Common Fixes For Older Kitchen Cabinets
Your kitchen cabinets could be in good shape but still have some minor problems that bother you, such as banging doors, loose knobs or worn-out drawers. While annoying, these fixes are easy to perform and give your kitchen the face lift it needs. Luckily, these repairs can be done in a matter of minutes with the help of a professional. Find out what the common kitchen fixes are and how they can improve the overall look of your kitchen with this guide!
Kitchen Cabinet Problems and How To Fix Them
Our kitchen cabinets are one of the most used and abused parts of our kitchens. They withstand years of banging, scratching, food spills and other accidents that can cause minor damages and make them more difficult to use. While these fixes are typically easy to fix, you should always trust a professional to do any repair work so that they can get the job done right. When it comes to old cabinets, one of the first things to go is the drawers. Nobody likes a broken drawer that’s hard to open or close, but it can be a pain to fix. A professional can help by removing the entire drawer, detaching the drawer front from the screws holding it in place and reapplying new joint glue to fix the loose joint. They can also lubricate the drawer slides for you so that they slide out easily and effortlessly. Secondly, banging doors are another annoying part of old cabinets. These can be fixed by adding door bumpers at the top and lower corners of the door to quiet any reverberating noises. Your doors also might not be functioning due to a bad latch. Magnetic or roller catches can wear out over time and will need to be replaced. These catches will need to be removed, reinstalled and tightened for them to start working properly again. Lastly, loose knobs become a pain when you’re constantly opening a certain door or drawer and they fall off. Not only do they not look pretty in a kitchen, but they make it hard to move from cabinet to cabinet. Loose knobs can be glued with a thread adhesive to hold them for a time, but you might want to look at installing newer knobs that haven’t endured years of hardship and wear.
How Refinishing Can Drastically Change Cabinets
While these little issues are relatively easy to repair, damage or wear to your cabinet fronts and frame can make your kitchen look unattractive and will require a team to fix. Whether it be scratches or chips on the doors, or a fading color that doesn’t contrast well with the rest of the kitchen, refinishing is one of the best options to liven up your kitchen again. Most cabinet finishes involve solid colors that can be paired with complex countertops and flooring but still look professional and beautiful at the same time. Rather than replacing or refacing your old cabinets, refinishing is a cheaper option that puts a unique finish or veneer over your existing cabinets to improve its look. If your cabinets are still in good repair, refinishing works by hand-sanding, priming, caulking and spraying your choice of finish onto the cabinet doors, drawers and frame to create new-looking cabinets that are scratch and stain-resistant. Refinished cabinets look just as good as new cabinets, and nobody will ever know the difference. The entire process takes between 4 and 6 days to complete, which means you’ll be back in your kitchen in less than a week after reparations began! Not only will refinishing save you time but money, as well. That means you can spend more of your budget updating other areas of your kitchen with the money you have left over from a refinishing project. Custom cabinets can cost between $15,000-$20,000 alone, and you should expect $3,000-$4,000 more in installation costs. With refinishing, you can plan on cutting those costs by 60-70%, which makes it a no-brainer.
Tips For Keeping Your Kitchen In Tip-Top Shape
It’s important that you take care of your kitchen now so that it can last you for years to come. Organizing your kitchen cabinets will help you know where things are located but also keep heavier objects from weighing down upper cabinets, which causes damage, sagging and broken frames. To keep the inside of your cabinets clean, try to store as much of your food in your pantry as possible. What’s left over can be stored inside your cabinets, but try to leave as much room as possible for appliances, pots and pans. Your bottom cabinets are a great place for non-food items and should hold the heavier and/or larger items, like cutting boards, crock pots, pans and baking sheets. Examine your cabinets every so often for signs of damage or spills, and try to clean up sticky messes as soon as they occur so that they don’t harden into impossible-to-remove stains. Wipe down the outside (and inside) of your cabinets to remove residue, hand prints and dust, and make sure that food containers are sealed tightly when placed on shelves inside the cabinets. Taking care to close doors and drawers softly will also prevent broken joints and slides, which means you won’t have to live with hard-to-open drawers and squeaky slides. Your kitchen needs just as much, if not more, care as the other areas of the house. By following these tips, you can keep damage at a minimum and maintain a kitchen that is both beautiful and functional.
Get Your Dream Kitchen With Our Help!
At Summit Cabinet Coatings, we take great care in refinishing your kitchen cabinets and can guarantee an end product that exceeds all expectations. Whether you want a simple or complex finish to your cabinets, we can help! Call our office at (970) 282-9856 for a FREE estimate on your next cabinet project. Call today to make your kitchen dreams a reality!