What Does Cabinet Refacing and Replacement Cost in 2026?
7 min read · Last updated September 14, 2026
- Cabinet refinishing, restaining or repainting the existing doors and boxes, runs $3.71 to $5.53 per square foot, the cheapest of the three tiers, per Homewyse’s May 2026 data.
- Cabinet refacing, new doors and drawer fronts over the existing boxes, runs $100 to $455 per linear foot depending on door material, per Bob Vila’s cost reporting, averaging $7,220 for a full kitchen per Angi and HomeAdvisor data.
- Full cabinet replacement runs $486 to $736 per cabinet installed, per Homewyse, and is the only tier that lets you change the kitchen’s actual layout.
- Kitchen cabinet manufacturing costs are up 4.3% year over year through August 2026, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index, so quotes keep climbing even when the project itself doesn’t change.
Refacing a kitchen’s cabinets runs $100 to $455 per linear foot depending on door material, roughly 30 to 50 percent less than the $486 to $736 per cabinet that full replacement costs, and the two get confused often enough that it’s worth knowing which one you’re actually quoting.
In this article
- Three tiers, three different prices
- What a cabinet quote should itemize
- The measurement mistake that generates change orders
- Your estimate may vary, and when refacing beats replacing
- Frequently asked questions
Diane wanted new doors for her kitchen cabinets and assumed refacing and replacing were the same job with two different names. The refacing quote came back at $7,220. The replacement quote for the identical kitchen came back at $15,800, more than double, for a difference she hadn’t known existed until she asked why the two numbers were so far apart.
Three tiers, three different prices
There are three distinct projects hiding under “update my cabinets,” and each has its own price tier. Refinishing keeps the boxes and the doors, and just restains or repaints the existing wood: Homewyse’s May 2026 data puts that at $3.71 to $5.53 per square foot, the cheapest option by far, though it can’t change a dated door style. Refacing keeps the boxes but replaces the doors, drawer fronts, and hardware with new ones and a matching veneer over any exposed box surfaces: Bob Vila’s cost reporting puts that at $100 per linear foot for laminate doors up to $455 per linear foot for real-wood veneer, and cites Angi and HomeAdvisor’s own data for the full-kitchen average, $7,220 for a typical 30-linear-foot job. Full replacement tears out the boxes entirely: Homewyse prices that at $486 to $736 per cabinet installed. For the broader remodel this project often sits inside, see our kitchen remodel cost guide and our guide to hiring a kitchen remodeler. For a kitchen using 30 linear feet as its planning number, a laminate reface at $100 per linear foot runs $3,000, while the same 30 linear feet in real-wood veneer runs $13,650, a $10,650 gap driven entirely by door material.
| Approach | Typical cost | What you keep | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refinish | $3.71 – $5.53 per sq ft | Existing boxes and doors, new stain or paint only | Sound doors and boxes that just need a new color |
| Reface | $100 – $455 per linear ft ($7,220 avg. for a full kitchen) | Existing boxes, new doors and drawer fronts | A layout you like with boxes still in good shape |
| Replace | $486 – $736 per cabinet | Nothing; new boxes let you change the layout | A layout that needs to change or boxes with real damage |
What a cabinet quote should itemize
A real cabinet quote separates door and drawer-front material (laminate, veneer, or solid wood), hardware (hinges and pulls), any box repair or resurfacing, and labor, as distinct line items rather than one lump total. Ask specifically whether soft-close hinges are included or an upgrade, since that’s a common add-on that inflates a “surprise” final invoice. If the quote is for refacing, confirm the veneer material matches the new door material exactly; a mismatch between a laminate door and a wood-grain veneer on the exposed box side is a visible, common complaint after the job is done. Get at least three quotes before you choose, and verify the contractor’s license and insurance directly rather than taking their word for it; a cabinet job is one of the easier trades for an unlicensed installer to underbid on and disappear from mid-project.
The measurement mistake that generates change orders
The single most common source of a mid-project change order on a cabinet job is a box opening measured to the wrong tolerance, most often ignoring that older homes rarely have perfectly square cabinet openings after decades of settling. A new door cut to the box’s nominal size instead of its actual, as-built dimensions can arrive a quarter-inch off on one side, which means a return trip, a re-cut, and a delay. Before signing, ask whether the contractor measures every opening individually or works from a single standard size across the kitchen. Individual measurement costs a little more time upfront and prevents the most common reason these projects run over schedule.
Your estimate may vary, and when refacing beats replacing
Your actual price moves with real, specific factors: kitchen size and total linear feet of cabinets, door material grade (laminate, veneer, or solid wood), whether any boxes need structural repair before refacing, and hardware upgrades like soft-close hinges. Kitchen cabinet manufacturing costs, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index, are up 4.3% year over year through August 2026, so a quote gathered a year ago no longer reflects current material pricing. And before you sign with anyone, our guide to contractor quote red flags covers the warning signs worth checking regardless of trade. Swapping hardware, pulls and hinges, is a reasonable weekend project for a handy homeowner; refacing or replacing the doors and boxes themselves is not a good do-it-yourself candidate, since the quarter-inch measurement errors covered above turn into doors that don’t fit when a professional isn’t the one cutting them. Refacing makes sense when the existing boxes are structurally sound and you like the current layout; it’s the wrong call if you want to move a sink, add cabinet height to the ceiling, or fix a layout that never worked, all of which require full replacement.
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Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between cabinet refacing and cabinet refinishing? Refinishing restains or repaints your existing doors and boxes without replacing anything, and runs $3.71 to $5.53 per square foot. Refacing replaces the doors, drawer fronts, and hardware while keeping the boxes, running $100 to $455 per linear foot depending on door material.
Is cabinet refacing actually cheaper than replacement? Yes. Refacing runs roughly 30 to 50 percent less than full replacement in most cost comparisons, because the cabinet boxes, the most labor-intensive part to remove and rebuild, stay in place. The tradeoff is that refacing can’t change your kitchen’s layout.
How much does it cost to reface a 30-linear-foot kitchen? At laminate pricing, around $100 per linear foot, a 30-linear-foot kitchen runs about $3,000. At real-wood veneer pricing, around $455 per linear foot, the same kitchen runs about $13,650. Most projects land between those figures, averaging $7,220 nationally.
When should I replace cabinets instead of refacing them? Replace when you want to change the kitchen’s actual layout, move a sink or appliance, add cabinet height, or when the existing boxes have water damage or structural problems that refacing can’t fix. Refacing only works when what’s underneath is sound.
Why did my cabinet quote come in higher than a friend’s from last year? Kitchen cabinet manufacturing costs are up 4.3% year over year through August 2026, per federal producer price data. Material costs alone can explain a meaningfully higher quote even for an identical project scope, before labor rates or a contractor’s own overhead are factored in at all.
