Refacing cabinets costs $5,000 to $13,000 and replacing them costs $4,500 to $15,000. Those two ranges overlap almost entirely, which means refacing is not the cheap option that most people assume it is. What it actually buys is speed, and a layout that already works. If the layout is the problem, refacing cannot fix it, because the boxes and the floor plan do not move an inch.
| Service | Typical |
|---|---|
| Kitchen cabinet refacingNational range | $4,483 to $10,586 per kitchen |
| New kitchen cabinets, installedNational range | $100 to $1,200 per linear foot |
Ranges last checked September 2026. They come down automatically when they are due to be rechecked.
Every figure above comes from a named source we can link to, with the date we last checked it. We publish ranges rather than single prices because a range is what a provider will actually give you: the same job moves with what is being worked on, the materials, how hard it is to get at and how busy the trade is locally. Treat these as the order of magnitude to expect before you call, not as a quote.
The figures here are national. Where a source publishes figures state by state, the state pages carry that local figure instead of this one. We do not scale a national number by a multiplier of our own invention.
Every range carries a review date. When that date passes the number comes down until it is rechecked, rather than sitting here undated.
The pitch for refacing is that it saves money. On the published figures it mostly does not. One guide puts refacing at five to thirteen thousand and full replacement at four and a half to fifteen, which is an overlap rather than a saving. The genuinely cheap option is replacing the doors only, at roughly two to six and a half thousand.
What refacing actually gives you is a shorter job and less disruption, and it makes sense when the boxes are sound and the layout works. What it cannot give you is a different kitchen. The cabinet boxes stay, the runs stay where they are, and a bad floor plan comes back with new doors on it.
Stock and ready-to-assemble cabinets are pre-built in a limited set of sizes and styles, at one to four hundred dollars a linear foot installed. Semi-custom offers a wider range of styles and finishes with more options, at one hundred and fifty to seven hundred. Custom is designed and built for the specific shape of the room, at five hundred to twelve hundred, and takes considerably longer to arrive.
The case for custom is not finish quality, which is available at every tier. It is fit. An irregular room, an awkward corner or a ceiling height that stock does not reach is what custom exists for, and paying for it in a square room with standard dimensions is paying for a capability you are not using.
Decide first whether the layout is right. If it is not, refacing is the wrong product no matter what it costs.
Get a doors-only quote alongside the refacing quote. It is the option nobody offers and it is genuinely much cheaper.
Ask which tier you are being quoted, and whether the room actually needs it. Custom in a standard room is money spent on flexibility you will not use.
Ask what the lead time is, and what happens if a box arrives damaged. Custom lead times are long and a replacement door can take as long again.
Ask what is not in the price: countertops, backsplash, appliances, and any electrical or plumbing that has to move. A cabinet quote is a cabinet quote.
Kitchen work is frequently sold at home after an in-home design consultation, which puts it inside the FTC Cooling-Off Rule and gives you three business days.
Barely, and often not. Refacing runs $5,000 to $13,000 and full replacement $4,500 to $15,000, which is an overlap. Replacing the doors only, at $2,200 to $6,600, is the genuinely cheap option.
Speed and disruption. It is a shorter job that keeps a working kitchen working. It cannot change the layout, because the boxes and the runs stay exactly where they are.
New doors, new drawer fronts, new veneer or laminate on the existing boxes, and new hardware. Labor is 50 to 70 percent of the total.
Installed, per linear foot: stock and ready-to-assemble $100 to $400, semi-custom $150 to $700, custom $500 to $1,200. A 100 to 200 square foot kitchen runs $4,500 to $15,000 in stock or semi-custom and $15,000 to $30,000 custom.
Stock is pre-built in limited sizes and styles. Semi-custom adds range and options. Custom is designed for the specific shape of the room, which is what it is for; in a standard square room you are paying for flexibility you will not use.
Countertops, backsplash, flooring and appliances, plus any electrical or plumbing that has to move, plus removing and disposing of the old kitchen.
Yes, within three business days under the FTC Cooling-Off Rule, on a sale of $25 or more at your residence. In-home design consultations put most kitchen sales inside it.