and hinge spacing.
9. Install Kitchen Cabinet Doors
Check for proper closing and symmetry with other doors. At this point, I really hope you remembered to label and organize your doors so you can quickly select the right door and drawer for the right location.
10. The Finishing Touch to Reface Kitchen Cabinets
Install all pulls, knobs and touch up the stain and paint if necessary.
Now stand back and enjoy the view of your glorious new kitchen. Learning how to reface kitchen cabinets can be fun and rewarding if you’re thorough in your preparation and meticulous in your execution.
Refacing kitchen cabinets is one of the best bang-for-your-buck home remodeling projects you’ll find. I sincerely hope this checklist and summary of how to reface kitchen cabinets helps you do the job right and complete it to your greatest satisfaction.
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