|
Do you want to remodel your
kitchen but can’t afford to rebuild or replace it?
Kitchen refacing is a viable alternative to a complete
kitchen replacement. It is considerable cheaper
than replacing the whole thing, and can be an excellent
way of changing the look of the room, without changing
the room itself.
Kitchen refacing is
where the face of kitchen cabinets are laminated,
painted or replaced. By just changing the doors,
you can change the look of them, at a fraction of the
cost. Changing the handles can also go a long way
to transforming old and tired cabinets into something
new and contemporary.
Sometimes a kitchen
just works and you don’t want to change it. Or
it’s in such good condition that you can’t bring
yourself to rip it out and start again. Changing a
whole kitchen isn’t always within reach of people’s
budgets or skills. Whatever the reason, refacing
can be an excellent, low cost way or rejuvenating a
room.
The simplest way of doing it is
to paint the cabinets. As long as the previous
layer is removed by sanding, this should be a suitable
method for all wood finished units. You can either
use specific kitchen cabinet paint or a gloss wood paint
depending on the look you want to achieve. First
you need to removed the doors from the carcass and then
remove the handles. Sand all the wooden surfaces
so remove the old finish and provide a key for the new
one. Clean the wood thoroughly and once fully dry
just paint as normal. Then replace the handles or
buy new ones and refit the doors. This can be done
in a couple of days and still allows you to use the
kitchen in the meantime.
Staining the wood can be
achieved in exactly the same way as painting. By
being more careful with the sanding, and using a fine
paper for the last go, a smooth finish can be achieved
quickly and easily. Wood stain will only work if
the wood is of sufficient quality. This is
something you can find out quickly by looking inside a
cabinet or drawer at an unpainted part of the unit.
It goes without saying that wood stain wouldn’t work on
chipboard or manufactured wood.
Laminating is the other
option when thinking about kitchen refacing. This
is the process of adding a laminated material onto the
surface of the wood. This is much more difficult
than painting or staining and should really be done by
someone who knows what they’re doing. It is
difficult to achieve a good finish with laminate so
expert help is essential. Done right though, the
end result can be very effective, not to mention very
hard wearing.
The cost of having a kitchen
refaced in laminate depends on the size of the kitchen
and how many cabinets you have. It is on average
between thirty and fifty percent of the cost of having
the whole thing replaced so can offer significant
savings while providing an almost new kitchen.
|
