Cabinet Door Replacement in Houston
Cabinet door replacement in Houston means new doors and drawer fronts built to your existing cabinet openings, while the boxes stay on the wall. In the Houston market a full set of replacement cabinet doors runs $900 to $4,500 with a $2,100 average per Angi (2026), or $416 to $602 per installed solid-wood door per Homewyse (May 2026).
Kitchen Remodel Masters builds every replacement door in our own shop on Washington Avenue. Jose, our cabinet maker of 20 years, measures your openings, builds the doors and sprays the finish before anything comes into your kitchen.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does cabinet door replacement cost in Houston?
Replacing kitchen cabinet doors runs $900 to $4,500 with a $2,100 average, per Angi (2026). Homewyse puts an installed solid-wood door at $416 to $602 each (May 2026), and Fixr's average per refaced door is $435 (2026). Kitchen Remodel Masters prices each kitchen after a free in-home visit, so your number depends on door count, style and finish.
Can I replace just the cabinet doors and keep the cabinets?
Yes, as long as the boxes are sound. The new doors are built to your existing openings, hung on new hinges, and the frames are painted to match or left as they are. The boxes, counters, sink and layout do not move.
What is the difference between cabinet door replacement and refacing?
Door replacement is new doors and drawer fronts only. Refacing is new doors plus new veneer on every face frame and exposed end, so the boxes change color too. If your frames are painted and in good shape, door replacement is the cheaper route. If the frames are a wood tone you want gone, refacing covers them.
Can peeling thermofoil cabinet doors be fixed instead of replaced?
Not for long. Thermofoil is a vinyl skin glued over MDF. Once heat or steam lifts it, re-gluing holds for weeks, not years. New doors are the fix, and the boxes under thermofoil doors are usually fine.
How do you measure for replacement cabinet doors?
Jose measures every opening, the overlay of the existing doors, and the hinge bore pattern. A new door is sized to the opening plus the overlay on each side, usually 1/2 inch or 1 1/4 inch per side on framed cabinets, so it covers the same area the old door did.
Will new doors match my existing painted cabinet frames?
Yes. On painted kitchens we match the color and the sheen and spray the doors in our shop. Where the old frames are faded or chipped, we repaint the frames in the kitchen so the doors and frames read as one finish.
Can I switch from raised panel doors to shaker doors?
Yes. That is the most common request. The opening size is the same, so a shaker, slab or inset door drops into the spot a raised-panel door left. New concealed hinges replace the old exposed or semi-concealed ones.
Do replacement cabinet doors come with soft-close hinges?
Soft-close concealed hinges are the standard option on every door we build. They mount in a 35 mm cup bore on the back of the door and clip onto a plate on the frame, so the door can be adjusted up, down, in and out after it is hung.
How long does cabinet door replacement take?
The doors are built and sprayed in our shop first, which takes about one to two weeks. Hanging the doors, adjusting hinges and installing hardware in your kitchen takes one to two days for a typical kitchen. If the frames are being repainted, add a day or two for prep and cure.
Do I need a permit to replace cabinet doors in Houston?
No. New cabinet doors are cosmetic work. The City of Houston requires permits for plumbing, electrical, gas and structural changes, not for doors, hinges or hardware.
When Cabinet Door Replacement Is the Right Fix
New cabinet doors solve a door problem in a kitchen whose boxes are still good.
- Peeling thermofoil. The white vinyl doors in 1990s builder kitchens across Katy, Sugar Land and Spring lift at the corners near the oven and dishwasher. Thermofoil cannot be re-glued for long. New doors are the fix, and the boxes under them are usually fine.
- Warped or cracked doors. A solid-wood pantry door that bows in Houston humidity keeps moving after a repair. A new door built flat in a conditioned shop stays flat.
- A style change. Swapping raised-panel doors for shaker or slab doors changes the whole kitchen without touching the boxes. See our shaker cabinets guide for the door most Houston homeowners pick.
- A few damaged doors in a sound kitchen. Jose builds the single door to match the rest. Hinges, glides and small fixes are on our cabinet repair page.
- Original doors on a Heights bungalow. Many 1920s to 1940s kitchens in The Heights have site-built doors that no longer close square. New doors sized to the old openings keep the cabinets and lose the gaps.
When New Doors Are Not the Answer
- Boxes that are failing. Swollen particleboard, a soft sink-base floor, or face frames that will not hold a hinge screw. New doors on a failing box is money spent twice. That kitchen needs custom cabinets.
- A layout change. Moving the sink, adding an island or removing a wall means new boxes, not new doors.
- Frames in a wood tone you want gone. Honey-oak frames with new white doors still show oak. That is cabinet refacing, which veneers every frame and end panel, or cabinet painting, which paints the doors you already have.
The short rule: door replacement when the frames are painted or you like their color; refacing when the frames must change; painting when the doors are fine and only the color is dated.
Door Styles and Materials We Build
Every door is made to order in our shop, so any style we build for custom cabinets is available as a replacement door.
- Shaker. Square frame, flat center panel. Painted or stained white oak and walnut.
- Slab. One flat door with no frame, for modern kitchens.
- Raised panel. A profiled center panel for traditional kitchens in Memorial, River Oaks and Bellaire.
- Inset. The door sits inside the frame with a flush face. The tightest fit and the most sensitive to humidity.
Painted doors use a paint-grade frame with a flat MDF center panel, so the paint film at the joints stays clean through the wet months. Stained doors are solid maple, oak, walnut or alder with a stain and clear coat. We do not build thermofoil doors.
How We Measure for Replacement Doors
A replacement door has to cover the same opening on the same hinge pattern, or the gaps look wrong. Jose measures three things on every cabinet:
- The opening. Width and height of the box opening, to the 1/16 inch.
- The overlay. How far the existing door overlaps the frame on each side. Framed cabinets are usually 1/2 inch or 1 1/4 inch overlay; frameless boxes are full overlay with a 1/8 inch reveal.
- The hinge bore. The distance from the door ends and edge to the 35 mm cup, so the new hinges land on the existing plates or on new ones.
Corner cabinets, lazy susans and glass doors get measured one at a time. The doors are cut from those numbers, not copied from the old doors, because old doors are often not the size they should be.
Hinges and Soft-Close
Old Houston kitchens have exposed butt hinges, 1980s semi-concealed hinges, or early concealed hinges on 1990s thermofoil doors. New doors get concealed European hinges with soft-close as the standard option. Thumbtack lists new hinges at $4 to $20 each (2026). Soft-close drawer slides can be added in the same visit.
Painted vs Stained Match
On a painted kitchen, we match the color and sheen of the existing frames and spray the new doors in our shop. If the frames are chipped or faded, we repaint them in the kitchen so doors and frames read as one finish.
On a stained kitchen, a new door can be stained to read close, but 20-year-old sun-faded oak will not match a fresh door exactly. The better result is to restain the frames at the same time, covered on our cabinet staining page, or to reface so frames and doors are the same new material.
Timeline
- Measure day: Jose measures every opening, overlay and hinge bore. You pick style, wood and color from samples.
- Week 1 to 2 (shop): Doors and drawer fronts are built, bored for hinges and sprayed. Finishes cure in the shop, not in your kitchen.
- 1 to 2 days (your kitchen): Old doors off, new hinges on, doors hung and adjusted, hardware drilled and installed. Add a day or two if the frames are repainted.
The kitchen stays usable the whole time. Counters, sink and appliances never move.
Cabinet Door Replacement Cost in Houston
Replacing kitchen cabinet doors runs $900 to $4,500 with a $2,100 average, per Angi (2026). Homewyse lists an installed solid-wood door at $416 to $602 each (May 2026), and Fixr’s average per door on refacing projects is $435 (2026). Door makers’ per-door prices sit well under those because they ship a bare door with no hinges and no labor.
| Item | Market range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full kitchen, all doors replaced | $900 to $4,500, average $2,100 | Angi, 2026 |
| Small kitchen (10 to 15 doors) | $2,000 to $2,500 | Angi, 2026 |
| Mid-size kitchen (20 to 25 doors) | about $4,000 | Angi, 2026 |
| Large kitchen (30+ doors) | $6,000 and up | Angi, 2026 |
| One solid-wood door, installed | $416 to $602 | Homewyse, May 2026 |
| Average per door, refacing projects | $435 | Fixr, 2026 |
| Non-wood (MDF, laminate) doors | $30 to $60 per sq ft | Angi, 2026 |
| Wood doors | $50 to $150 per sq ft | Angi, 2026 |
| Shaker door, 12 x 24 in, raw paint grade, door only | $44.95 | Barker Door, Nov 2026 |
| Same door, painted Pure White | $119.95 | Barker Door, Nov 2026 |
| Shaker door, unfinished / painted | $29.14 / $69.14 per sq ft | CabinetDoors.com, 2026 |
| New concealed hinges | $4 to $20 per hinge | Thumbtack, 2026 |
| Labor | $70 to $100 per hour | Angi, 2026 |
What moves the number: door count, wood species (walnut and white oak cost the most), painted versus stained, inset versus overlay, and whether the frames get repainted. Kitchen Remodel Masters does not publish a price list because every kitchen has a different door count and finish. The cost to paint kitchen cabinets page shows the cheaper option and the custom cabinets cost page shows what full replacement runs.
New doors need no City of Houston permit. The Houston Permitting Center lists what does: plumbing, electrical, gas and structural work.
Houston Humidity and Cabinet Doors
Houston’s average relative humidity is about 75 percent (NOAA data via Wikipedia), and air conditioning then dries the house to 45 to 55 percent. Solid wood moves with that swing, which is why a tall door can bow and a painted five-piece door shows a hairline at the joints. Our painted doors use a flat MDF panel that does not move, and every finish cures in a conditioned shop. In 1990s kitchens in Sugar Land, Katy and Spring, door replacement usually also means retiring thermofoil, which fails faster in this climate than anywhere drier. See our Sugar Land kitchen remodeling page for what we see there.
Get an Exact Number
Sean comes to your home, checks the boxes and frames, counts the doors and shows you styles and colors in a free 3D design. If the boxes are not sound, he will say so and show you refacing or new cabinets instead. The consultation and the 3D design are free. Call (713) 364-6603 or request your free consultation.
Sources
- Angi, “How Much Does It Cost to Replace Cabinet Doors?” https://www.angi.com/articles/new-cabinet-doors-cost.htm (updated October 2026)
- Homewyse, “Cost to Replace Cabinet Doors” https://www.homewyse.com/services/cost_to_replace_cabinet_doors.html (May 2026)
- Fixr, “How Much Does Cabinet Refacing Cost?” https://www.fixr.com/costs/custom-cabinet-refacing (updated January 2026)
- Thumbtack, “How much does it cost to reface a cabinet?” https://www.thumbtack.com/p/cabinet-refacing-cost (updated July 2026)
- Barker Door, “Custom Shaker Cabinet Doors” price examples https://www.barkerdoor.com/Shaker-Cabinet-Doors-p/shaker-ip-door.htm (checked November 1, 2026)
- CabinetDoors.com, “Cabinet Doors & Drawer Fronts” https://www.cabinetdoors.com/ (2026)
- Houston Permitting Center, “Residential Plan Review” https://www.houstonpermittingcenter.org/building-code-enforcement/residential-plan-review
- Wikipedia, “Climate of Houston” (NOAA humidity normals) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Houston