Cabinet Refacing vs Replacement: The Actual Math
Five checks you can run this afternoon, three price ranges side by side, and the hybrid approach that lands 30 percent under a full replacement.
Cabinets are the biggest line in a kitchen budget, which makes them the biggest opportunity to save and the easiest place to make an expensive mistake. The question comes up in nearly every kitchen consultation we do.
“Can we just reface these instead of replacing everything?”
Sometimes it is the smartest money in the whole project. Sometimes it is putting a new suit on a broken chair. At ADS Building & Remodeling we do both for homeowners in Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Glen Ellyn, Naperville, Wheaton, and Schaumburg, and the decision comes down to five checks you can run yourself this afternoon.
What Refacing Actually Is
The cabinet boxes stay. Doors and drawer fronts are replaced, the exposed box faces and end panels are covered in matching veneer or painted, and hardware, hinges, and slides are new. Done well, it is indistinguishable from new cabinetry to anyone who does not open a door and look at the interior.
What refacing is not: a layout change, a fix for water damage, or a way to make sagging particleboard permanent.
The Five Checks
1. Open a Drawer and Look at the Box Material
Plywood boxes reface beautifully. Particleboard can work if it is dry and solid. Particleboard with swollen edges under the sink, or shelves with a visible sag, is telling you it is at the end of its life.
2. Check Square and Level
Put a level on a few boxes and look at the reveals between doors. If the boxes have shifted or the run has settled, new doors will exaggerate it rather than hide it.
3. Ask Whether the Layout Works
This is the real question. If you are annoyed by where the dishwasher is, or there is no landing space beside the range, refacing preserves the annoyance and adds a bill. New doors do not fix a plan.
4. Look Under the Sink
The base cabinet under the sink is where the truth lives. Delamination, staining, or a soft floor means water has been present, and refacing over that is throwing money at a symptom.
5. Count What Is Missing
If you want drawers instead of doors, a taller upper run to the ceiling, a pull-out trash, or a pantry cabinet where a wall of boxes now sits, you are describing new cabinetry. Individual new pieces can be blended into a reface, but past a certain count the economics flip.
The Actual Math
For a typical Chicago suburban kitchen with 25 to 30 linear feet of cabinetry:
Refacing
Typical range: $9,000 to $20,000
New doors and fronts, veneer or paint on exposed boxes, new hinges, slides, and hardware. Usually 1 to 2 weeks, and the kitchen stays usable for most of it.
Repainting Existing Cabinets
Typical range: $3,500 to $8,000
The cheapest path. Works when the door style is acceptable and the boxes are sound. A sprayed finish by a professional in a controlled setup, not a brush job.
New Semi-Custom Cabinetry
Typical range: $18,000 to $40,000 installed
Layout can change, drawer banks replace door bases, uppers go to the ceiling, and everything inside is new. Usually 4 to 8 weeks including lead time.
Where Refacing Wins
- 2000s or newer kitchen with plywood boxes and a layout you like
- Budget of $25,000 or less for the entire kitchen refresh
- You want new counters and backsplash more than you want new boxes
- You are preparing to sell within a few years
- Cabinet lead times matter to your schedule
Where Replacing Wins
- The layout genuinely does not work for how you cook
- Boxes are particleboard from the 1980s and showing it
- You want deep drawers, interior organization, and soft-close everywhere
- You are moving plumbing or removing a wall anyway, which means cabinets are being disturbed regardless
- You plan to be in the house another decade or more
The Hybrid Nobody Talks About
Our most common recommendation in kitchens between those two cases: reface the runs that work, replace the two or three cabinets that do not, and spend the savings on counters, lighting, and a proper hood.
For example, keep and reface the perimeter, replace the base cabinets flanking the range with a drawer bank and a pull-out, remove the soffit and add stacked uppers, and put the difference into quartz and under-cabinet lighting. Total often lands 30 percent under a full replacement and photographs the same.
Common Questions
Will refaced cabinets look refaced?
Not when the veneer wraps correctly, the end panels are handled properly, and the interiors are cleaned up. The tell is usually a mismatch between new door color and old interior, which is why we finish or line interiors on jobs where doors will be opened by guests.
Can I change door style when refacing?
Yes. Door style, color, and hardware all change. What does not change is box size and layout.
Does refacing hurt resale?
No. Buyers respond to how a kitchen looks and functions. Nobody has ever walked away from a house because the cabinet boxes were original and the doors were new.
Important Cost Note
These are planning ranges, not quotes. Linear footage, door style, finish, and how much new cabinetry gets blended in move the number. At ADS the in-home consultation and the honest opinion about your existing boxes are complimentary.
Deciding About Your Kitchen?
If you are weighing refacing against replacement in Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Glen Ellyn, Naperville, or a nearby Chicago suburb, have someone open a few cabinets and look before you commit either way.
At ADS Building & Remodeling, we provide:
- A complimentary in-home consultation and 3D rendering
- Both options priced side by side when your kitchen is a real candidate for each
- A fixed-price quote that doesn’t move after you sign
- In-house crew, permits, and project management from demo to final walk-through
The right answer depends on the boxes, the layout, and how long you are staying. Everything else is preference.