Cabinet refacing in Houston replaces every surface you see on your kitchen cabinets while keeping the boxes that are screwed to the wall. Kitchen Remodel Masters builds the new doors and drawer fronts in our own shop on Washington Avenue, applies new veneer to the box faces, and installs new hinges and hardware, usually in 3 to 5 days on site.
This page explains what refacing includes, when it is the right call, the door styles we build, how long it takes, what it costs in the Houston market, and how it compares to painting and replacing.
Refacing keeps the cabinet boxes and swaps everything on the outside of them.
What stays: the boxes, the layout, the countertops, the sink, the plumbing and the electrical. There is no demolition and no permit. The City of Houston requires permits for plumbing, electrical, gas and structural work, not for cosmetic cabinet work.
Refacing is the right choice when the boxes are sound and the layout works, but the doors are wrong.
Good candidates:
Not good candidates:
Jose, our cabinet maker, has built cabinets for 20 years and builds every refacing door in-house. Because the doors are made to your openings rather than ordered from a catalog, any style we build for custom cabinets is available for refacing.
Finishes are sprayed in our conditioned shop: waterborne enamel or conversion varnish for paint, stain and clear coat for wood. The box veneer is matched to the door finish so the frames and the doors read as one piece. Houston’s average relative humidity is about 75 percent (NOAA data via Wikipedia), so doors are built from stable, sealed materials and the finish and adhesive cure in the shop before anything goes on your wall.
Most Kitchen Remodel Masters refacing projects take 3 to 5 days in your kitchen. The build happens before that.
The kitchen stays usable the whole time. Counters and appliances are never removed. Samuel, our project manager, sends daily photo updates and the crew cleans up each day.
In Houston, refacing kitchen cabinets runs $3,579 to $8,998 with an average of $6,080, according to Angi’s Houston page (angi.com, 2026). Bob Vila’s city list puts the Houston average at $5,890 (bobvila.com, 2024). National ranges sit a little higher: HomeAdvisor lists $4,234 to $10,226 with a $7,230 average (homeadvisor.com, 2026) and Fixr lists $3,000 to $13,500 with an $8,250 average (fixr.com, 2026).
Most of the spread comes from the door material and the size of the kitchen.
| Factor | Houston or national range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Per linear foot, Houston | $160 to $480 | Angi Houston, 2026 |
| Per linear foot, national | $100 to $450, average $275 | Fixr, 2026 |
| Small kitchen, about 10 linear feet | $1,600 to $4,800 | Angi Houston, 2026 |
| Medium kitchen, about 20 linear feet | $3,200 to $9,600 | Angi Houston, 2026 |
| Large kitchen, 30+ linear feet | $4,800 to $14,400 | Angi Houston, 2026 |
| Laminate or thermofoil doors | $80 to $125 per linear foot | Fixr, 2026 |
| Wood veneer doors | $100 to $250 per linear foot | Fixr, 2026 |
| New hinges | $4 to $20 per hinge | Thumbtack, 2026 |
| Knobs and pulls | $2 to $4 per knob, more for designer hardware | Thumbtack, 2026 |
Labor is 50 to 70 percent of the total (fixr.com, 2026). Solid wood doors sit at the top of every range; laminate and thermofoil at the bottom. Soft-close slides, new drawer boxes and roll-outs are add-ons.
Kitchen Remodel Masters does not publish a price list because door count, door material and the condition of the boxes change the number for every kitchen. Our custom cabinets cost page shows what full replacement runs in Houston, and the cost to paint kitchen cabinets page shows the lower end of the refinishing options.
| Option | What you get | Houston cost range | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painting | Same doors, new sprayed color | $3,500 to $8,000 (sprayed full kitchen) | Fresh Coat West Houston, 2026 |
| Refacing | New doors, drawer fronts, veneer, hinges and hardware on existing boxes | $3,579 to $8,998, average $6,080 | Angi Houston, 2026 |
| Replacing | New boxes and doors, layout can change | $15,000 to $35,000 | Fresh Coat West Houston, 2026 |
The short version:
Refacing lands between the two on price and gives most of what replacement gives: a new door style, new hinges, soft-close and new hardware. What it cannot do is move a sink or add an island. Our guide on whether to paint, stain, reface or replace cabinets walks through the decision, and the cabinet refinishing hub covers the full set of options.
Refacing pairs well with new countertops. The doors are already off and the kitchen is already prepped, so Eduardo can template and set new quartz or granite in the same window. Our cabinet refinishing and granite countertop project shows that combination in a Houston kitchen.
Sean comes to your home, checks the boxes for water damage, measures the linear feet, and shows you door styles and finishes in a free 3D design before anything is built. If the boxes are not sound, he will say so and show you what new cabinets cost instead. The consultation and the 3D design are free. Call (713) 364-6603 or request your free consultation.
Refacing keeps your existing cabinet boxes and replaces everything you see: new doors, new drawer fronts, new veneer or laminate on the box faces and exposed ends, and new hinges and hardware. The layout, counters and plumbing stay where they are.
Refacing kitchen cabinets in Houston runs $3,579 to $8,998 with an average of $6,080, according to Angi's Houston page (2026). HomeAdvisor's national range is $4,234 to $10,226 (2026) and Fixr's is $3,000 to $13,500 (2026). Kitchen Remodel Masters prices each kitchen after a free in-home visit.
Most Kitchen Remodel Masters refacing projects take 3 to 5 days on site once the doors are built. Jose builds the doors and drawer fronts in our shop first, then the crew veneers the boxes, hangs the doors and installs the hardware in your kitchen.
Refacing is cheaper. In Houston, refacing averages $6,080 per Angi (2026), while new cabinets run $15,000 to $35,000 per Fresh Coat Painters of West Houston (2026). Refacing only makes sense when the boxes are sound; damaged boxes should be replaced.
Yes. That is the main reason to reface instead of paint. A 1990s cathedral-arch or raised-panel door can become a shaker, slab or new raised-panel door. Jose builds the doors to your box openings in our shop, so any style we build for custom cabinets is available for refacing.
Yes. New doors get new concealed hinges, and soft-close is a standard option. Drawer boxes can be swapped for soft-close undermount slides at the same time if the existing boxes are worn.
Yes. Houston's average relative humidity is about 75 percent (NOAA data via Wikipedia). We build doors from stable, sealed materials, finish them in our conditioned shop and let the adhesive and finish cure before installation so the doors stay flat and the veneer stays glued down.
No. Refacing is cosmetic work. The City of Houston requires permits for plumbing, electrical, gas and structural changes, not for new cabinet doors, veneer or hardware.
