Refinishing keeps the wood on show. Stripping or sanding takes the tired finish off, fresh stain follows where the colour needs to move, and a sprayed clear coat seals the grain instead of hiding it under a solid colour.
Walnut, cherry and white oak fitted during the 1960s and 1970s turn up in Mountain bungalows around Concession Street, on the Dundas slopes and in older Ancaster houses. That wood is better than most cabinetry sold new at the same price, which is why refinishing sometimes beats cabinet painting outright.
Refinishing And Cabinet Painting Solve Two Different Problems
Refinishing changes how worn the wood looks, and cabinet painting changes the colour of the kitchen. If the complaint is a dull, scratched, sticky finish over decent wood, stripping and clear coating fixes it and the kitchen still reads as wood.
If the complaint is the orange of a 1990s stain, or a grain pattern nobody likes, no amount of clear coat helps and painting is the answer. Red oak in particular rarely satisfies anyone after refinishing, which is why most of that stock goes to oak cabinet painting instead.
Veneer Thickness Decides Whether Sanding Or Cabinet Painting Is Possible
Solid doors can be sanded for either route, and thin veneer cannot take much before it is through, which pushes those doors toward cabinet painting. Factory veneer on a 1970s box is often thinner than a millimetre, so aggressive sanding burns through at the edges and corners and leaves a patch that no stain will ever match.
Chemical stripping is gentler on veneer and slower to do, so it costs more labour than a sanded job. We check the edges and the corners at the visit and tell you which method the doors can take. Where the veneer is already sanded through in spots, painting is the honest recommendation even though refinishing is what was asked about.
Stain Colour Gets Tested On The Wood The Way Cabinet Painting Colour Does
The same stain reads differently on cherry than it does on oak, so a chip from a catalogue proves nothing. Stain is tested on the back of one of your own doors, or on an offcut of the same wood, before a full kitchen is committed.
Cherry darkens on its own with age and light, so a match made against a fresh sample can drift within a year. Walnut comes out rich with very little stain and often wants none at all. Once the colour is agreed, a sprayed clear coat follows in the same booth the cabinet spray painting work uses, in satin, matte or semi-gloss.
Refinishing Prices Run Close To Cabinet Painting Prices
Stripping, staining and clear coating a whole kitchen generally lands in the same $2,500 to $5,500 band as a cabinet painting job, and it can go higher when heavy stripping is involved. The labour, not the material, is what drives it in both cases.
Partial work is common and worth asking about when a cabinet painting quote is being drawn up. Refinishing the island in wood while the perimeter gets painted is a popular combination right now, and doing the doors while leaving sound frames alone brings the number down. Those are market ranges, and your written quote is the real figure.
Refacing Sits Between Cabinet Painting And Full Replacement
Refacing costs more than painting and far less than new cabinetry. Typical refacing runs $3,000 to $10,000 on a kitchen, while cabinet painting sits at $2,500 to $5,500 and a full replacement starts near $15,000 and passes $40,000 on a large kitchen.
Refacing earns its money when the door style itself is the problem. Cathedral-arch oak doors from 1988 read as dated no matter what colour goes on them, and a plain shaker front changes the room in a way paint alone cannot. When the doors are a style you can live with, painting them is the better value by a wide margin.
Ask Whether Refinishing Or Cabinet Painting Suits These Cabinets
We look at the wood, the veneer and the existing finish, then say which route makes sense and what each one would cost. The visit and the written quote are free everywhere on our route. Call +1 (289) 201-5389, ask for a time or compare the full list of cabinet painting services.
Cabinet Refinishing Questions
When is refinishing better than painting?
White oak, walnut and good cherry are worth keeping as wood, so refinishing suits them. Red oak with an orange 1990s stain usually looks better painted. We say which route suits your doors at the visit.
Can only the island be refinished?
Yes. Refinishing the island in wood while the perimeter gets painted is a popular combination. Doing the doors and leaving sound frames alone also brings the number down. Ask for both options on the quote.
How thick does the veneer need to be?
Veneer thickness decides whether sanding is possible at all. Thin veneer can be sanded through, so it is checked at the visit. If it is too thin, painting is the safer route.