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Get expert input on new cabinets or cabinet refacing
Kitchen cabinets are a major percentage of kitchen building and remodeling costs. If you'd prefer not to unravel their mysteries alone, free expert advice can come from sources you may not think of first: general or remodeling contractors. Who else works with so many suppliers, has hands-on experience about installation subtleties, knows the pros and cons of refacing versus replacing kitchen cabinets, and wants to provide your favorite cabinets at the best price?
Finding local pre-screened, certified, licensed contractors* is easy. Fill in some simple information here. You'll receive names of local kitchen contractors and professionals. The companies will contact you about their kitchen cabinet services. You can choose the company you prefer and get bids for your kitchen cabinet solutions.
Search for pre-screened kitchen cabinet contractors and professionals in your area!
Kitchen cabinet types, materials and options
Your options for kitchen cabinets vary with whether they are for new home construction or a remodeling project. Kitchen cabinets are usually budgeted into construction bids. You can spend more or less than the bid allowance. When remodeling, refacing existing cabinets rather than buying new ones can save from hundreds to thousands of dollars, though big changes in kitchen size and configuration may dictate new cabinets. Either way, general or remodeling contractors have a wealth of knowledge and sources to help you budget, plan and choose.
Save on kitchen makeovers with refacing
New to refacing? Here are the candidates, options and benefits of kitchen cabinet refacing:
- Refacing candidates: Often cabinet cases are structurally sound but the doors, drawer fronts and hardware are scratched, grimy, sagging and/or outdated. Refacing creates dramatic new looks at up to half the cost of new cabinets.
- Versatility: Consider all options. Go from dark oak to light maple, or even bamboo. Choose painted to stained, Country to Contemporary, solid color or textured laminates. Most architectural styles are available for doors and drawer fronts. Sometimes cabinet cases are painted, stained or laminated to complement or contrast with the doors rather than matching them.
- Benefits of refacing: The cabinet cases usually stay in place and doors and drawer fronts are removed. That alone saves much time and money versus installing new cabinets. Yes, you can have the cabinet cases painted, or stripped and re-stained, but homeowners often save most by having a contractor apply cabinet case veneers supplied by the door manufacturer to match your new doors.
New kitchen cabinets provide maximum choices
While the cases of most cabinets are basically boxes that hold shelves and drawers, certain quality differences can tip the balance toward new kitchen cabinets, even for a kitchen remodel.
- Construction techniques: Less expensive cabinet cases, sometimes including the face frames, are often made of fiberboard, with butt-jointed case and drawer box corners. Exterior surfaces can be synthetic laminates except for door frames. Some center panels are also fiberboard (particle board). Take out existing drawer boxes and empty an end cupboard to inspect your cabinets for this type of construction. In time staple and screw holes in fiberboard wear, causing loose joints. New cabinets are an opportunity to order solid plywood cases with strong rabbeted or lapped corners and dove-tailed drawer boxes.
- Style options: Your contractor can quote styling options at price ranges from modest to custom. There are even more options available in new kitchen cabinets than you'll find with refaced cabinets. Beech, cherry, hickory, maple, oak, bamboo, teak, non-domestic woods -- the choice is yours! Special finishes and ornamentation are also available.
- Pricing: Costs of remodeling a kitchen vary widely. A minor kitchen remodel with mid-range options can run under $25,000, while a high-end remodel can be closer to $60,000. Cabinets are a major part of these costs, and local contractors' prices can vary up or down from these. Contractors work with different brands and cabinet shops and can sometimes provide discounted contractor prices.
Want to control your cabinet costs? Whether it's for refacing kitchen cabinets or new kitchen cabinets, set a budget and stick to it. Another cost control method is to get bids from three of the local licensed, bonded, pre-screened and certified contractors* available through this website. Give them all identical specifications. Inform all bidders of modifications. Let them know you're getting multiple bids -- it will sharpen their pencils while you learn more about them and the work you're purchasing.
Since people change cabinets less frequently than almost any other kitchen element, consider investing in higher quality cabinets. Then schedule upgrades to appliances, window treatments or special lighting down the road a bit. Cabinets are a complex process. Fortunately this site can connect you to pre-screened contractors who can simplify your learning curve. This website's other articles provide more background info.
*See terms and conditions on http://www.streetcertified.com/about/Terms.jsp
