Cabinet Refacing vs Replacing in Toronto (2026)
Refacing keeps your cabinet boxes and gives them new doors and a new finish. Replacing takes the old cabinets out and puts new ones in. If your boxes are sound, refacing costs far less.
What each option means
Refacing keeps the cabinet boxes on your wall. A door maker builds new doors and drawer fronts to our measurements and sprays them in 2K. We clean, sand and spray your existing boxes on site, in the same colour and the same 2K system. Your layout, countertop, sink and appliances stay where they are.
Replacing takes the old cabinets out and puts new ones in. When we replace cabinets, we measure, specify, assemble and install new cabinetry. That is the cabinets, not a full renovation. We can book and schedule the plumbing and electrical for you, or you can use your own trades and we work to their schedule.
With replacement, the countertop is made after the new cabinets are in, because it is measured on them.
What each one costs
A full replacement costs $25,000 to $40,000 once trades, countertops and finishing are counted.
Refacing costs $8,000 to $15,000 for most kitchens. The price comes from the number of doors and drawer fronts, plus the days we spend on site. Send wide photos and you get a written price within 24 hours. It does not change afterwards.
Replacing starts from $300 per linear foot for installed cabinetry. That is a starting price, not a top price. Removal and disposal of the old kitchen, hardware, millwork and the countertop are separate lines. For replacement we measure the room and talk through the design first, then send the price.
Counted as a whole room, a full kitchen replacement usually costs $25,000 to $40,000 once trades, countertops and finishing are included. Refacing the same kitchen saves roughly $17,000 to $25,000.
How long each one takes
Refacing has one short week without a kitchen. Replacement depends on the trades that follow.
Refacing takes four to five weeks. For most of that time your kitchen works as normal, with open shelves where the doors were. You are without it for about five days in the installation week, and out of the house for two or three of those days while we spray.
Replacing takes four to six weeks from a signed contract to installed cabinets. That is not a working kitchen yet. After the cabinets go in, the countertop is measured and fitted. Then the appliances, plumbing and electrical follow. How long you are without a kitchen depends on those trades, so we cannot give you one number for it before the job starts.
When refacing is the better choice
Sound boxes and a layout that works: that is a refacing kitchen.
Refacing fits when two things are true. The boxes are sound, and the layout works for you.
Whether you live in a century semi or a 1960s bungalow, the question is the same. Are the boxes dry, square and firmly fixed to the wall? We judge that from the boxes themselves, not from the age of the house.
If the answer is yes, the problem is in front of the boxes. The door style has dated, the finish has worn, or the thermofoil is lifting near the oven. Every one of those is fixed by new doors and a sprayed finish on the boxes.
When replacing is the right answer
Damaged boxes or a new layout mean new cabinets.
Some kitchens should not be refaced, and we will say so before we give you a price.
- Water has spread from under the sink into the cabinet box.
- A wall of cabinets has come out of square as the house settled.
- The particle board has swollen and will not hold a screw again.
- You want a different layout, such as moving the sink or adding an island.
Refacing keeps the boxes where they are, so it cannot fix any of these. New cabinets can.
Warranty and what comes in the price
The two services cover different things, and include different things.
Refacing. Doors and drawer fronts in waterproof MDF carry a 15-year warranty. Doors in regular MDF or solid wood carry 5 years, and so does the sprayed finish on your boxes. Soft-close hinges are a separate line on the quote.
Replacing. The cabinetry and fronts carry 5 years, and the installation carries 1 year. Some solid wood door styles carry 1 year. Soft-close hinges and full-extension soft-close drawer glides come as standard.
If your boxes are sound
Often the doors have dated, the finish has worn, or the thermofoil has started to lift, while the cabinets behind them are still dry, square and firmly fixed. In that case refacing gives you a kitchen where nothing you look at is old, for a fraction of the cost of new cabinets. Read the full kitchen cabinet refacing process in Toronto to see what we replace and what we keep.
If you still like your wood doors
Some kitchens need neither new doors nor new cabinets. If your doors are solid wood and you still like them, refinishing keeps them. We strip the old finish back to bare wood, stain it to the tone you choose and seal it so the grain shows. Read when refinishing your doors is the better choice before you decide between new doors and the ones you already have.
Questions
Common questions
- Is it cheaper to reface or replace kitchen cabinets?
- Refacing. Most kitchens cost $8,000 to $15,000 to reface. A full kitchen replacement usually costs $25,000 to $40,000 once trades, countertops and finishing are counted. Refacing the same kitchen saves roughly $17,000 to $25,000.
- Can I reface my cabinets and get a new countertop too?
- Yes. A new countertop can be timed to the same job. It is priced as its own line on your quote, so you can keep it or take it out.
- Do you replace cabinets as well as reface them?
- Yes. We measure, specify, assemble and install new cabinetry, starting from $300 per linear foot installed. Removal of the old kitchen, hardware, millwork and the countertop are separate lines. We can book your plumbing and electrical, or you can use your own trades.
- How do I know if my cabinet boxes are worth keeping?
- Send us wide photos of every wall of cabinets. We look at the boxes before we give you a price. If they are not worth keeping, we tell you that first.
Not sure whether to reface or replace?
Send wide photos of every wall of cabinets. We will tell you whether your boxes are worth keeping, and send a written refacing price within 24 hours.
Every quote in writing, before any deposit
Refaced. Repainted. Refinished.