Your kitchen layout works, but the cabinet doors make the whole room feel dated. Keeping the boxes and changing their visible surfaces could be enough, provided the cabinets underneath are still worth keeping.
So cabinet refacing is $4,500 to $15,000 installed for a typical 10-by-10-foot kitchen in Foreverbuilt Kitchens & Baths’ Mercer County, New Jersey guide. Its material choices run from laminate to solid wood doors with veneered boxes.
I will walk through those choices, what a complete quote should cover, and when new doors leave the kitchen’s real problem untouched.
What You Keep and What You Replace
Refacing keeps the existing cabinet boxes. New doors and drawer fronts change the style, while matching veneer or laminate covers visible box surfaces. Hinges, slides, handles and trim need their own specification.
That differs from painting the doors you already own. It also differs from replacing the cabinets, which gives you a chance to change the boxes, storage arrangement and layout.
Foreverbuilt’s New Jersey guide bases refacing on sound boxes and a layout you want to retain. New fronts do not move the sink or give a shallow cabinet more depth.
Installed Refacing Prices by Material
Foreverbuilt publishes these installed planning bands for a typical Mercer County 10-by-10 kitchen. They are one remodeler’s local prices, checked October 26, 2026.
The phrase “solid wood” in the last row describes the new doors. It does not mean the old boxes are being replaced with solid wood cabinets.
Look at a sample of the door and the matching box finish together.
Foreverbuilt also offers narrower examples within its tiers for particular door styles and towns. The table above uses its main comparison, rather than mixing a lower example with a premium upgrade.
Why a 10-by-10 Price Needs a Cabinet Count
The kitchen’s floor area is not the quantity being refaced. A room with several drawer banks, tall pantries and exposed end panels needs a different order from a simple run of cupboards.
Foreverbuilt’s example describes roughly 20 linear feet, counted as 10 feet of uppers plus 10 feet of bases, and 24 to 28 doors and drawer fronts. That is its sample inventory, not a rule for every 10-by-10 room.
The same company’s laminate guidance is $225 to $375 per linear foot installed. Its separate per-door-and-drawer-front planning range is $150 to $300. These are alternative ways to describe a project, not charges to add together.
I would give each bidder the same cabinet list and photographs. Ask how each measurement counts upper units, base units, tall cabinets and drawers before comparing a price per foot with a price per front.
What Belongs on the Refacing Quote?
Foreverbuilt’s quote checklist covers more than doors. Use it to settle the visible surfaces and the moving parts before the order goes to the workshop:
- Door and drawer-front material, style, finish and drilling for the selected hardware.
- Matching finish for face frames, exposed sides, end panels and toe kicks.
- Hinges and drawer slides, with new drawer boxes identified separately if needed.
- Handles, knobs, crown molding, light-rail trim and fitting against walls.
- Site protection, preparation, cleanup, final adjustment and the workmanship terms.
Foreverbuilt gives $4 to $25 per piece for pulls, knobs and handles in its planning guidance. For a calculated 30-piece selection, 30 x $4 = $120 to 30 x $25 = $750, if that hardware is additional to the quote.
Do not add an allowance for hinges, trim or handles if the agreed package already supplies them. Mark each item as included, optional or outside the contract.
When Refacing Is the Wrong Place to Spend
Open the sink cabinet and inspect the base and sides. Foreverbuilt identifies swelling, delamination and water damage among the reasons boxes may not be suitable for a new covering.
Check that doors can be aligned and that the cabinet structure is secure. A new finish over a weak box leaves the weakness in place.
If you need a different layout or damaged boxes replaced, my kitchen cabinet replacement guide explains that larger order. Compare both options using the same storage plan.
If walls, appliances, lighting and utility locations are changing too, use the kitchen remodel guide to keep the wider project separate from refacing the cabinets.
Countertops and Time Without a Kitchen
Keeping the cabinets does not guarantee the countertops stay untouched. Foreverbuilt identifies countertop removal and resetting as possible extra work when access is needed for base-cabinet veneering.
Have the installer explain how the sink, counter edges, backsplash and appliance panels will be protected. Agree who repairs any affected surface and whether those tasks are included.
Foreverbuilt describes 3 to 5 days of on-site installation for its 10-by-10 example, but 6 to 12 weeks from contract to completion with measurement, ordering and manufacturing. A short fitting job can still have a long lead time.
Ask which days you can use the sink and appliances. Delivery dates and an installation slot matter more to your household than a headline promise that refacing takes only a few days.
Cabinet Refacing Questions
Is refacing the same as repainting cabinets?
Refacing replaces the doors and drawer fronts and covers matching visible box surfaces. Painting changes the finish on components you keep.
Can I change my kitchen layout by refacing?
Refacing mainly keeps the existing boxes and positions. New cabinets or additional construction need their own plan and price.
Should I multiply my kitchen’s square feet by a refacing rate?
No. Count the cabinets, fronts and surfaces being worked on. A 10-by-10 kitchen price describes an example project, not a rate per square foot of floor.
Are soft-close drawers included?
Specify the slides, hinges and any new drawer boxes. Upgrading a slide is different from replacing a worn drawer box, and the package needs to identify both.
Where These Prices Come From
US contractor guidance checked October 26, 2026.
I hope this helps you choose the cabinet work your kitchen actually needs. If you have a recent US refacing quote or a question, email me at costcheckr@gmail.com.
