Homeowners in Edmonton often confuse cabinet refacing with cabinet refinishing, but they are two different services with two different price tags and two different outcomes. Knowing which one you actually need can save you between thirty and sixty percent of a full kitchen renovation cost, and in many cases that's the only line item that matters in the budget.

Refinishing keeps your existing cabinet doors and drawer fronts and refinishes them in place, typically by sanding, priming, and spraying a new colour in a controlled spray-booth environment or on-site with low-odour finishes. The face frames, end panels and the cabinet boxes themselves stay as they are. This works beautifully when the doors are solid wood, the hinges still close correctly, and you simply want a new colour, going from maple to navy, from oak to crisp white, from honey pine to matte sage. Refacing is a more involved process. The existing doors and drawer fronts are removed and discarded, and brand new doors, drawer fronts and a new veneer skin are installed over the existing cabinet boxes. The boxes have to be in good structural condition, but you get completely new door styles, completely new colours, completely new hardware style and often upgraded soft-close hinges. If your layout is fine but your doors are dated, refacing wins.