The published Riverside breakdown
A cost page written specifically for Riverside publishes a laminate refacing range of $1,439 to $2,266 for a standard ten foot kitchen of twelve cabinets refaced in laminate. What makes that page genuinely useful, rather than merely a headline range, is that it breaks the figure down into its parts.
| Line | Published figure | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 26.2 hours, $893 to $1,579 | Removal of doors and fronts, preparation, facing application, hanging, hardware and adjustment |
| Job materials and supplies | $498 to $623 | The facing material, adhesives, new doors and drawer fronts |
| Equipment allowance | $48 to $64 | Tools and consumables attributable to the job |
| Total for twelve cabinets | $1,440 to $2,266 | The sum of the three above |
| Average per cabinet | $120 to $189 | The figure to multiply by your own cabinet count |
From a cabinet refacing cost page written for Riverside, CA, read at build time. A published reference range for orientation, not a quote from this business.
The per cabinet figure of $120 to $189 is the one to carry into a conversation, because unlike almost every other number in cabinet pricing it converts directly: count the doors and drawer fronts in your kitchen and multiply. A kitchen with twenty openings rather than twelve scales accordingly.
Two further published figures from the same page extend the range. Wood veneer refacing is quoted at $2,000 to $6,000, and larger refacing projects at $7,000 to $10,000. Hardware is priced separately at $2 to $4 each for knobs and hinges, rising to $20 to $50 each for premium supplies.
The comparison that makes the decision
| Option | Published figure |
|---|---|
| Laminate refacing, twelve cabinets | $1,439 to $2,266 |
| Wood veneer refacing | $2,000 to $6,000 |
| Larger refacing projects | $7,000 to $10,000 |
| New cabinets | $3,000 to $6,000 |
| Stock cabinets | $8,000 to $11,000 |
| Custom made cabinets | $15,000 to $20,000 |
All six rows are from the same cost page written for Riverside, CA, which is what makes them directly comparable with one another.
For wider context, the national custom cabinet band is $500 to $1,400 and up per linear foot, installed, which on a twenty linear foot kitchen is roughly $10,000 to $28,000 and upward. Read the Riverside source at the Riverside cabinet refacing cost page→, and the national figures at Thumbtack's install cost page→.
The six situations where refacing cannot help
Refacing keeps the carcasses. Every limitation follows from that, and each of the six below is a finding from an inspection rather than a matter of opinion.
| Situation | Why refacing fails | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| A layout that does not work | Nothing moves. The refrigerator still does not open properly | New cabinetry with a redrawn cabinet schedule |
| A swollen or failed sink base | A new door hung on a box that is out of square | Replace that carcass at minimum, and check the rest |
| Water damage anywhere in the run | The damage is in the part you are keeping | Replace the affected carcasses |
| Sagging shelves | A span problem, not a face problem | New shelving at least, with the span resolved |
| A schedule built for old appliances | The openings stay the size they are | New cabinetry around the appliances you own |
| A plan to open the room up | The boxes are where they are | New cabinetry, and probably a permit for the wall |
Lead, which applies to most refacing in this city
Refacing involves sanding and preparing existing painted surfaces. In a home built before 1978, that is covered work under the federal renovation, repair and painting rule, and in Riverside that catches the majority of houses.
The Environmental Protection Agency states that approximately three quarters of homes built before 1978 still contain some lead based paint, and that anyone paid to perform work disturbing painted surfaces in such a home must be a certified firm whose employees are trained in lead safe work practices, a requirement that expressly includes sole proprietorships. A firm cannot legally advertise or perform covered work in such a home without firm certification.
The minor repair exemption covers work disturbing six square feet or less of paint per room inside, which a kitchen refacing passes in the first cabinet. Paint testing is not required by the rule, but unless documentation exists showing the paint is not lead based, the requirements apply. California is administered by the EPA directly. See the EPA renovation, repair and painting page for contractors→.
The practical consequence for a cost guide is that it narrows the field of who can legally quote. A cheaper quote from an uncertified firm on a pre 1978 house is not a cheaper quote for the same job.
Facing materials, and where the quality difference lives
| Material | Strength | Weakness | Published Riverside figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laminate | Uniform, forgiving of a frame that is not flat, cheapest | Cannot be stained; the edge detail is where a poor job shows | $1,439 to $2,266 |
| Rigid thermofoil | Wraps a moulded profile cleanly | Heat sensitive at an edge, which matters beside an oven | Not separately published |
| Wood veneer | Takes stain, matches a timber door, reads as solid wood | More expensive, needs a flat substrate and a careful hand | $2,000 to $6,000 |
| Paint over prepared frames | Cheapest, any colour | Only works on sound smooth frames; covered work under the federal lead rule on a pre-1978 house | Not separately published |
Published figures from the Riverside cost page. Thermofoil and painted options are described from general practice and are labelled as not separately published.
Finishing rules in this district
Where a refacing job involves finishing on site, Riverside's air district rules apply. The city sits inside the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and Rule 1113 caps coatings applied on site at 275 grams of VOC per litre for wood coatings, varnish, sanding sealers and lacquer, and 250 for interior stains. In practice a refacing job largely sidesteps this, because new doors are finished in a shop and the frames receive a laminate, veneer or foil rather than a sprayed coating, which is one of the quieter reasons refacing is less disruptive than a repaint. The finishing guide reproduces both district rules.
What to add while the doors are off
A refacing job has every door off the cabinets at the same time, which makes it the cheapest moment in the life of a kitchen to change what is inside them. Three additions are worth making at that moment and expensive to make later.
- Pull-out shelving in the base cupboards, which brings the back of a deep cupboard out to you
- A designed waste pull-out beside the sink, replacing a bin standing on the floor
- Soft close hinges throughout, which on many existing cabinets fit the same cup drilling
- Full extension runners on the pan and utensil drawers
- Carcass relining where the interiors are tired, which is modest now and difficult afterwards
- Consistent hardware hole centres, so a damaged pull can be replaced in five years without redrilling
Why refacing quotes vary so much for the same kitchen
Two refacing quotes for the same twelve cabinet kitchen can differ by a factor of three, and the difference is almost never greed. Four variables move the number, and a quote that does not name them is a quote that cannot be compared.
The door. A new door is a new door whether it goes on a refaced kitchen or a new one, and door cost spans an enormous range. A paint grade flat panel door and a solid walnut raised panel door are the same object only in the sense that both cover an opening. On a twelve cabinet kitchen with perhaps eighteen openings once drawers are counted, that choice alone can be most of the difference between two quotes.
The facing material. The published Riverside gap between laminate at $1,439 to $2,266 and wood veneer at $2,000 to $6,000 is the clearest expression of this. Veneer costs more in material and considerably more in labour, because it needs a flatter substrate and a more careful hand at every edge and inside corner.
The preparation. This is the invisible variable and the one most often cut. Existing frames have to be cleaned, sanded, degreased and in some cases filled before anything is applied to them. On a kitchen that has been cooked in for thirty years, that is real work, and a facing applied over inadequate preparation lifts at an edge within a year. In a pre 1978 house it is also the step that is covered by the federal lead rule.
What is added while the doors are off. A quote that includes pull-out conversions, a waste pull-out and soft close hinges throughout will be higher than one that does not, and will also produce a substantially better kitchen. Those are not hidden extras; they are a different scope, and the only way to compare is to see them itemised.
Counting your own kitchen
Because the published Riverside figure converts per cabinet at $120 to $189, you can get a rough number for your own kitchen in about ten minutes without anybody visiting.
Count every opening, not every cabinet. A base cabinet with two doors and a drawer above it is three openings, because three new fronts are being made and hung. A bank of four drawers is four openings. Tall units with two doors are two. Add them up, and that is the number the published per cabinet figure multiplies against, which for most kitchens is higher than the twelve the published example uses.
Then measure the visible frame area, because that is what the facing material covers: the front edges of every carcass, any exposed end panel, and the toe kick if it is being faced. A kitchen with three exposed end panels and an island has considerably more visible frame area than a galley with everything built into a corner.
Those two numbers, openings and visible frame area, are what a refacing quote is really built on. Having them before you ask for a quote means you can tell immediately whether a number is in the right territory.
Before you sign
California requires a written contract on any home improvement job over $500, caps the deposit at $1,000 or ten percent of the contract amount, whichever is less, and requires a contractor licence for work over $1,000 in labour and materials combined. The classification covering this trade is C-6 Cabinet, Millwork and Finish Carpentry. Check any number at the CSLB licence lookup→, and ask for the firm lead certification number alongside it if the house predates 1978.
Related: refacing against refinishing against replacing, the full Riverside cost guide, and the refacing service page.