Kitchen Article:

Your kitchen is looking old and tired, but you can’t put up with the mess and hassle of a full blown kitchen renovation. The cost of a kitchen reno will also put a serious strain on your bank account. So what are you to do? There are two very good options to give your kitchen a second life – refinishing and refacing. There are good companies that can do this work for a fraction of the cost and trouble of a new kitchen.

Refinishing a kitchen involves removing the doors and having them professionally refinished. It’s important that the company you use have proper facilities and use the correct materials to do this job. If someone offers to refinish your kitchen on site, don’t do it.  Your kitchen should be finished with industrial products that are fully compatible with the original factory finish. These products must be sprayed on and are generally pretty nasty, i.e. post catalyzed acid cured conversion varnish, or lacquer as it is commonly called. You could use latex or enamel paints but they will not be as durable or smooth as lacquer.  If your kitchen is really old or has all ready has been finished with another product, a latex or enamel paint job may be your only choice. Certain components of your cabinetry may not be removable and will have to be finished on site. This is especially true of face frame cabinetry.

Refacing a kitchen is basically the replacement of your doors. There are many styles of doors to suit anyone’s taste. The four main types are raised panel, flat panel, slab, and mitre doors. There are enumerable styles by varying and mixing profiles, wood species, and scale or shape. There will also be other components of your kitchen that will need to be replaced or refinished to match your new doors.

Again, any company hired to reface a kitchen should have a professional facility to do a proper job. If you would like to be more environmentally friendly, there are waterborne finishes available now that are almost as good as the old VOC finishes (volatile organic compounds). I say almost because they loo, and electrical.  Sometimes a full reno is the only solution, so make sure that you hire qualified tades people.k as good as lacquer but are not as durable or chemical and stain resistant. When refinishing or refacing a kitchen there are other inexpensive ways to improve the look. Installing new crown molding and knobs or pulls can have a dramatic effect. Your refinishing or refacing company should be able to do this for you and may even include it in their price. Counters and back-splashes are the other obvious change to make.  Natural and man-made solid surfaces are the best counters but there are also concrete, plastic laminate, tile, wood, and stainless steel. Your budget and how you use your counters will greatly affect your choice. I recommend that you change your counters before you have your cabinets refinished or refaced as changing counters can expose previously unseen areas of the cabinets. Conversely, a new back splash should be the last thing you do in a kitchen upgrade.

If you’re like me who is easily upset by not having the use of your kitchen, you should consider employing  the services of experts in refinishing or in refacing your kitchen.  If you have the patience and time you can do a complete kitchen renovation.  A conplete reno may also involve changing walls, floors, plumbing