Replacing kitchen cabinet doors

[OnionPatch]

Has anyone here replaced their kitchen cabinet doors? I'm not talking about refacing. I just want new doors. Nothing else. All of the home stores around here only offer the whole refacing service and some of them practically sneered at me when I told them I only wanted doors. I guess I'm a cheap-ass or something, but so be it. The bases of my cabinets are in perfectly fine condition and the doors aren't really that bad, either. Mostly I just don't like their style and don't want to spend a fortune changing the entire units.

Has anyone here done this? Was it hard to find just the doors?

[unhappycamper]

1. I was looking for kitchen doors a few years ago.

I probably spent 30~40 hours on the net & came up dry. I ended up replacing the everything in the kitchen. Pix --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=287&topic_id=3261&mesg_id=3265

I replaced the floor last year.

[OnionPatch]

2. Wow, they look great!

I just posted over there when I meant to post here. But anyway, I love them and that style is one of two that I'm considering. That and the style that has a similar edge (frame?) with a beadboard panel behind. Only mine will be white because my kitchen is small and dark and needs lightened up.

I won't be able to give in and buy whole new cabinets, though, so I'll have to keep looking. I finally found a place online but am afraid to know what the shipping cost might be. :scared:

[unhappycamper]

3. You can always ask them how much shipping is going to be.

A friend of mine order 13 boxes of laminate flooring earlier this year, and the shipping cost was about 25% of the total. Ouch.

[CC]

4. It would depend on what kind of cabinet boxes

you have but if they happen to be frame-less or could be made into frame-less ones you could look at Ikea's cabinet doors and hinges. You could go look at what they have then get someone to look and let you know if you could modify what you have to take them. The do sell blumotion slides as an option for their drawers and I hear they are getting a blumotion hinge for their cabinet door.

A couple of people have done it even with framed cabinets. There is a thread here Ikea Fans from someone that has tried. Though it sounds like they wish they had just gotten new boxes too.

I replaces old (20 year old) Ikea cabinets with new Ikea cabinets this year. The old ones were still in perfect shape and are now in a friend's trailer.

[OnionPatch]

6. I guess I'm not sure

what you mean by frameless. Mine seem to have frames inside. How does that affect the doors on the outside?

[CC]

9. Here is a link that will

tell you the difference better than me mangling it. http://www.hometips.com/hyhw/surfaces/177cabinet.html
I found out I loved the frame-less type with the first set. Thought it was weird when we got the first set but we were pretty broke and need something beyond the two cabinets that were in the house. We did not realize that the previous owners had the other freestanding and we going to take them with them. It is nice to not have to hinges showing and nothing in the way in the middle of the wider cabinets. This time around we completely redid the kitchen, moved a wall and door so the kitchen though still small makes more sense and is safer.

It looks like you have found an answer below and it wouldn't be that much extra trouble to paint them to match what you have.

[OnionPatch]

12. Ok, I see now.

Mine have frames. I do like the frameless ones, though. I had seen them before but didn't know what they were called. If this house were the one we planned on retiring in, we would probably replace the cabinets and get some like that. But we're on a budget with this house. So it will be just the doors.

Your kitchen sounds nice.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. I looked everywhere for doors with no luck

My experience was about the same as yours. No one would sell them to me. I then started to consider making my own - and may still do so. My plan is to laminate back-painted glass to an MDF backer and frame the whole deal in stainless steel edging. I want a very slick, high gloss look. Ikea has some that look like this, but they're high gloss melamine, but they're simply not available in the range of sizes I need.

Scroll down to 'high gloss foil' to see what I'm talking about: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/complete_kitchen_guide/kitchen_know-how/basic_elements/doors.html

Similar doors were on a line of Italian cabinets that I saw at Home Expo, but the cost would exceed the value of my house, cars, and business.

I spoke to a glass guy and he said my idea is very feasible, although he's never seen it done.

[OnionPatch]

7. I looked at Ikea

I like the ones you're talking about. Very cool. We thought about making our own too, but we have so many projects on our slate that I know we'll never get around to it. Good luck with yours. I hope you post some pics if you do it. I can't imagine doors costing more than a home and business but hey, it's a crazy world.

Unfortunately, Ikea doesn't have the style I want.

[OnionPatch]

8. Ok, I found something online that looks interesting

and free shipping on orders more than $500! I plugged in our measurements and come out to about $600. I'd love an opinion. Do these look ok? I would need to paint them white to match the bases.
http://www.kitchendoordepot.com/cabinetdoors.php/profile/door

I would order the very last door at the bottom of the page.

[Kolesar]

11. Shaker, huh?

I look at the deep squared corners and think "dust in the corners". "Might have to up my biennial dusting cycle". I like the idea, though. Will you get drawer fronts?

I have hanged cabinet doors on a "closet" I built. I was not too picky about results. I would be a little nervous about getting everything square. Took me half a day to put in a prehung door last month because I did not want to make any mistakes.

[OnionPatch]

13. Well, I changed my mind again. I found what I originally wanted.

On eBay of all places! I originally wanted bead board and finally found a company that makes some (that I can afford.) They're pine, unfinished, ready for painting. The frames are kind of like the Shaker, but they have bead board panels with lots of cracks to add more spaces for dust. ;) And I'm painting them white, too, so I'll be cleaning them often!

Here's the link, in case anyone else is interested. They weren't easy to find. This place has other styles, too and the prices are great! (They're all unfinished pine.) I can get my whole kitchen for less than $350.00 plus shipping, which is ~$90 but is fine with me, for that price. The seller has great buyer ratings, too.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Unfinished-Beadboard-Pine-Cabinet-Doors_W0QQitemZ150166239997QQihZ005QQcategoryZ85879QQcmdZViewItem

I'm a happy camper! :bounce:

[NMDemDist2]

10. look into architectural salvage yards in your area or the Habitat re-sell stores

both should be available in SoCal

[OnionPatch]

14. Well, I found cabinets

(see post above) but thanks for reminding me about the re-store. I have the address of one about an hour away. I need to check it out because we've got a whole bunch more home-improvement projects on our slate besides the cabinets.

[Nite Owl]

15. I did

Home Depot and Lowe's both have doors. I got mine at Home Depot because we didn't have a Lowe's here yet, this was almost five years ago. I even ordered a couple with no center, just a frame and glass made to fit. I then had the backs laminated. It was not that expensive especially in light what new cabinets would have cost.

[OnionPatch]

17. I checked both of those

Neither one offered just the doors. Only the whole cabinet refacing. It must be a service that is only locally available in some places. :shrug:

[Whoa_Nelly]

16. A couple of sites for doors only

This one is on the UK
http://www.replacementkitchendoors.uk.com/

This one is in the US
http://www.tapeease.com/custom.htm

Have you looked for an independent cabinetry maker? We have several in our area, and they will make just the doors.

[grannylib]

18. I've been thinking the same thing; my bases are in great condition

but I'd like to replace the doors/drawers/drawer fronts.
I was wondering if it were a DIY thing that Hubby and I could manage.

[OnionPatch]

19. It depends on what you want to do.

The biggest job for mine was painting. Our cabinets were stained wood and I wanted to paint them white, so I had to sand them down and put a lot of coats of paint on them. The doors were unfinished when we purchased them, and I had to paint them as well. There was a time there when I felt like the painting had been going on forever and it was never going to end.

We're 99% done with them now. I was just getting some before and after pics ready today to send to my family. I'll probably post them on here tomorrow. If you need any links for ordering cabinet doors, I found a lot of them. Or are you going to make your own?

Good luck!