Cabinet Refacing vs Replacing: Which One Is Right for Your Kitchen?

We do both, which means we have no reason to steer you. The decision comes down to two questions and everything else is noise: are the boxes sound, and does the layout work?

If both are yes, reface. If either is no, refacing puts new doors on a problem you will still have.

The numbers, 2026

• Refacing: about $4,000 to $13,000, or $100 to $250 per linear foot. Average project lands $4,000 to $9,500. Three to ten days on site.
• New cabinets: $6,000 for stock boxes up to $60,000+ fully custom, plus two to six weeks of on-site work once they arrive and two to ten weeks of lead time before that.
• Complete installed kitchen from our in-stock sets: $20,000 to $30,000, no factory lead time.
• Resale return on refacing: roughly 70 to 80 percent of what you put in.

Refacing can cost as much as 78 percent less than a full replacement. That number is real, and it is also the reason people reface kitchens they should have replaced.

What refacing actually is

The boxes stay. The doors, drawer fronts and visible end panels are replaced, and the exposed frames get a matching veneer. Hinges and hardware are usually new. Interiors, shelves and the layout are untouched.

Done well it is genuinely convincing — most people cannot tell. Done on the wrong kitchen it is lipstick, and you can tell immediately because the inside of the cabinet does not match the outside.

Reface when

• The boxes are solid plywood or good particleboard with no swelling, sagging shelves or soft spots — check under the sink first, that is where they fail.
• The layout works. You are not fighting the kitchen every time you cook.
• You are selling within about two years and want the photographs to work.
• You want it done in a week, not a season.
• The kitchen is structurally fine and you simply hate the color.

Replace when

• Anything is water damaged, swollen, or delaminating — particularly under the sink or beside the dishwasher.
• The layout is wrong. Refacing cannot move a cabinet, add an island, or fix a corner you cannot reach into.
• The interiors are shallow, shelved badly, or missing the drawers you actually need. Modern boxes hold noticeably more.
• You are staying ten years. Amortized, the replacement is cheaper per year and you get soft-close, full-extension drawers and a kitchen that fits how you cook.
• The cabinets are more than about 30 years old. Even sound-looking boxes from that era usually have hinge and hardware systems nothing new fits.

The comparison people get wrong

Almost everyone compares refacing against a showroom replacement quote — $8,000 against $40,000 — and refacing wins on the spot.

Run it against our number instead and it gets interesting. A high-end refacing job at $11,000 to $13,000 against a complete installed kitchen at $20,000 to $30,000 is not a four-to-one gap. It is roughly double, for new boxes, new quartz, an island, a new sink and plumbing, and a kitchen with no thirty-year-old parts left in it.

That does not automatically make replacement right. It does mean the comparison deserves five minutes rather than a reflex, especially if you are staying put.

Our installed kitchens run $20,000 to $30,000 — cabinets, quartz counters, an island, a new sink and the plumbing, demo and haul-away, and labor. Not included: backsplash, appliances, flooring, and handles on most sets. The price works for a specific and finite reason: the cabinet sets came from projects that were cancelled after the cabinets had already been ordered, so they are paid for and sitting in our warehouse. When they are gone the price goes back to market.

Permits

Neither one needs a building permit on its own. Refacing is finish work by definition. Replacement is finish work too, as long as nothing carrying water, gas or electricity moves. The line, in plain language.

How to decide in ten minutes

Open the cabinet under your sink. Push on the floor of it. Look at the bottom edge of the door beside your dishwasher. Then stand in the middle of the kitchen and ask whether the layout has ever annoyed you.

Soft floor, swollen edge, or a layout that annoys you — replace. Everything solid and the layout fine — reface, and spend the difference on counters.

Towns we do kitchens in

We are based in East Patchogue and most of our kitchen work is in Brookhaven and Islip, but we go where the job is. If you are inside an incorporated village, the village building department governs rather than the town.

• Brookhaven — Patchogue, East Patchogue, Medford, Holbrook, Farmingville, Coram, Selden, Bellport, Shirley, Mastic, Centereach
• Islip — Islip, Bay Shore, West Islip, East Islip, Sayville, Bohemia, Oakdale, Brentwood
• Smithtown — Smithtown, Nesconset, Commack, Kings Park, St James, Hauppauge
• Huntington — Huntington, Northport, Dix Hills, Melville, Greenlawn, Huntington Station
• Babylon — Babylon, West Babylon, North Babylon, Lindenhurst, Copiague, Deer Park
• Brookhaven villages — Port Jefferson, Patchogue village, Bellport and Lake Grove run their own building departments

If your town is not on the list, call anyway — the list is where we work most, not a boundary. Anything from Nassau through the Twin Forks is fair game; we tell you honestly if travel makes a small job uneconomical.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is cabinet refacing cheaper than replacing?
Yes. Refacing runs about $4,000 to $13,000 against $6,000 to more than $60,000 for new cabinets, and can cost as much as 78 percent less than a full replacement. It also takes three to ten days rather than weeks.

When is cabinet refacing not worth it?
When the boxes are water damaged, swollen or sagging, when the layout does not work, when the interiors are badly configured, or when you plan to stay in the house ten years. Refacing cannot change the layout or the box quality.

How long does cabinet refacing take?
Typically three to ten days on site. A full replacement takes two to six weeks of on-site work plus two to ten weeks of lead time waiting for the cabinets to be manufactured.

Does refacing add value to a home?
Homeowners typically recoup around 70 to 80 percent of a refacing investment at resale, which makes it a reasonable move if you are selling within about two years.

Do I need a permit to reface cabinets?
No. Refacing is finish work and does not require a building permit. Neither does replacing cabinets, as long as nothing carrying water, gas or electricity moves in the process.

Related Reading

• Cheapest way to redo a kitchen — five moves, ranked
• Cabinet lead times — why replacement takes so long
• What $25,000 buys — the replacement comparison
• Discount kitchen cabinets — where the cheap boxes come from
• Kitchen remodel cost — the full picture