How to Tell if Your Cabinets Are Good Candidates
Refacing only works if the boxes underneath are worth keeping. We check that first, because putting new doors on a sagging or water-damaged box just hides the problem for a while. Plenty of San Antonio kitchens built from the 1970s through the 1990s have solid face-frame cabinets with dated oak doors, and those are ideal.
The sink base gets the closest look. Years of hard water drips from supply valves and faucet bases can soften the floor of that cabinet. If it’s soft, we can rebuild just that one box and reface the rest.
- Face frames are solid wood and still glued tight at the joints.
- Shelves and cabinet floors are flat, not bowed or swollen.
- The sink base has no soft spots, mold or delaminating layers.
- The current layout gives you enough counter space and storage.
- Upper cabinets are fastened firmly to the wall studs.
What Gets Replaced and What Stays
Refacing changes everything you see from the room and leaves the structure alone. Doors and drawer fronts are new. Face frames and exposed end panels get a thin veneer or laminate that matches the new doors. Hinges usually switch to concealed soft-close hardware, and you pick new pulls.
Countertops, sink, plumbing and the cabinet interiors stay put. That’s where the savings come from. You can add new drawer boxes on full-extension slides, swap a base door for a trash pull-out, or add crown molding, and those small upgrades often make a refaced kitchen feel new to use, not just to look at.
Another easy add is a pull-out for recycling or a tray divider over the oven. Since the doors are coming off anyway, these changes cost less now than they would later.
Refacing Day by Day
Because the boxes stay, refacing is one of the least disruptive kitchen projects we do. Here’s how a typical week runs.
- Measure and order: every opening is measured, and doors are ordered to fit your exact frames.
- Prep: old doors, drawer fronts and hardware come off, and the frames are cleaned and sanded.
- Veneer: face frames and exposed sides are covered with veneer that matches the new doors.
- Hang doors: new hinges are mounted and doors are adjusted so the gaps line up evenly.
- Drawers and hardware: new fronts and pulls go on, and any drawer box upgrades are installed.
- Final adjust: every door and drawer is checked, and the kitchen is cleaned out.
Picking Door Styles and Materials That Last
The door you choose decides most of what the kitchen will look like for the next couple of decades, so it’s worth slowing down here. Shaker doors are the most requested because they suit almost any house, from a Leon Valley ranch to a newer build in Alamo Ranch. Slab doors give a sleek, modern feel and show off a wood grain well. Doors with a small bead or a narrow rail work nicely in older homes with traditional trim.
Material matters as much as style. Real wood veneer and solid wood doors can be refinished later. Thermofoil is affordable and easy to wipe down, but it can peel near a range or a self-cleaning oven that vents heat at the sides. Painted MDF doors stay flat and smooth, which makes them a smart pick for painted finishes that would show cracks at the joints of a solid wood door.
- Keep thermofoil away from the oven and range, or use heat shields.
- Pick a finish sample under your actual kitchen lighting before ordering.
- Match the new veneer to the door color under daylight and at night.
Refacing Against Painting and Full Replacement
Refacing sits in the middle. Painting your existing cabinets costs less but keeps the same door style, so a raised-panel oak door stays a raised-panel door. Replacing cabinets costs much more but lets you change the layout. Refacing changes the style without changing the footprint.
If you want a shaker look but your doors are cathedral arches, refacing is usually the better money. If you like your door shape and only hate the color, paint. If the layout is the real problem, refacing won’t fix it, and we’ll say so. For a fuller look at the decision, see our guide on refacing versus replacing.
Pairing Refacing With Other Quick Upgrades
Since the counters stay, many clients use the savings to change one more thing. A new backsplash shows off fresh doors well. Under-cabinet lighting is easy to add while the doors are off. Some people replace counters at the same time, which works fine as long as the counters go in after the boxes are confirmed level.
Refacing also works well in rental homes and in houses being readied for sale, where you want a clean modern kitchen without a long project. If you’d like to see door samples against your current counters, call for a walkthrough and we’ll bring a few styles.
Projects that often go with cabinet refacing
Cabinet Painting
Paint is the cheapest way to change how a kitchen feels, and the easiest to get wrong. We clean, sand, prime and spray your cabinets with a hard finish, then let it cure before the doors go back up.
Custom Kitchen Cabinets
Stock cabinets come in three-inch steps, and real kitchens rarely do. We design custom cabinets around your walls, appliances and the way you cook, so the filler strips disappear and every inch does a job.
Kitchen Backsplash Installation
A backsplash is small in square footage and huge in how a kitchen looks. We plan the layout, center the pattern on what your eye sees first, and finish every edge so nothing looks like an afterthought.
Kitchen Remodeling
A good kitchen remodel starts with the house, not a catalog photo. We design and build full kitchen remodels across San Antonio, sorting out layout, plumbing, power and permits before anyone picks a cabinet color.
Cabinet Refacing questions
How long does cabinet refacing take in a San Antonio kitchen?
Ordering doors takes a few weeks after measuring. Once they arrive, the on-site work usually runs 3 to 5 working days for an average kitchen. Your sink and counters keep working through the job, though you’ll be moving dishes around a bit while doors are off and the veneer goes on.
Can I change from oak to white with cabinet refacing?
Yes, that’s one of the most common requests. The face frames get a white veneer or painted wood skin, and the new doors arrive already finished in the same color. Because nothing is painted on site, you avoid brush marks and the long cure time that painting needs.
Is cabinet refacing a good choice for 1980s cabinets in Stone Oak or Encino Park homes?
Often, yes. Many homes from that era in Stone Oak and Encino Park have well-built face-frame cabinets with dated doors. If the sink base is sound and you like the layout, refacing gives a much newer look for a fraction of replacement cost.
Does refacing include the inside of the cabinets?
Standard refacing covers the outside. Interiors stay as they are, though we can line shelves or replace worn drawer boxes. If the inside of a box is damaged, we’ll replace that box. Most clients find that clean interiors plus new drawers feel fresh enough without extra work.
Will refaced cabinets look different from new ones once the job is done?
Not from across the room. Done well, refaced cabinets look like new ones, because the doors, fronts and visible surfaces are all new. The difference shows inside, where the original boxes and shelves remain. Careful veneer work at the corners and even door gaps are what keep a refaced kitchen from looking patched.