| Cabinet Re-facing: Measuring and Ordering New Cabinet Doors |
From "Weekend Handyman"
episode WKH-102 |
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Note: Click here for a materials list and complete instructions without images. Materials for the Complete Job: 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) Cost and Time: The cost of re-facing old kitchen cabinets is approximately $5,000, and this project should take approximately 18 hours over two days. Difficulty Rating: It's rated a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5. - 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. - Where two doors come together and meet you want to measure the opening to one inch on each side then divide that in half.
- Make a list of cabinet sizes, and a drawing or diagram (figure A) of your kitchen cabinets to help you remember where they'll go when your new ones arrive.
Tip: Number the pieces of wood. Doing this will save lots of hassle later! - 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 (figure B): - Walnut
- Cherry
- Hickory
- Oak
- Maple and 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 (figure C). 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 (figure D). - Take off all the old doors, drawer fronts and moldings, and be sure to include everything you are going to be replacing.
- Cover the side panels and face frames made up of the stiles and rails.
- 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 (figure E) that you adhere over the old cupboard. You just cut it a little big, then wrap it around the edges. You can order these in a variety of types.
- 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 (figure F). This is what we chose to do on this show.
- To know how much wood to buy, measure the lineal footage of your surface area and add 25 percent.
- 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 placed 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's no fraying of the edges in the veneer of the wood (figure G).
RESOURCES :
Cabinet Doors, Drawer Fronts, Hinges, Drawer Slides and Veneer
Cabinet Doors
Model # Oak
Style: Berkshire
Drawer Fronts
Model # Oak
Style: Solid Oak
Hinges
Model # Bkhinge
Color: Burnished Brass
Drawer Slides
Model # KV1284
Veneer
Model # Oak
Type: PSA
Woodcabinetdoors.com
Website: www.woodcabinetdoors.com
Rockler Woodworking & Hardware Products
Book: Refacing Cabinets
Catalog # 90595
PSA Veneer 24x24
Catalog # 61269
Color: Red Oak
PSA Matte Laminate
Catalog # 32731
Color: White
2-14" Blum low profile drawer slides
Catalog # 34835
Five 22" Blum low profile drawer slides
Catalog # 34876
Self-centering Bit-Set
Catalog # 34537
Fuller Bit & Countersink Set
Catalog # 70441
Stop collar for above
Catalog # 49429
Stop Collar for above
Catalog # 49437
40 knob pulls
Catalog # 35172
JIGIT template and Punch for knobs
Catalog # 35172
221' lin/ft of 1/4"x2" Solid
Catalog # Stock
Color: Red Oak
65' lin/ft of 1/4"x6" Solid
Catalog # Stock
Color: Red Oak
20' lin/ft of 1 x 8 Solid
Catalog # Stock
Color: Red Oak
Smove Cabinet Door Shock Absorber
Model # 39921
Smove Test Block
Model #: 39930
Rockler Woodworking & Hardware
Website: www.rockler.com
GUESTS :
John and Mike Lepak
Woodcabinetdoors.com
4728 Rice Lake Rd.
Duluth, MN 55803
Tollfree Phone: 800-732-0309
Fax: 218-727-6511
Email: info@woodcabinetdoors.com
Website: www.woodcabinetdoors.com
CFO & COO
Dennis Wagner
3639 Nicollete Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Phone: 612-827-3948
Fax: 612-822-7818
Email: 714@visi.com
General Contractor
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