Redooring changes the doors and the hinges and stops there. The face frames keep whatever finish they already have. Where those frames still look right, it is the cheapest honest way to change how a kitchen reads.
Refacing does two things: it replaces the doors and drawer fronts, and it covers the face frames, end panels and toe kicks in a matching veneer so the whole run reads as one piece. Redooring does the first of those and skips the second. Your frames stay exactly as they are.
That is the entire difference, and it is why redooring costs less. Against a full replacement it commonly saves up to 75 percent. Example range, not a quote. Against refacing the saving is smaller but still real, because the veneer work and the material both come out of the job. Set against new cabinetry it is a different order of spend entirely.
It only works when the frames can carry it. If they are sound, cleanly finished and close enough in tone to the new doors, nobody will read them as older. If they are worn, marked or a colour that fights the doors, the frames become the thing you notice. See the cost page.
Recent work
How it works
How a Redoor Is Sequenced
Look at the frames first
Before measuring a single door we look at what will still be visible afterwards. If the frames will not sit quietly behind new doors, redooring is the wrong job and we say so at that visit.
Measure and set overlay
Every opening is measured individually. Overlay decides how much frame shows, and increasing it is often what makes a redoor work where it otherwise would not.
Doors built to order
Three to five weeks, the same as any other door order, because they are made to your openings. Hinges are specified at the same time, since new bores may be needed.
Fit and align
Old doors off, new doors on, every one adjusted before we leave. It is a one or two day job on site rather than a week, which is the other saving people notice.
When it works
The Kitchens Where Redooring Wins
Painted frames are the best case. A frame that is already white or off-white sits quietly behind almost any new door, so you can put a shaker or a slab in front of it and the eye reads the doors rather than the frames. The same is true of frames hidden by full-overlay doors, where very little frame shows at all.
Peeling thermofoil is the most common reason people arrive here. The boxes and frames are usually sound MDF while only the door film has failed, so replacing doors alone fixes exactly what is broken. That case is covered on the thermofoil page.
Where it disappoints is a heavily grained oak frame under a flat painted door. The frame keeps announcing the old kitchen. There, refacing or painting the frames to match is the honest answer and we will say so rather than take the smaller job.
Honest limits
Related routes
Redooring and What Sits Around It
New doors on sound boxes. These are the styles to choose from and the routes either side.
What it covers, what it saves, and the kitchens where it does not work.
Replacing the doors and drawer fronts and the hinges, and nothing else. The face frames, end panels and toe kicks keep the finish they already have. It changes the door style without touching the rest.
Refacing also covers the frames and end panels in a matching veneer so the whole run reads as one piece. Redooring skips that step, which is where the saving comes from and also where the risk is.
Against a full cabinet replacement, commonly up to 75 percent. Against refacing the saving is smaller but still meaningful, because both the veneer material and the labour to apply it come out. Example ranges, not quotes.
When the frames will not sit quietly behind the new doors. A heavily grained oak frame under a flat painted door keeps announcing the old kitchen. There, refacing or painting the frames is the better spend.
Very often, yes. The boxes and frames are usually sound MDF and only the door film has failed, so replacing doors alone fixes what is actually broken and leaves the rest untouched.
Almost always. Older surface or semi-concealed hinges give way to concealed cup hinges, which means new bores in the frame. That is permanent, so it is pointed out before the order goes in.
Three to five weeks to build the doors, then one or two days on site to fit and align them. That short fitting window is one of the main reasons people choose it.
Our frames were already white so only the doors needed changing. They said so plainly instead of quoting the full reface, which was a smaller invoice for them.
Nuala G.
Edmonton
★★★★★
Five thermofoil doors had peeled. New doors on the same boxes, two days on site, done. I had been braced for a kitchen renovation.
Tobias R.
st. Albert
★★★★★
They increased the overlay so less frame shows, which is what made it work. I would never have known that was an option.
Cheryl M.
Sherwood Park
★★★★
Told me redooring would not suit my oak frames and quoted refacing instead. Cost more than I hoped but I trust the advice.
Stefan A.
Edmonton
From the blog
Edmonton cabinet guides
Redooring, refacing and how to work out which one your frames can carry.
It takes one look at your frames. If they will sit quietly behind new doors we quote redooring, and if they will not we tell you that instead of selling you the cheaper job.
