Cabinets are an essential part of every room and a remodeling project often includes choosing new cabinets; but did you know refinishing wood cabinets is also an option?
Renovating your kitchen or bathroom is a huge job, and sometimes you need to find easier and less expensive ways of getting the look you want. Rather than totally removing and replacing your wood cabinets, why not try refinishing them?
There are all kinds of benefits, and they’ll look just like new once you’ve done it. Here’s why you should consider it, and how you can go about refinishing wood cabinets.
What Are the Benefits of Refinishing Wood Cabinets?
There are so many reasons why you’d want to refinish your cabinets rather than replacing them.
Here’s just a few for you to consider:
Less Expensive:
This is one of the biggest reasons why people decide to refinish their cabinets. Renovation is an expensive job, there’s no doubt about it. You’re paying for:
- Re-tiling work
- Plumbing to be moved
- Appliances to be replaced, and more
You’ll soon see the costs pile up. What do you do to reduce those costs? Find a way to use what you already have. If your cabinets are in good condition, then why not use them and touch them up, so they fit in with your new look room instead?
Less Mess:
Taking out and replacing cabinets is a messy job. They’ve got to be pulled out, taken apart, and disposed of. When they come off the wall there may be drywall damage, which will be messy and need dealing with too. If you want to avoid all of that, refinishing is the answer. You won’t have to deal with all that mess, and any that is created by repainting your cabinets is easily cleaned up.
Quicker Than Replacement:
You’ll find that when you’re refinishing wood cabinets, it’s a much quicker job than replacing them. It’s a long task to replace all the cabinets, especially if you’re changing the placement around. If you’re short on time or need your kitchen or bathroom back sooner rather than later, then refinishing the cabinets is the way to go.
Perfect If You Like Your Cabinets:
In some cases, you may really like your cabinets. They’re good looking, in the right place, and are the right size for you. It’s just that they’re getting on in years and are starting to look tired. Refinishing them means that you don’t have to get rid of them at all, you just make them look newer and fresher.
Can Be Done Yourself:
This ties in with the fact that refinishing wood cabinets saves you money. If you’re at all handy, then you can work on finishing your old cabinets yourself.
It’s still cheaper to hire professionals refinish cabinets to do it than it is to replace the cabinets.
Better for the Environment:
Are you trying to reduce your impact on the earth? Then you should consider refinishing your cabinets. It makes a big difference, as you’re not taking them out and sending them to landfill, or contributing to waste by having more made for your kitchen or bathroom. Renovating is a tough process on the environment, so this is a good way to lessen the load.
How to Refinish Your Cabinets
So you’ve decided to have your cabinets refinished. You can call in professionals, or you can do it yourself. Here’s how you can refinish your own cabinets.
Step One: Label Your Cabinets And Doors
Before you do anything, ensure that you label every door and part of the cabinet. Once you’ve taken all the doors off and are ready to paint, you won’t be able to tell where each part came from.
Do yourself a favor and label them now, so you’ll know where each part is going.
Step Two: Remove The Cabinet Doors And Hardware
Next you’ll need to remove all the cabinet doors from your cabinets, in order to paint them properly. This is why you’ll need to label them, to ensure you’ll put them back in the right place once you’re done. Take the hardware off, such as the hinges hand handles, and label these too to ensure you know where they go once you’re done.
Step Three: Clean Everything Down
Now’s the time to clean down everything that you’re about to refinish. Remove any grease or marks that you don’t want on your cabinets. Wipe everything down with a dry cloth when you’re done, and ensure that they’re fully dry before moving onto the next step.
Step Four: Apply Filler To Holes
If there are any holes in the wood, or you’re looking to cover up the grain, then apply filler to the right spots to even it out. Let the filler dry totally before moving on.
Step Five: Sand And Wipe Down
Now that you’ve applied your filler, sand down your doors and cabinetry ready for painting. Once they’ve been sanded, you’ll need to wipe them down so there’s no dust on them as this will affect the paintwork.
Step Six: Apply A Primer
It’s very important that you apply a primer to your cabinets before you paint them. It gives the paint something to stick to and will prolong the life of your paint job. Allow the primer to dry thoroughly, and then move onto the next step.
Step Seven: Paint Your Cabinets
Now you’re ready to paint your cabinets. Take your time with this, and remember that the best way to paint them is to do it in several coats. Let each coat dry thoroughly before you move onto the next one.
Once this is done, you can reattach the hardware and put all the doors back into place.
Conclusion
Refinishing wood cabinets provides many benefits to homeowners. It reuses the cabinets you already have rather than tearing them out for new ones, and breathes new life into old rooms.
Contact a professional to refinish your cabinets. You’ll be glad you did.