Resurfacing kitchen or bathroom cabinets

[Ken Vick]

My boxes are still in excellent shape--custom built back in the day when hardwood plywood was still a quality product. I would prefer white interiors and these like most from the 60s are stained but if I decide to go with new boxes they will be white inside. Good luck with your library redo. Ken

[Ken Vick]

Thanks, Fred and the others who recommended this book. I'm going to order it as soon as I arrive back north. Ken

[Ken Vick]

Kmucha16 said:

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I refaced my kitchen about 8-10 years ago. Went real well and looked great, still does. Went white so I used large sheets with white Rigid Thermofoil surface. It was about 1/4" thick panels. I didn't want any seams to show. Easy to clean. I used contact cement to adhere the panels and used a router with a bearing guide bit to cut out the door and drawer openings. Actually pretty easy. Ordered new doors and drawer fronts.

Downside to that is 2 fold:
1) the panels were MDF, and being 1/4" thick they made it so the screw holes for the door hinges were right at the interface of the oak face frame and the panel. I've had to replace several hinges with ones that would actually bite into the wood, otherwise the screws pull out.
2) the RTF surface on some of the panels and doors/drawer fronts is separating from the base material. I've been able to fix it so far with some wood glue and pressing it back down, but I fear it's not going to last too many more years. Note it's not the contact cement between the MDF panel and the existing cabinet, it's the factory applied surface to the MDF.

If I were to do it again, and still wanted to go white, I'd probably get someone in to professionally paint it. If I wanted wood, I'd probably really look at the veneer sheets. I wouldn't do what I did.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

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Thanks, Kevin for the info. I have seen some UTube videos that used 1/4" panels and wondered how they would hold up. Ken

[Ken Vick]

WipedOut and MeanGene, got any pics. Lots of people want to see them. Ken

[Sandking]

cputnam said:

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I am probably more crippled up than you at this point - although similar in age.. My wife and I were discussing a similar project (all new for the office.) She is quite adamant that we either buy BORG boxes and install ourselves or just have a contractor do it. My past failures at making progress probably have something to do with it.

I don't want IKEA so we'll most likely go with BORG boxes and install with help of son-in-law.

In your case resurfacing is probably the cheapest and fastest route.

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I can tell you why I went with IKEA and think they are hands down 100% better than borg offerings.

[*]The box is 3/4" particle board not 1/2" and every single box went together perfectly square. I was amazed, but their holes are spot on. I used my small Bosch 12V drill with clutch and built every box with no issues.

[*]20% the entire kitchen with a 25 year warranty

[*]The software was easy to design and get a good model for the layout and selection

[*]I chose the only solid wood doors. Most are MDF with veneer or foil over covers (just like most borg cabinets). Mine are birch stiles and rails with a birch ply panel.

[*]Lots of different options drawers vs shelves, etc. I also have hidden drawers or multiple drawers behind a single drawer front.

[*]Soft close hinges and drawer slides.

[*]The hanging rail system is great and cabinets go up very fast. Very similar to a french cleat.

[*]All the bottom cabinets also mount to a rail and use plastic adjustable feet. The best thnig on that is there is you could have 4" of water on the floor and the cabinets will never soak it up like borg cabinets with particle board toe kicks.

[*]Toe kicks are plastic with a veneer similar to laminate flooring. Most borg toe kicks are 1/8" veneer cardboard that you could put your big toe through.
[*]You don't have to purchase their doors. There is a company that makes custom doors and drawer fronts specifically for IKEA cabinets. Or you can make simple doors yourself and just use their boxes which are made very well.

Now here are some of the downsides but really didn't affect me and for what I paid about $8k for cabinets I got an entire kitchen and laundry/pantry room.

[*]Very limited trim options. There is only one version per style. Not that big a deal as we are woodworkers and purchasing crown or different mouldings and staining or painting to match isn't an issue.

[*]No 36" tall upper options. It's either 30" or 40". I went with 40" which meant almost no room for crown because my ceilings were 8' and I wanted max height between counter top and upper cabinet.

[*]The boxes are not custom sizes so you may need filler strips. I didn't because I did a full gut and had the ability to open or close a wall a few inches to maximize my cabinets.



Here's a link to the transformation process: https://www.flickr.com/gp/sandking/7gn1gf

and a few pics (more in the link above). I still need to do the backsplash and finish the under cabinet lighting. These pics don't show the toe kicks installed and I can get you picks of the laundry/pantry if you like. I have two big pantry cabinets and several uppers and lowers in a small space:

DSC_3817 by jgillphotography, on Flickr" />

DSC_3814 by jgillphotography, on Flickr" />

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DSC_6367 by jgillphotography, on Flickr" />

[Ken Vick]

Beautiful job. I had IKEA cabinets in my last house and liked them a lot. Ken

[JR1]

Ken, I'm the same age and have bad RA. So I do a POC (proof of concept—not the other POC) before committing to a large project. I'd pick one cabinet and strip and refinish it. Most likely you have NC lacquer on the cabinets so a good citrus stripper will likely do the job and you can get an idea of how much work it would be to do it your self. Decide what finish you want and give it a try.

[Sandking]

Thanks

[saw blade]

About 20 yrs ago I refaced our kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanity. I all so built 5 new cabinets to match the ones that were there. I used 1/4 hardwood to reface the face frames and 1/4 plywood to cover the sides. And made new doors and drawer fronts.
Also about 6 yrs ago I did the same for my Grandson's kitchen cabinets.
Both times I cut the pcs to fit and than stained and sealed before putting them on.
It just takes time and some careful measuring.In the end when you are finished it is worth it and much cheaper. Hope this helps, Bob

[cputnam]

All right. You've convinced me that I should go look at IKEA. The BORG units I've been looking at have pecan face frames and panels but that may be beyond our budget. We've got 9' ceilings so the taller upper cabs would work fine.

I see from your pics that they have legs to install in addition to the hanging cleat. That's good because some of the bases are going to have bookshelves on top and those bookshelves will be loaded to the max.

My only problem with IKEA right now is that I probably cannot walk the full length of the store - which is some 60 miles away. I'll deal with it - too much money on the line.