You quote a refacing job after a quick look, then remove the old fronts and find a swollen sink base and a loose face-frame joint. The component order is already moving, and the repair conversation now starts after the client approved the price. A short inspection before quoting keeps that decision in the right order.
Cabinet refacing keeps the existing boxes and layout while replacing the cabinet doors, drawer fronts, and visible surfaces included in the contract. Cabinet replacement removes the existing system and installs new boxes and components, which allows changes to layout, storage, and function.
Refinishing changes the coating on existing doors and surfaces. Resurfacing is used loosely for more than one surface treatment, so the proposal needs to define the material and surfaces involved. Remodeling is broader than the cabinet decision and may include appliances, flooring, lighting, plumbing, or electrical work.
|
Scope item |
Refacing |
Replacement |
|
Cabinet boxes |
Retained |
New |
|
Layout |
Retained |
Can change |
|
Doors and drawer fronts |
New |
New |
|
Demolition |
Limited to contracted components |
Cabinet system removed |
|
Adjacent surfaces |
Often retained |
More likely to be affected |
|
Finish work |
Retained visible surfaces |
Defined with the new system |
After defining both scopes, inspect the cabinets already in the room before recommending either option.
Cabinet refacing is worth considering when the boxes and face frames are sound, the joints and wall attachments are secure, the layout and storage already work, and the visible surfaces can accept the planned finish. The result also has to fit within the limits of the retained system. New fronts can change the appearance, while the existing boxes still control the footprint, interior dimensions, and many storage options.
Check the following before you price the job:
A cabinet system that passes those checks gives refacing a sound foundation. The quote still needs to include every component, repair, finish step, and responsibility required to deliver the result.
Replacement becomes the safer recommendation when the retained system carries problems new fronts cannot correct. Moisture damage, failed joints, insecure boxes, widespread out-of-square conditions, and hinge attachment areas damaged beyond economical repair all weaken the foundation of a refacing job.
Function can settle the decision even when the boxes remain serviceable. A client may need a different layout, new appliance dimensions, more useful storage, or interior changes the existing openings cannot support. New doors also leave damaged cabinet interiors and poor drawer operation in place. Visible end panels or face-frame surfaces outside the finish scope can keep the old and new work from reading as one system.
Borderline jobs deserve a written repair list. One patch may be manageable. Moisture work, several loose joints, drawer corrections, and extensive surface preparation can accumulate into a job that keeps the old boxes while paying to rebuild much of their function. At that point, replacement addresses the documented condition instead of carrying it forward.
The cost difference comes from retained and added scope. Refacing keeps the boxes and layout, so its estimate centers on doors, drawer fronts, panels, hardware, field repairs, visible-surface preparation, finishing, installation, and punch work. Replacement adds cabinet removal, disposal, new boxes, installation, and coordination with adjacent surfaces or trades affected by the new system.
An incomplete refacing quote creates its own surprise costs. Exposed box surfaces still need a treatment that works with the new fronts. Damaged hinge areas or loose joints need assigned repair work. Hardware compatibility, field measurement, removal, installation, and final adjustments each need an owner. A missing assignment becomes a change order or absorbed margin after the job starts.
Disruption follows the same scope. Retained counters, plumbing, and boxes can reduce the work inside the room. Repairs, on-site finishing, or hardware changes add activity back into the schedule. Replacement brings demolition and installation, and layout changes can involve other trades. Compare disruption only after both options have complete scopes.
Price the work that each option actually requires. That gives the client a useful comparison and protects the contractor from selling a component list as a finished refacing job.
Here at Eagle, one of the most common requests we hear on refacing orders is a client moving from stained cabinets to a painted look. The new fronts are the easy part, and it's worth telling the client that plainly: since refacing replaces the doors and drawer fronts anyway, going painted isn't a conversion at all - it's just a material and finish decision on components that were being ordered new regardless.
The tradeoff that actually needs a careful conversation is everything the refacing keeps. The face frames and exposed ends were finished for stain, and now they have to be prepped, primed, and painted in the field to match fronts that arrive ready for finish - that's real labor, and it's the line item that quietly closes the gap between the refacing price the client imagined and the one on the quote. We're direct with contractors about where our scope ends: Eagle delivers doors and drawer fronts sanded and unfinished, with optional priming - we don't paint. So the finish on the new fronts and the finish on the retained surfaces should be owned by the same finisher, with the same product, or the client will see the seam between old and new every time the light hits an end panel. Put that in the proposal before they approve the number, and the stain-to-paint request becomes a selling point instead of a change order.
List every door, drawer front, panel, and hardware item in the component scope, then name who owns field measurement and the treatment of each retained visible surface. If the same hinge setup will remain, measure each existing door on the backside, edge to edge, in both dimensions to the nearest 1/16 inch. A changed overlay requires finished door sizes calculated from the full cabinet layout. Eagle builds to the dimensions supplied by the customer and leaves overlay determination with the project team.
Eagle's cabinet doors and drawer fronts are made to order with no stock-size catalog. They are built to the nearest 1/16 inch with a tolerance of plus or minus 1/32 inch. Drawer fronts belong to the door line and receive no hinge boring. Doors and drawer fronts arrive assembled and unfinished by default, sanded for the project's paint or stain work. Optional priming is available.
Hinge boring and hinge kits are add-ons to a doors order. Eagle can recommend standard options from the cabinet construction and overlay supplied with the order. Profile choices stay within Eagle's product guide, and the current production lead time appears with each quote and order acknowledgement. Orders can be as small as one door, and three team members review each order before production.
Lead the written recommendation with the inspection finding that controls the decision. State which boxes and surfaces stay, which components change, and which work sits outside the quote. Reference the assigned responsibility for measurement, repair, finishing, hardware, removal, installation, and punch work without repeating the implementation details.
Then name the conditions that reopen the scope. Hidden moisture damage, a requested layout change, or newly included finish work can change the recommendation or price. The client should see the connection between cabinet condition, desired function, and the proposed work before approving the job.
The repair conversation in the opening arrived late because the component decision came before the cabinet inspection. Inspect, decide, scope, and then order. When the boxes and layout support refacing, submit the exact sizes and hinge details needed for made-to-order cabinet doors and drawer fronts built for the approved job.
Cabinet refacing keeps the existing cabinet boxes and layout while replacing doors, drawer fronts, and the visible surfaces included in the contracted work. The scope may also include hardware and finish treatment for exposed ends or face frames.
Refacing is worth considering when the boxes and face frames are sound, the layout and storage work, and the retained visible surfaces can accept the planned finish. The desired appearance and function must fit within the limits of the existing cabinet system.
Cost depends on the complete scope but refacing is normally cheaper. Refacing retains the boxes and layout while adding new fronts, surface preparation, finishing, repairs, hardware, and installation. Replacement adds demolition, disposal, new boxes, installation, and any adjacent work created by a changed layout.
Replacement is appropriate when boxes have moisture damage, failed joints, insecure attachment, or widespread alignment problems, or when the client needs layout, storage, or appliance changes the retained system cannot support. Accumulated repairs can also make replacement the cleaner scope.
Refacing replaces doors, drawer fronts, and contracted visible surfaces while retaining the cabinet boxes. Refinishing changes the coating on existing components. Resurfacing can describe several surface treatments, so the proposal should define the material, surfaces, and labor included.