Refinish Vs. Replace

About the author

Evan Hill

As President of Creative Cabinets and Fine Finishes, Evan is growing the brand and identifying new opportunities to better serve our customers. He joins the team following his work in Investment Banking at Truist Securities, where he specialized in the Building Products sector. For over 2 decades, CCFF has been dedicated to designing and refinishing kitchens and baths across Metro-Atlanta. Over the years, the company has honed its methods and curated the finest products to ensure a seamless and enjoyable home improvement experience for its clients.

“The average full kitchen remodel in Atlanta costs $30,000. Let our team REFINISH your cabinets at a fraction of the cost.”
– Jenna Hill, CCFF owner

So you have finally decided it’s time to renovate your kitchen. You like the layout of your kitchen and the cabinets are in good shape overall. However, the cabinet cabinet color (whether painted, stained or laminate) is outdated and you are ready for a change. Or perhaps you are considering selling your home and want to make the kitchen more appealing to potential buyers without spending an exorbitant amount of money. Well then your decision is very easy: REFINISH!

Refinishing is the most economical way to update your kitchen. Both re-staining existing wood or painting fall under the umbrella of Refinishing. And as we mentioned in an earlier blog titled “Refinishing vs Painting”, there is a big difference between the two. In a nutshell, refinishing requires extensive prep work (cleaning, sanding, priming, sanding again, painting and ultimately the protective topcoat.)

Replacing your kitchen cabinets is a lot more expensive as well as time-consuming. As Jenna Hill, Owner of CCFF stated, “The average full kitchen remodel in Atlanta costs $30,000.” This requires completely gutting the kitchen and putting in all new cabinets, countertops and backsplash. If the kitchen is being reconfigured, you need to add in the cost of new flooring.

The average timeframe from start to finish is 4-6 weeks. Hill stated, “We are certainly not trying to deter people from replacing their kitchen cabinets. We just want homeowners to be aware of all that is involved in a full kitchen gut/remodel. The majority of the time you can achieve the same look through refinishing. The average timeframe to refinish a kitchen is 7-10 days.

To clarify, refinishing is not the same as refacing. Refacing means replacing all of the doors and drawer fronts and applying a plastic veneer to the face frames. Refinishing versus refacing will generally save you at least $5000 depending on type of doors and the condition of the cabinets. Stay tuned as we will de discussing Refinishing vs Refacing next week.