Your Kitchen Cabinet Door Refacing Project: Which Material to Use?
by Jane Smallman
Face Your Kitchen Columnist
If your kitchen cabinets are looking worn-out and in need of a facelift, you can clean them up and change their look and style without having to buy new cabinets or doors. A refacing project (where a new material is applied to the door fronts) could be the answer to your problems. Kitchen cabinet door refacing can be a very cost effective way of giving your kitchen a really effective makeover, without going to all the expense of replacing cabinet hardware. This process can make doors look brand new, and allow you to choose a whole new style for the room. The look and cost will depend on which cabinet refacing material you use, and there are many to choose from. Kitchen Cabinet Door Refacing Materials A number of different types of cabinet refacing materials are available. For kitchen cabinet door refacing, these three materials are the most popular: - Plastic Laminates: this cabinet refacing material comes in a huge variety of colors and wood-grain effects. It is not a flexible material, so is not suitable for use on kitchen cabinet doors that have any raised or molded decorative features.
- Rigid Thermo Foils (RTF): this cabinet refacing material is a type of vinyl foil that can be pressure molded over fiberboard doors. It is a very malleable material so can be shaped in a wide range of styles, including raised panels, cathedral, and arched doors. It is available in a small range of solid colors (fewer than the laminates) but a wider variety of very lifelike, wood-grained effects. RTF is usually a less expensive option than a laminate material.
- Wood Veneer: cabinet refacing with wood will cost approximately 10 to 25 percent more than with either of the other two materials, but many people prefer the way it looks and feels. Popular wood veneers are cherry, walnut, birth, oak, and maple.
Sources
About the Author
Jane Smallman runs a mountain guiding business with her husband. Her early training was in hotel management and she has worked in the hotel industry in France, Holland, the US and the UK. Following this she worked in an administrative capacity for a number of not-for-profit organizations in the UK, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the Refugee Legal Centre. While doing this she earned a degree in Social Sciences through distance learning with the Open University. After graduation she progressed to the University of Sussex as a full-time student where she was awarded a Masters Degree in Social and Political Thought.
|
|
