Need Help on How to Repair Kitchen Cabinets

Lowes just had an article in their magazine about changing the face of the cabinet door. Take the doors off and the knobs. Clean them. Buy plywood and cut to fit the front of the door, prep, stain or paint. All for the price of a sheet or two of plywood, paint, stain, brushes, etc. So less than, say, $300. Depending on how you do it. Good luck

Hi. I watch a lot of DIY and Home Improvment shows. There was one I saw dedicated soley to cabinetry. With your problem, I think an option for you, would be to measure out the cabinet doors...just the ones above the sink, and buy the ones with the glass front panel. The outer ridge can be in any color you want. It would break up the cabinetry too and make it look more custom. If you don't want a clear view into what you have in those cabinets, they also make the doors with the thin pocket where you can slide in different things like beans or pasta shells. I can't explain it, but you can see what I'm talking about at most home improvement stores. There are a million options for what you want to put in the panels. It's the most inexpensive option I see for you.

Good luck!!

Hi B.,

I have the same problem with my kitchen cabinets. Our house is only 12 years old but the builders put in the cheapest cabinets. Ours are also white, but the white isn't paint, it is actually a sticker that covers the 'wood'. We are getting ready to re-do our kitchen this summer and we are doing it very inexpensively. My Dad is a carpenter and is able to get us pre cut solid wood cabinets at wholesale cost. They will be shipped directly to us and we will have to stain the wood, assemble, and hang the cabinets. It is a lot of work to do it ourselves, but it saves so much money. Thankfully, my Dad is coming down from Ohio to help us since we need a little of his guidance. My Dad helped my sister re-do her kitchen 2 years ago. She was able to get all new oak cabinets and countertops for around $3,000 and it looks really nice. Maybe you could try and get some other estimates or google finding cabinets at wholesale prices (if you are willing/able to do the work yourselves). We have a $5,000 budget and hope that this will cover new lighting, sink/fixtures, and maybe even an appliance or two. Good Luck!
A.

By the way,I think that if your cabinets are not solid wood, you can't strip them and stain them.

If you are in the upstate of South Carolina, my brother-in-law could give you a quote for new doors or new cabinets or maybe just give you some advice on how to make the ones you have look better. He is a master cabinet maker with years of experience, and although he has a full-service shop in his back yard where he did some side jobs for folks he knows, he just got laid off from his full-time cabinet shop due to the housing downturn. He has done everything from raised panel walls to entertainment centers to kitchen and bathroom cabinetry. He does custom, quality work that will add mega bucks to the value of your home. The cabinets you get at Home Depot and Sears, etc. are not the solid wood with the nicest hardware that he can do, and his work will last and last. Also, he is a perfectionist, so he won't give you junk. If you're interested in talking with him, his name is Donald, and he can be reached at ###-###-####. Tell him D. told you about him. I'm his brother's wife. Anyway, I wish you the best with your kitchen overhaul. Also, while you are at it, if you have the cabinets ripped out, you may as well add some more electrical outlets as well. I wish I had a couple more in my kitchen and baths, so I thought I would mention that to you as well. Good luck and God bless!

if you are on a really tight budget (and who isn't these days) you could just leave them open. in watching the hgtv shows i've seen some of them doing that. they usually paint the interior of the cabinets a color that contrasts the outside or wall color. you could also consider hanging curtains with spring rods to cover the ones you don't want to be seen. i know these are probably not the greatest suggestions, but in a pinch it might give you time to save up for what you really want.

You could contact a painter and get an estimate- many will do an estimate for free.

You could also try a discount cabinet place. We went to one here in Greenville, SC, and the estimate including installation was about $3000. Which sounded terrific until we looked at what she priced out. We currently have custom cabinets in our kitchen, in odd sizes. Instead of a 45" cabinet, she would price a 42" cabinet with a 3" filler. They didn't have pantry units, so she pieced together 4 units that were too shallow for my taste and had too much filler. We have a small kitchen, and we need all of our space. So we decided not to go with that and we will be stripping and painting our cabinets. But if you have all standard sized cabinets, the discount place may be the way to go.

Hi B.!

I don't know where you live but if you are in Atlanta I know a great guy who does kitchen cabinets and everything else kitchen for a lot less than you were quoted just for refacing. I would certainly not spend a penny more on poor quality cabinets. White should not be a problem with good wood painted with good paint and the least expensive way to go might well be to replace the offending cabinets with better ones custom made to match the rest of your kitchen. The most important thing would be to find someone you can trust who will work with you and your budget. Make sure you get recommendations!

C.

Go to lowes.com and get their email newsletter. You can go to their archives and learn how to rebuild your cabinets yourself.

They just had an article in the self help magazine that gets mailed to everyone. If Lowe's can't get you a copy I can throw mine into the mail for you.

11,000! Sheesh. I think contacting a painter might be a lot cheaper. Even if he/she stripped them, and repainted them it is going to cost a lot less. Or you could just redo the ones that are in the worse shape. If it is just a couple of doors you could even attempt it yourself. If you are thinking of redoing them all anyway you got nothing to lose! First, I would take the door to Home Depot or Lowe's (your preference) and ask them to match the paint for you using their computer paint matcher. Then I would ask them what you would need to strip the doors. Strip the doors, repaint and wa-la!

If you're in the Charleston, SC area you should visit a local Lowe's store. Debbie at the Summerville store is very helpful. Even if you're not in Charleston you should visit the cabinet dept in a Lowe's store.

We had ours custom made by a CABINET MAKER. There should be a list of them in the yellow pages. They can show you some of their work, give you refereces, and a price. So if your not the do it your self person you can get exactly what you want for a price you like. And give a local guy a job. Good Luck!
M.

Check out IKEA! For far less than $11K you could get all new ones.

As a builders wife I'll tell you not to bother spending the money to paint them. Cheap cabinets is a problem, lots of people don't think about that when buying.
Anyway, like others have told you. Lowe's has good products and they will give you some options from cheaper to expensive. There installers and workers are contracted out so you'll actually be getting someone qualified to do cabinets. You should be able to get a fairly nice kitchen for under $3-4000.