Materials:

Table saw
Miter saw
Jig saw
Pneumatic finish nailer and nails
Compressor and hose
Wood glue
Wood putty
Tape measure
Framing square
Speed square
Saw horses
Masking tape
Utility knife
Straightedge
Clamps
Spring loaded center punch
Cordless drill
Router
4' level
Paintbrush
Tack rag
Sandpaper
Sandpaper block
Stain (golden pecan)
One hour finish (sealant/polyurethane)

1. With precision, measure your old doors (each one individually), also if you are replacing the hinges as we did, measure the opening of the cupboard and then add a 1/2 inch on all sides.

   Tip: It's important to measure each individual door because in the 1960s and '70s most kitchen doors were custom built, which means in actuality each door was built slightly different.

2. Where two doors come together and meet you want to measure the opening to one inch on each side then divide that in half.

3. Make a list of cabinet sizes, and a drawing or diagram of your kitchen cabinets to help you remember where they'll go when your new ones arrive.

4. Order your doors about three weeks in advance. You can get them at any number of manufacturers or home stores. You can even order them online.

   If you're wondering about what kind of doors to order, there are many options:

   • Walnut
     
   • Cherry
     
   • Hickory
     
   • Oak
     
   • Maple ad more!

   Note: All of the above are "hard" woods, and they wear a lot better than "soft" woods (pine, cedar, etc.) because of all the activity your kitchen cabinets will get. If you're staining, you want something with a prominent grain, such as this oak. Once you put the stain on the wood the accent of the grain will really come out. If you're painting, you'll want to try a wood with a little less grain, such as a white wood -- maple or birch. For this particular project, the homeowners chose a red-oak cabinet with a flat panel.

5. Take off all the old doors, drawer fronts and moldings, and be sure to include everything you are going to be replacing.

   Tip: It's important that you create a drawing that includes where all the doors, molding and extra pieces go for when you're ready to re-hang the new cabinets. Also, number the pieces of wood. Doing this will save lots of hassle later!

6. Cover the side panels and face frames made up of the stiles and rails.

7. Decide how you want to treat these areas to go with the new cabinets:
   • You can strip them and re-stain them the same color as your cabinets.
     
   • You could paint them.
     
   • You could cover them with a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA). This is a veneer that you adhere over the old cupboard. You just cut it a little big, then wrap it around the edges.
     
   • You could get a laminate product like melamine, which is also a "peel-and-stick".
     
   • You also could cover the surfaces with new 1/4 inch oak plywood for the sides and a solid wood (oak again) for the face frames. This is what we chose to do on this show.

8. To know how much wood to buy, measure the lineal footage of your surface area and add 25 percent.

9. Cut to size these pieces that you will put over the old cupboards.

   Tip: There are two common cuts of plywood veneer -- rotary cut and plain slice. For the rotary cut the log is place on a lath and as it rotates, a blade will come up and slice off that piece of veneer. For the plain slice, the cut is along the core, perpendicular to the log. Note that the panels used for the end-caps on this particular job were done with a plain slice.

   What is a Cross Cut? -- Usually when you do a project like this, you'll have to do a cross cut, which is when you cut across the grain of the wood. When you do this you want to take a straightedge, score a line with a knife, so when the cut is made there are no fraying of the edges in the veneer of the wood.

10. Sand the surface of the new cupboards just to rough it up so the wood adheres properly.

11. Using wood glue first, affix the panel using a pneumatic brad nailer and 5/8 inch brads.

    Tip: Nail top to bottom to avoid creating a bubble in the middle of the panel.

12. Now that the cupboards are refaced with the new wood, you need to stain them. Sand, wipe debris with tack cloth, stain and then apply three coats of polyurethane.

    Tip: When you're staining the face frames, it's a good idea to stain the inside first, which will allow you to come back to the face of the cabinet to control any drips or smears that may occur.

13. Next, pre-stain what wood pieces (molding or whatever) you can. It is a good idea to pre-stain the molding so you can ensure not to get stain on the ceiling. Pre-stain the counter top edging as well, if you are replacing that -- and the new cabinet doors. (Even if they came from the manufacturer pre-stained, lightly sand and stain again to touch up where they have been handled).

14. Now you're ready to hang the doors, but first, if you've been handling the doors, be sure to "lightly" sand them. Your fingers have natural oils, and if you don't sand the doors you could have fingerprints that show up once you start staining.

    Tip: When sanding a cabinet door, don't use sandpaper directly under your fingertips. This can cause indentations in the wood. It's best to use a sanding block, which evenly distributing the pressure to create a beautiful finish for your wood.

15. Now it's time to stain the cabinet doors. If you have raised borders on your cabinet panel doors, paint them first so the stain "won't" bead up in the corners. The doors should get three coats of polyurethane just like the face frames, and if you get a glob, try to brush it out immediately. If you do get a glob, however, gently pull the excess off with your fingernail or thumbnail, gently rub it out with fine-grade sandpaper and cover it with another coat of polyurethane.

    Note: Wait three hours between coats of polyurethane.

    Tip: It's a big help if you can get some of the staining done before you start this weekend project. It would definitely save you time.

    Day Two

16. First you'll need to put the hinges on the doors.

    Tip: Take an extra hinge to use as a spacer. Line it up to the bottom edge of the door and take another hinge and line it up right next to the "spacer" hinge, and you'll know exactly where your hinge should be.

17. Use a jig so you can easily find the spot to pre-drill the holes for the screws. Place the jig on the bottom of the cabinet; attach it and this way you will ensure the same position for each hinge on each door. Host Paul Ryan used a self-centering bit, which you just push in. It not only centers itself in the hardware, it sets the right depth so you won't drill through the door.

    Aesthetic Tip: Most door grains will have a pointed tip. Be sure to install the doors with the tip either up or down on all the doors. Be uniform either way, but it's generally more pleasing for the tips to be pointing down. (The tips on the doors for this particular project are pointing down.)

18. Hang the doors, then level them and readjust hinges if necessary. Leveling the doors can be a challenge. They don't always come out perfectly even. You may have to readjust the hinge screws on the inside cabinet edge to synchronize the doors.

    Note: No cabinet door would be complete without shock absorbers. What's a shock absorber you may ask? It's a small, white mount that makes the doors close smoothly. It works just like the shocks in your vehicle. These work especially well with cabinet doors that have glass.

    Tip: Remember to use your original kitchen-cabinet drawing as a guide. The doors should be numbered to correspond with the drawing.

19. The drawer fronts are next. You can use your old boxes, but for our show we ordered new boxes.

20. If you do order new drawers, lay one of the new drawers on the "old" drawer front to get the proper measurements. Take equal measurements on the top, bottom and two sides, and once you have that distance measured, just attach the new front panel, drill pilot holes and clamp it together while you do the attaching. Then screw it on from the back.

21. Put new drawer slides on the inside boxes.

    Note: There's a huge selection of drawer slides on the market. A lot of older homes have the 3/4-extension slides. Your kitchen remodel may allow you to upgrade to a full extension glide that will last a lot longer.

22. To attach all the drawer and door hardware, host Paul Ryan created an adjustable jig that allowed him to align each piece of hardware.

23. Attach all hardware and you're done!