How to Reface Your Kitchen Cabinets

Strip Down the Cabinets

Remove all the doors, hinges and drawer fronts. Label all the parts for reference later. I used numbers, but you can choose anything that helps you remember what goes where.

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Take Measurements

• Take accurate measurements of each rail and stile to ­determine the overall size of each cabinet.
  • Pro tip: I drew all my cabinets in SketchUp, but old-fashioned graph paper works just fine.
• Next, measure all doors and drawer fronts and give each one a name or designation.

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Sand the Face Frames

• Normally I want to roughen a surface that’s being glued, but not with PSA-backed veneer. For pressure-sensitive adhesive, you want the substrate smooth.
• I sanded the painted surface of the rails and stiles with 320-grit sandpaper — not to sand off all the paint, only to make it smooth.

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Cut Veneer Strips

• Using the Virutex veneer cutting tool, cut the strips for the face frames 1/8-in. oversize. Any more would waste material.

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Veneer the Stiles

• Start by veneering the inside edges of the door frames, which creates the look of solid wood when the door is open.
• Next, apply veneer to the front of the stiles.
• Trim it flush with a compact router and flush-trim bit.

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Veneer the Rails

• With the FastCap seaming tool and a marking knife, trim the stile veneer flush to the rail.
• Apply veneer to the rail. Using the seaming tool again, trim it to fit.

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Sand the Face Frames

• Sand the face frame veneer to 180-grit. I used a random orbital sander to avoid directional sanding scratches.

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Apply Finish

• For this kitchen, I wanted to showcase the quarter-sawn white oak in its natural beauty.
• I chose a water-based urethane because it dries quickly and won’t turn the oak amber over time.
• To ensure good protection, I applied three coats of finish.

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Cut the New Parts

• Many shops will cut doors and drawer fronts for you. If you don’t have a table saw (or the time), this is a good way to go.
• Because I was after a continuously oriented horizontal grain pattern, I chose to make the parts myself.
• Label each part accordingly as you cut it.

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Veneer the Faces

• Lay the veneer face down on a flat work surface. Set the doors and drawer faces into position one at a time. I used 1/4-in. spacers to help position them.
• Once they’re all set, press down firmly on the backs.
• Cut them apart with a utility knife, making sure to run the blade down the center of the gap.

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Roll the Veneer

• After the parts have been separated, flip them over and use a veneer roller to apply pressure to the faces.
• Pressure-sensitive adhesive needs to be activated — press hard!

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Apply the Edge Banding

• Before trimming the veneer on the face, iron on the edge banding, starting with the bottom. I trimmed the ends of the edge banding with a sharp chisel.
• Next, do both sides, then finish with the top. Doing it in this order helps hide the seams on the corners.

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Trim the Edge Banding

• With the part face down, trim the edge banding with a knife. I chose a flat-backed marking knife because it keeps the cutting edge flat to the surface.

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Trim the Face Veneer

• I trimmed the face veneer using a compact router with a downward spiral flush-­cutting bit ($25 online).
• This step could be done with a knife, but I prefer the perfectly clean edge the spiral bit produces. It’s much faster too.

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Drill for Cup Hinges

• I chose to replace the existing hinges with European soft-close hidden hinges. Using the handheld hinge-boring jig from Veiko, I drilled the 35mm holes for the cup hinge 4mm from the edge. The jig automatically places the holes 68mm from the top and bottom of each door.

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Sand the Parts

• With a random orbital sander, sand the doors and drawer faces up to 180-grit.
• After sanding the faces and edges of all the parts, ease the corners by hand with a used sanding disc.

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Apply the Finish

• Apply three coats of water-based urethane, lightly sanding with 320-grit sandpaper between coats.
• For the larger flat surfaces, it’s OK to use a foam roller to spread the urethane.
• Smooth out the finish by dry-brushing in the grain direction.

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Install the Doors First

• With the hinges attached to the doors, hold them up to the cabinet faces. I used a support spacer clamped to the bottom of the cabinet to help me position every door the same.
• Attach the hinge plates to the face frames with 3/4-in. No. 6 screws.
• Adjust all the doors so they look square to the face frame.

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Attach the Drawer Fronts

• Once the doors are adjusted, line the drawer fronts up with the tops and bottoms of the doors.
• Use double-sided tape to hold the drawer fronts in position. Then attach them to the drawer boxes with 7/8-in. drawer mounting screws through 1/4-in. holes in the drawer box.

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Install the Pulls

• With a shop-made hardware drilling jig, drill the holes for the handles and drawer pulls with a 5/32-in. drill bit.

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