Cabinets: Refacing, Refinishing & Full Replacement in Midland, TX

There are three ways to change how cabinets look, and they are not interchangeable. Refinishing keeps the boxes and the doors and changes the color. Refacing keeps the boxes, replaces the doors and drawer fronts, and skins the exposed sides with new veneer. Full replacement throws out the boxes and starts over. Refacing is commonly quoted at a substantial discount to new cabinetry, often on the order of a third to a half less, but it only makes sense when the carcasses are square, solid, and laid out the way you want to keep them.

That last condition is where most Midland kitchens fall out. Builder-grade boxes from a boom cycle were frequently particleboard with a stapled back, and after decades of dry heat and a few plumbing leaks under the sink, the sink base is often the first thing to go soft. There is also no point refacing a layout you dislike, because refacing locks the footprint in place. Our rule of thumb: if the boxes are sound plywood and the plan stays put, reface and put the savings into counters and fixtures. If the sink base is spongy or the layout has to move, replace and stop paying to preserve something you are about to change.