Refacing kitchen cabinets has come a long way. Plastic veneers in every color and pattern you can think of are available, and many places will create beautiful wooden veneers which can give your cabinets a very high quality look. In the short term, this may be a great money saver and help you get the kitchen you desire. In the long term, things aren’t as cut and dried, and based upon your situation, it may actually save you money to replace your kitchen cabinets.
Taking a Closer Look
One quick and easy answer is that replacing kitchen cabinets is always going to be more expensive than refacing them. This statement is true, on the surface. Most cabinet makers, though, give their kitchen cabinets a usable life of 15-25 years, based on normal daily usage.
The average kitchen reface comes somewhere in the middle of that time, and costs about half that of replacing the kitchen with cabinets of the same style and quality. All of this boils down to the fact that when refacing your kitchen cabinets, you can expect an approximate life of 10 years for the reface, after which, you will either need to reface again or, which is most likely, you will need to replace the cabinets. This means that you have spent at least the same amount of money over time that you would have spent on a new kitchen, or 1.5 times that amount with a combination of refacing and replacing.
Out With the Old, In With the New
If you want to save money when replacing cabinets, go for RTA cabinets. They have come into their own, and, with a reliable seller, such as RTA Cabinet Store, you know you will be getting high quality, stable cabinets that will stand the test of time. And they are much cheaper than custom cabinets. If you install them yourself, you can save a ton of money on contractor costs too. Factor in the fact that these cabinets will last more than 20 years and your costs per year of life of your cabinetry are significantly lower than a reface.
Other Considerations
If you have custom, high quality cabinets, it may be better for you to reface, as the life of the cabinets could be much higher than average. Most of the time, these types of cabinets are wood, and will require wood veneers, which can be close to the cost of installing a brand new kitchen. Refaced cabinets also are a money saver if you are looking to raise your short term home value, and are planning on selling. Overall, though, the decision to replace cabinets is the one which will save money over time, and allow you to get a brand new kitchen from the bottom up in the process.
