Services · Refacing
Cabinet refacing, when the bones are good.
Refaced in white shaker · San Jose
A straight answer first
Refacing keeps your cabinet boxes and renews every surface you see and touch — new doors, new fronts, new finish. It is the right call far more often than the cabinet industry admits, and the wrong one when the boxes have failed.
We’ll tell you which it is for your kitchen before you spend a dollar. Honest advice costs us a job sometimes — we’d rather that than reface a kitchen that should have been rebuilt.
Is refacing right for you?
When to reface — and when not to.
Reface — good fit
- The cabinet boxes are solid plywood or hardwood, square, and level.
- The layout already works — you wouldn't move a thing.
- You mainly want a new door style, finish, and hardware.
- You want the kitchen back in one to two weeks, not months.
Better served by full custom
- The boxes are swelling, sagging, or built from failing particleboard.
- You want to change the layout, sizes, or where the openings sit.
- You're set on true inset doors or a new storage plan.
- You're chasing a fully bespoke result, not a refresh.
If that’s your kitchen, your money goes further on custom kitchen cabinets — and we’ll happily point you there.
What a reface includes
More than a coat of paint.
A proper reface renews every visible and working surface — done in our Gilroy shop, not with stick-on laminate.
An honest assessment first
We inspect your boxes before quoting. If the cabinetry isn't worth refacing, we'll tell you — and point you toward full custom instead.
New doors & drawer fronts
Built fresh in our shop in the profile and finish you choose, then hung and aligned to even reveals.
Re-veneered visible surfaces
Face frames, end panels, and toe kicks are skinned in matching wood veneer so every surface you see is new.
New hardware & soft-close
Fresh hinges, undermount runners, and your choice of pulls — the cabinetry works like new, not just looks it.
A one-to-two-week install
Because the boxes stay put, most kitchens are refaced in one to two weeks with the kitchen usable throughout.
Door styles & materials
New doors, made from scratch.
Because we build the doors and fronts new, a reface can change your door style entirely — a dated raised-panel can leave as a clean shaker or slab.
- Shaker — the most-requested reface profile
- Flat-panel & slab — for a clean, contemporary update
- New solid-wood drawer fronts to match
- Re-veneered cabinet faces, ends, and toe kicks
- Solid-wood and veneer doors made in our Gilroy shop
- Color-matched conversion-varnish finishes
- Quarter-inch wood veneer over existing face frames
- New soft-close hinges and runners
- Updated pulls, knobs, and cup handles
A one-to-two-week install
Because the boxes stay put, most kitchens are refaced in one to two weeks — and stay usable throughout.
Common questions
Honest answers, plainly given.
- When does refacing make sense — and when doesn't it?
- Refacing is the right call when your cabinet boxes are solid, your layout works, and you mainly want a new look. It is the wrong call if the boxes are particleware that's swelling or sagging, if you want to change the layout, or if you're chasing inset doors or a different storage plan. In those cases the money is better spent on full custom — and we'll say so plainly. If you're weighing it up, our custom kitchen cabinets page is the better starting point.
- How much faster and cheaper is refacing?
- Considerably. A reface typically runs one to two weeks on site versus eight-plus weeks for a full custom kitchen, and lands at a fraction of the cost — because we're not rebuilding the boxes, only renewing every surface you see and touch.
- Can I change the door style when I reface?
- Yes. New doors and drawer fronts are made from scratch in our Gilroy shop, so you can move from a dated raised-panel to a clean shaker or slab. What you can't change without going custom is the size and position of the openings.
- Will refaced cabinets look as good as new ones?
- On the surface, yes — every door, drawer front, and visible panel is new and shop-finished. What refacing can't do is improve construction you can't see or change a layout. That's the honest line we draw, and the reason we steer some San Jose homeowners toward full custom instead.
- Can you reface only part of a kitchen?
- Sometimes — for example, refacing a perimeter while we build a new custom island. We'll look at the existing finish and tell you whether a partial reface will read seamlessly or look like a patch.
Begin with a look
Send us a photo of your kitchen.
We’ll give you a straight read on whether refacing serves you — or whether you’d be better off with full custom. Either way, you’ll hear back within two business days.