Lakeland homeowners usually ask whether they can keep the boxes and change the doors. Sometimes yes. Florida humidity is why the answer is often no.
This is the decision that sits on kitchen cabinet installation. It is not a hire post. It is whether the boxes in your kitchen will carry another decade.
Reface when the boxes are still square
Refacing replaces doors and drawer fronts and skins the frames. The layout stays. The sinks and the range stay. Cost is lower because you are not buying a full box run.
Do this only if the boxes are plywood or solid wood, sit plumb, and still close flush. Open a door and look at the bottom. If the toe kick is swollen or the particle board is crumbling, skip reface.
Replace when humidity already won
Particle-board boxes take on steam from the dishwasher and the sink. Once the bottom rail swells, a new door will not save it. The hinge has nothing true to grab.
Replace if the layout is the real problem: a wasted corner, no drawers, an island that does not fit how you cook. Refacing locks you into that layout. That is the expensive mistake.
A full run also makes sense when new countertops are coming. Stone needs a level, solid base. We template after the boxes are set.
What the market ranges look like
Published industry cost guides put stock cabinets at $80 to $150 per linear foot installed, semi-custom at $150 to $350, and custom at $500 to $1,200 and up. A typical kitchen is about 24 linear feet.
Refacing is usually less than a new semi-custom run on the same footprint. It is not less than a stock replacement if the boxes have to come out anyway.
Those numbers are general market ranges, not a True Builders quote. Scope, materials, and how square your walls are set the real number.
How we decide in the house
We measure. We check for square. Older Lakeland and Plant City walls are rarely true, so scribing matters more than the door style on the sample board.
If the kitchen is part of a bigger plan, start on kitchen remodeling. Cabinets are about 29 percent of that budget, so the tier you pick moves the whole job.
Call (863) 647-1800. Tell us the city and whether the doors still close. Licensed CBC1258346.
