Reducing Costs In Kitchen Cabinet Refacing
In your home remodeling plan, you’ve decided to reface kitchen cabinets? An excellent choice. Refacing kitchen cabinets, as opposed to replacing, can cut your kitchen remodeling costs in half. Assuming your cabinets were solidly constructed, are in good condition, drawers open, the storage and counter space is all to your liking, there is no need to spend the tens of thousands of dollars it could cost to do a total kitchen remodel. When you investigate the costs of refacing kitchen cabinet doors and drawers, you should be very pleased. But not all refacing jobs cost the same. Aside from the size of the job, the materials you decide to use and the contractors you enlist will have a huge impact of that kitchen cabinet refacing cost.
The cheapest way to go is with pure laminate. The reason most people don’t reface with laminate, however, is because usually that refacing job has been motivated a lot by aesthetics…and laminate simply doesn’t look that great.
The most expensive refacing job is done with solid wood. Solid wood has hundreds of years old quality reputation, and is unbeatably gorgeous. There are drawbacks to solid wood, like warping, scratching, or splintering. Under normal conditions, however, a contractor should be able to guarantee against these.
The popular third choice is the beautiful yet reasonably priced RTF. RTF, rigid thermofoil, is a computer controlled heat and pressure process basically laminating thermofoil onto an MDF (wood composite) panel. Since it is not solid wood, it will further reduce the cost of refacing kitchen cabinets in your home. RTF can be pressure molded into any style door you like; Shaker, square, arched or cathedral doors are all possible even with this less expensive product. Not so for laminate, and expensively so with wood. RTF is also easy to clean. It handles different cleaning agents well, unlike real wood. Though RTF is usually made to look like wood, seams and all, it is actually seamless, which protects you against expanding and contracting.
So, what are the drawbacks to RTF? It is not heat resistant, it may discolor, and the RTF may sometimes separate from the MDF underneath. To save yourself these troubles, you must seek out companies that use heat shields and guarantee against separation.
It’s up to you to decide the kitchen cabinet refacing price that will be set on your home. It certainly shouldn’t break your budget; the question is how much will you save. The primary question is what material will you use.
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