How to Reface a Kitchen Cabinet With Veneer Material

Refacing cabinets is a great alternative to replacing cabinets.

Kitchen cabinets are extremely expensive to replace considering the costs for demolition, installation and the cost of materials. Instead of spending a bunch of money on new cabinets, it's possible to give your kitchen a brand new look and feel by simply replacing cabinet doors and drawer faces, and applying a veneer finish to the cases and cabinet boxes. This eliminates the need for expensive staining and resurfacing and updates the look of any kitchen without hazardous paint fumes and time-extensive preparation and planning.

Things You'll Need

• Sandpaper
• Veneers
• Measuring tape
• Scissors or utility knife
• Contact cement
• Roller
• New cabinet doors and hardware
• Furniture polish

Instructions

1. Remove all cabinet doors and drawer faces from the hinges and attaching material. Take all of the hinges and hardware off casings and cabinets. You may choose to donate old cabinet doors, sell them or simply throw them away.

2. Sand the cabinets and cases with a coarse 200-grit sandpaper. You may do this by hand or with the help of a power-sanding tool. You will need to sand the finish off until you get to the bare wood for the veneer to adhere to the surface. Once you have stripped the surface and reached bare wood, continue sanding with a lighter grit sandpaper. In this case, the kitchen experts at RilandTrust.org recommend 100-grit. Clean up any debris from the cabinets, and you are ready to begin placing the veneers.

3. Measure the surface area where the veneer will be applied. Cut the veneer pieces using scissors or a utility knife, and carefully apply contact cement to the veneer side that will be in direct contact with the cabinet and case. Roll the veneer until it is flat and has solid contact with the surface area. Doing this will also prevent air bubbles or clumps from the contact cement. Allow time for the cement to dry according to manufacturer instructions.

4. Hang the new cabinet doors and hardware according to the directions from the manufacturer. The last step after hanging the new cabinet doors is to polish the cabinets using furniture polish or wood oil.

References

• Riland Trust: How to Reface Kitchen Cabinets