Cabinet refinishing versus new cabinets, what each one really costs

Why refinishing is priced by piece count

A kitchen with 20 doors and 8 drawers is a different job than one with 40 doors and 15 drawers, even if the two kitchens are similar square footage. Each door and drawer front has to come off, get labeled, get sprayed in a controlled setting, and get rehung with the hardware aligned. The work scales with the number of pieces, not with the size of the room.

That is why we price refinishing by counting doors and drawers rather than quoting a flat number per kitchen. It is the only way the price actually matches the work involved.

Boxes and face frames change the scope

Doors and drawer fronts are removable, so they can be sprayed off site in a clean, controlled environment, which gives a smoother factory-style finish. Faces and end panels are counted separately, while any on-site work has to be contained and protected around the kitchen.

Some kitchens need the optional on-site spray setup, while others can have their removable pieces handled in a controlled area. Oak grain fill may also apply to doors and drawers when heavy grain, aged stain, or a tannin-blocking primer calls for it. Those choices are explicit in the itemization and should be made before pricing, not after.

What refinishing actually involves

Refinishing is not a quick coat of paint over existing cabinets. It typically means degreasing the surfaces first, since kitchen cabinets collect cooking residue that plain cleaning does not remove, sanding or deglossing to give the new finish something to grip, and spraying in thin, even coats rather than brushing, which is what gives the finish a smooth, factory look instead of visible brush strokes.

What condition does to the price

A kitchen with the same door count can price differently depending on what shape the cabinets are in. Builder grade oak cabinets from the 1990s and early 2000s, common throughout Huntley and Algonquin, often have a heavy factory finish or clear coat that needs real deglossing before new paint will grip. Cabinets with grease buildup near the stove, water damage near the sink, or swollen MDF panel edges from years of moisture need repair before they can be sprayed, and that adds time the door count alone does not capture.

Newer cabinets in better shape, or ones that were already painted rather than a factory stain finish, generally take less prep to get to a sprayable surface.

New cabinets are a different trade

Replacing cabinets involves cabinet manufacturing or custom carpentry, demolition of the old boxes, new plumbing and electrical adjustments in some kitchens, countertop removal and reinstallation, and installation labor that has nothing to do with painting or finishing. That is a different scope of work handled by different trades, and it is not something we price or quote as a painting company.

If you are weighing refinishing against full replacement, the honest starting point is figuring out whether your existing cabinet boxes are structurally sound. If they are solid wood or good quality plywood construction and just look dated or worn, refinishing gets you a new look without touching the layout of your kitchen. If the boxes themselves are damaged, warped, or you want a different layout, refinishing will not solve that problem.

Getting a number for your kitchen

Because refinishing pricing depends on your exact door, drawer, face, handle and hinge count and any explicit add-ons, the estimator at /instant-estimate is where to get a number that reflects your kitchen rather than a rough average pulled from a different sized home.