LESLIE: Diane in North Carolina is looking to redo the kitchen. How can we help you?
DIANE: I would like to give my kitchen cabinets a facelift, if you might say that. I have cabinets that are older. I mean they’re in good shape. It’s some nice wood, not the upper – not really fancy, high-grade wood, I don’t guess, because these cabinets – I’ve had these cabinets probably 30 years. But they’re not dented or defaced or anything like that. But I just – and they’re dark wood.
So I was thinking – I didn’t know which would be the most cost-wise to – for today’s prices, with new cabinets versus having them refaced and how well those refaced cabinets would hold up as opposed to tearing out and just replacing the cabinets.
TOM: I kind of think, Leslie, that there’s so many options in new cabinets today that I wouldn’t really be comfortable recommending refacing, because it’s a lot of work. And secondly, I don’t know about the durability of it. And you end up having to replace the door and the drawer fronts anyway. And I think the expense is not going to be hugely different than just replacing the cabinets. Plus, if you want to make any changes, you can’t really do that because you’ve got to kind of stick with what you’ve got, so …
LESLIE: You really have to stick with what you have because you’re just going over what’s already there.
Now, with new cabinetry, you’re finding so many places that are manufacturing larger quantities of cabinetry – custom cabinetry – so you’re finding them at a lower price point. The finishes are already on it. They can be very, very durable and beautifully made. So you might want to think about that, as well. There’s so many options.
DIANE: I don’t know how that’s going to work. I already have granite countertop, so how would that work if you put in new cabinets and you have the granite already.
TOM: Well, you could remove those granite countertops. The same way they went in, they can come out. And if it’s done carefully, you can preserve them and put them back in. But again, in that same circumstance, you can’t change the layout. You’re pretty much stuck because the sink has got to end up where it is and that sort of stuff. You can change the layout as long as it adds up being the same overall length. If you had wanted to go with a wider drawer base or thinner cabinet or whatever, as long as it ends up being about the same length, you can go with it.
LESLIE: If you end up doing new cabinetry, you can keep that same configuration. However, you can change what’s going on inside of the cabinets, sort of the purpose of what those cabinets are or how they’re used. The other thing is if you end up with or perhaps your kitchen already has the space to do an island – which could even be as simple as a couple of new cabinets, a piece of furniture. You can then go ahead and pick either the same granite or a complimentary granite in a different color palette to just create this sort of focal piece or the centerpiece for the kitchen itself.
DIANE: Right. OK. Well, that sounds good. I really appreciate your advice and I enjoy listening to you on WPTF in Raleigh.
