DIY Cabinet Repair
The first thing you will need to determine is whether you will be painting your kitchen cabinets or using a wood finish. If you are simply going to paint your kitchen cabinets, it is quite a bit easier than achieving a wood finish.
If you want a painted finish, you will have to make some decisions. One is to replace existing cabinet doors or just paint the old ones. Most people who undertake a cabinet refinish or resurfacing project have grown tired of their cabinets and cabinet doors, so it is very common to replace cabinet doors before repainting your cabinets.
Now, if you’re going to want a wood finish for your cabinet renovation project, then it’s a bit more involved than just repainting the cabinets. Typical cabinet repair involves replacing old cabinet doors with new ones and adding a thin solid wood veneer to the front frame and exposed ends of the cabinet. During this process, the veneer is cut to fit each surface of the cabinet. Now you may be saying “this is already getting complicated,” but rest assured, this is a DIY project.
Whichever route you take, paint or wood finish, you’re going to need new cabinet doors. Building custom cabinet doors is generally beyond the scope of most do-it-yourselfers and well beyond this article. But don’t let that put you off, many have made their own cabinet doors, but keep in mind that you’ll need a variety of specialized tools and equipment, as well as a good supply of hardwood. Today, the cost of quality custom cabinet doors has made it affordable for the DIYer. There are numerous custom cabinet door companies out there, but I’ve included a resource below that has the best quality, price, and selection of cabinet doors and siding materials I’ve found to date.
How to measure cabinet doors
If you are purchasing new doors for your renovation project, you will need to measure the new cabinet doors. If your existing cabinet door hinges are still in good shape and you want to save some money, you can reuse them. In this case, all you have to do is measure your old doors and you’re good to go. One thing to note if your old doors have a recess around the door, or just put a notch that runs around the door, you’ll need to order doors that have that in case you use the same hinges. Also, some hinges work with finger pull edges that are milled around the door, if you put a door that has square edges on those hinges, you may have some issues with the door gap when two doors come together. All you have to do is make sure the new doors will work with the existing hinges.
If you are purchasing new hinges for your cabinet doors, you will need to measure your cabinet openings and add the proper hinge overlap. The most common are ½” overlapping hinges. There are also 1/4″ and 3/4″ overlaps. If you are using 35mm Euro-style hinges, these overlaps are usually determined by the mounting plate the hinge uses. So the part of the hinge that is drilled into the door remains the same and you can attach the overlay using a different overlay hinge plate that fits over the hinge, what I am referring to here are the overlay hinges mounted on the front frame.
cabinet door order
Once you have your cabinet door dimensions, you are ready to order your new custom cabinet doors. There are practically endless styles of doors that can be made. But one of the more affordable types that I see asked for quite often in kitchen cabinetry is the shaker style door. It is a recessed panel cabinet door or also called recessed. These types of cabinet doors can be made with affordable MDF and also with a combination of wood frame and MDF center panel for additional savings for those who want to paint them. Along with the popular shaker style are the traditional raised panel, beaded dash and doors with applied trim. There are even solid slab cabinet doors for that clean, modern look. One other thing I would like to mention is that you can also purchase cabinet end panels that will match your new cabinet doors, these are great for cabinet ends, island ends or can even be used as wainscoting. wood in kitchen areas or other parts of the house for that matter. Gives a truly custom look to your finished project. The sky is practically the limit when it comes to doors. What you ultimately decide is what will fit into your decor and cabinet remodeling budget.
Additional options
During the purchase of your cabinet doors, you can also request the necessary veneer to apply to the face frames and exposed ends of your cabinet. This lining material is available with an adhesive backing, a peel and stick affair. You can buy it in raw wood and apply a contact cement to both the cabinet and the veneer. I don’t recommend that approach for most DIYers, it’s messy and there aren’t many savings compared to peel and stick veneers. Along with your cabinet door purchase, you may also choose to replace the cabinet drawer boxes, other options include drawers, trays, etc. These are great backup saving and storage options. One thing the company I use offers that can be hard to find is custom made breadboards. This is great for replacing the nasty old plywood test boards that come with some homes. Although it seems to be a fading trend to have built-in breadboards, there are some people who really like them and nothing beats a solid wood breadboard, if built from quality hardwoods they will last a lifetime. There are so many other options, like cutlery organizer trays, waste bins, that I just can’t list them all here, but I’d like to tell you about them before you tackle a renovation project so maybe you can investigate them further. and you will see that they can be adjusted to your needs.
Veneer Application
Veneer application is simple but time consuming. I will give you many tips as I can help you in this process. You will need to cut the liner to fit the cabinet face frame and cabinet end panels. This is pretty easy, measure the pieces you’ll need and cut them to fit. One of the best ways to cut veneer is with a good sharp utility knife and a metal ruler. You’ll want to use a sacrificial plywood or mdf sheet under your cut. When cutting the face frame pieces for your cabinets always try to be as precise as possible so you don’t have to trim the veneer when you put it on the cabinets, it’s ok if you have 1/32″ too much and have to use a block plane or a sanding block to sharpen it, on top of that you will have to try and cut it flush and that can cause problems so accuracy is important here.
Installation of your new custom cabinet doors
Once you’ve unboxed your new replacement cabinet doors, you have the option of hanging them on the cabinet or, as I’d recommend, painting or staining them outside of the cabinets. This allows for the best possible coverage and the most professional looking work. Also install the hinges after everything is painted or stained to prevent unwanted finish from building up on the hinges and drawer runners. That’s the true mark of a professional finish job with no paint or finish on cabinet hardware.
A great way to style your new cabinet doors for painting or staining is to set up some sawhorses and run some 2 x 2s or 2 x 4s across them. You can choose to paint or spray them on these sawhorses or you can spray each door one at a time and lay them on the sawhorses to dry, allowing each side to dry before flipping or recoating.
Once your new ones are finished, you can mount them to the cabinets, make any final adjustments to the hinges for a perfect fit, install the drawer boxes, and your project is complete.