What the job entails
Replacing cupboard doors is a great way to update your kitchen at a fraction of the cost of a new kitchen! Most kitchens have carcasses (the actual body/frame of the cupboard) that are the same standard sizes, so you can get new doors and drawer fronts, along with kickboards, to give your kitchen a stylish makeover without breaking the bank! There is a huge difference in prices charged for this job, particularly between small local traders and the larger national companies, so it is even more important to shop around and get a few prices when looking to replace your kitchen cupboard doors.
Many companies will try and sell you a new kitchen rather than just replace doors and drawer fronts, as the profit margins are much higher, but stick to your guns and firmly request quotes for new cupboard doors only, otherwise you could be talked into buying a complete new kitchen! Get some estimates from local kitchen fitters/joiners after you have checked them out by way of references or online review sites. Then check out what the DIY superstores like B&Q have to offer to get a good idea of ballpark prices.
The quotes you get generally won’t include the cost of new kitchen worktops or flooring, but having these related jobs done at the same time would certainly finish off your updated kitchen nicely! But even just the new cupboard/drawer fronts will give you a kitchen that looks as good as new, as long as you have everything fitted professionally by an experienced kitchen fitter/joiner. You can do this job DIY but it can sometimes be difficult to install the new doors and get them to fit/hang correctly without making a pig’s ear of it! For a decent DIY job you will need some joinery experience, a lot of patience and good measuring up!
Over the last few years replacement kitchen doors have become a big part of the kitchen remodelling business, many people update their existing kitchens by simply fitting new kitchen doors to the old kitchen cabinets. This is a far cheaper alternative than replacing the old kitchen completely and who even notices that the old cupboards have not been changed anyway? It is also much quicker to replace doors and drawer fronts than to replace the kitchen cabinets. So if your kitchen cabinets are in a good order and you like the layout of your kitchen the way it is, then resurfacing the kitchen cabinets that are already fitted could be a great option.
Most people with decent DIY skills can change cabinet doors and drawer fronts by themselves as long as they take their time. If you feel you can’t do this by yourself, simply get in touch a local kitchen fitter or joiner as it will be just one or two day’s work for them with the right tools. The selection of new kitchen doors available to buy today is incredible and still growing. Whether you prefer contemporary kitchens of traditional farmhouse kitchens, or anything in-between, you will be able to find replacement cabinet doors and facings to suit. Many companies will supply replacement kitchen doors which are completely blank with no drillings so you can place the handles and hinges exactly where you would like them to be. They also have no hinge holes as many kitchen cabinet manufacturers place their hinges at different heights, so buying doors with the holes already in them will limityou in terms of what type of cabinets they will fit.
Many people have discovered that replacing your entire kitchen, when a makeover looks just as good, does not make much sense. For the majority of people, they will save £1000s when compare to the cost of an entire new kitchen, plus there’s less stress and mess with a simple kitchen facelift. No need to empty all of your cupboards, and the entire job rarely takes longer than 1-2 days. On average, by replacing your old kitchen unit doors with new ones you will save at least half the money you would have spent on a comparable new kitchen – and you could potentially save much more as that saving was based on getting new kitchen worktops and sink, oven and hob too! Of course saving all this money is no good if you don’t like the finished product, but you really would be hard pushed to tell once the job is done, the new doors, kick plates and drawer fronts will completely transform the kitchen.