Your Cabinets Are Probably Worth Keeping
Most kitchens we get called out to in North York do not need replacing. The boxes are solid, the doors are real wood, and the only thing that has actually failed is the finish sitting on top of them. That is a far smaller job than people expect, and it is the one we do.
Refinishing and painting are the same job when we say them. Both mean the doors come off, every surface gets cleaned, degreased, sanded and primed, and a hard finish goes on over the top. What changes is not the process, it is how far the colour has to move and how much repair the doors need before any of it starts.
That matters in North York more than in most parts of the city. The 1950s and 60s boom filled Don Mills, Bathurst Manor and the streets around them with bungalows and side-splits, and the bigger detached homes went up in York Mills and Bayview Village. Those kitchens were built with solid oak and birch, and a lot of it is still on the wall under decades of varnish. Solid wood is the one substrate that takes a real refinish, so North York has more genuinely refinishable kitchens than almost anywhere else in Toronto.
If your doors are real wood and the boxes are sound, you have options that do not involve tearing the room out. Call (416) 319-8444 and we will come and look at what you actually have. The estimate is free, it comes to you in writing, and there is nothing attached to it.
Refinish or Replace. Which One Is Your Kitchen?
Almost every kitchen that calls us is one of two jobs, and the deciding factor is not the doors. It is the boxes.
Refinish, when the boxes are sound
The carcasses are solid, the doors hang square, the layout still works, and what has actually failed is the finish sitting on top of it. That is the job this page is about. You keep the kitchen you have and it comes back looking new, for a fraction of what replacing it costs.
Replace, when the boxes have gone
Water damage under the sink, delaminating carcasses, doors that no longer hang square. No finish repairs a box that has failed. We would rather tell you that at the estimate than take a deposit and hand you a good finish on a kitchen that was already done.
Colour is not what decides this. Going from honey oak to a soft white and going from one white to another are the same job to us, because the work is in the preparation either way.
What You Are Paying For Is the Preparation
A cabinet finish fails for one reason, and it is almost never the paint. It is what was underneath the paint when it went on. Kitchens are the hardest room in the house to finish, because every door carries cooking grease whether you can see it or not, and the doors near the sink and the stove take more handling than anything else in the home. The steps that determine durability are never skipped.
Clean and degrease
Grease is invisible and nothing bonds over it. Every door, drawer front and frame is cleaned and degreased before a single tool comes out. This is the step that gets rushed on a cheap quote and it is the step that decides whether you are looking at this kitchen again in two years.
Sand and repair
The existing finish is sanded to give the primer something to hold. Chips, dents, split rails and worn edges get filled and sanded flat at the same time, because a finish does not hide damage, it shows it.
Bonding primer
A bonding primer is what makes paint stick to a surface that was never meant to be painted. It is the difference between a finish that survives being scrubbed and one that peels at the pull. Skipping it is the single most common reason a repainted kitchen fails.
Finish coats
Doors and drawer fronts are spray finished for a smooth, factory-like surface with no brush marks. The boxes and frames are finished on site to match. Multiple coats, given time to harden properly before anything goes back on.
We Work Out What Your Doors Are Made Of, So You Do Not Have To
Cabinet doors in North York kitchens turn up in a handful of materials, and the material changes the preparation, not the price of a guess. Solid wood, wood veneer, MDF, laminate, melamine and thermofoil all behave differently under a primer, and each one wants a different amount of cleaning, sanding and a different bonding product on top.
You are not expected to know which of these you have. Most people do not, and the edge and back of a door tell us in about ten seconds. We check it at the estimate, tell you straight what you have, and the written estimate you get afterwards is priced for that material and not for a generic kitchen.
If your doors are a material we would not put a finish on, you will hear that at the estimate rather than after a deposit. It costs us jobs and it is the only version of this that is worth doing.
How the Job Runs
Every kitchen is a little different, but the order does not change.
1. We look at the doors before we quote
The edge, back and corner of a door tells us the material, and the material decides the preparation. You get a detailed written estimate for your specific kitchen, priced on what is actually there.
2. Doors and drawer fronts come off and get labelled
Hardware off, everything numbered so it goes back exactly where it came from. The boxes and frames stay on the wall and get masked and protected.
3. Clean, degrease, sand, repair
The whole preparation sequence, on every surface that is getting a finish. This is the longest part of the job and it is the part you are really buying.
4. Bonding primer
Primed so the finish has something to key into. Any repair work gets spot primed first so it does not read through the colour.
5. Finish coats, then reassembly
Doors and fronts spray finished, boxes finished on site to match, multiple coats with proper hardening time between them. Then doors go back on their own hinges in their own openings, hardware back on, and we walk the kitchen with you before we leave.
Why North York Homeowners Choose Co Painting
We tell you when the kitchen is not worth finishing
Some kitchens should be replaced, not refinished, and the boxes tell us which. You hear that at the estimate. It costs us jobs and it saves you from paying for a good finish on a kitchen that had already failed underneath it.
The degrease we never skip
Grease is the single most common reason a cabinet finish fails, and it is invisible. Every door gets degreased before anything else happens to it, whether you are having a full strip or a recoat.
A hard finish, backed for up to 12 years
Cabinet work carries a warranty of up to 12 years. We are fully insured and licensed in Ontario, and we can put the paperwork in front of you before anything starts.
Fifteen years on the tools, and a record you can check
Co Painting works out of 25 St Dennis Drive in North York, with fifteen years on the tools and a 5.0 rating across 70 Google reviews. Read them before you call.
You Keep Your Kitchen, and You Keep Using It
A new kitchen is not just new cabinets. It is demolition, disposal, new boxes, and then the trades that follow the boxes, plumbing off and back on, electrical moved, counters templated and refitted, appliances out and in. That is where the money and the weeks go.
Refinishing touches none of it. The boxes stay bolted to the wall, the counters stay on the boxes, the sink and the appliances stay plumbed and wired, and the layout you already live with does not change. You are paying for preparation, primer and finish coats, on a kitchen that keeps working around you while it happens.
What it costs depends on the door count, the substrate and which of the three jobs you need, so we do not publish a number we would have to walk back. You get a written price after we have seen the kitchen, before anything comes off the wall, and there is no pressure attached to it.
If you are weighing this up against a full renovation quote, it is worth an hour of your time to get both numbers in front of you. Call (416) 319-8444 and we will come and look.
FAQ
Cabinet Refinishing Questions, Answered
Can you refinish cabinets that have already been painted?
Yes, and it is one of the most common jobs we do. Painted cabinets do not have to be stripped back before they can be finished again. They get cleaned, degreased, sanded to give the primer something to hold, any chips and worn edges filled, then a bonding primer and fresh finish coats. If the existing paint is failing or peeling, more of it comes off first, and we will tell you that at the estimate.
Is refinishing cheaper than replacing the kitchen?
It is a fraction of the cost, because your existing structure stays in place. Replacing a kitchen means new boxes, new doors, removal, disposal and usually a plumber and an electrician. Refinishing keeps everything that still works and changes the part you actually look at. You get the number for your kitchen in writing before anything starts.
Is cabinet refinishing the same thing as cabinet painting?
For us, yes. Refinishing is the more professional term for it and painting is the word most people use, but it is one service. We prep, prime and professionally paint your existing cabinets so they come back with a smooth, durable finish. There is no separate cheaper version and no separate more expensive version.
Can you change the colour of stained wood cabinets?
Yes. Honey oak, dark cherry, orange-toned maple, all of it can be finished in the colour you want. The wood grain is covered by the finish rather than left showing through, so you are not limited by what the original wood will take. Light colours over dark wood are a normal job, they just need the primer done properly.
Do the cabinets have to be sanded?
Yes, every time. Sanding is what gives the primer a surface to hold onto, and it is also when chips, dents and worn edges get filled and flattened. A finish does not hide damage underneath it, it shows it. Anyone quoting a kitchen without sanding is quoting a finish that will not last.
Does it matter what my cabinet doors are made of?
It changes the preparation, not whether we can help. Solid wood, veneer, MDF, laminate, melamine and thermofoil each want a different amount of cleaning and sanding and a different bonding product on top. You do not need to know which you have. We check the edge and the back of a door at the estimate and price the job for what is actually there.
Do we have to move out while the work is done?
No. The doors and drawer fronts come off and the boxes stay on the wall, so the kitchen stays where it is. We mask and protect the surrounding area before anything starts. You will want to keep the doors clear while the finish hardens, and we walk you through that before we leave.
Is refinishing worth it, or should we just replace the kitchen?
If the boxes are sound and the layout still works, refinishing is almost always the better value. If the carcasses have water damage, the doors no longer hang square, or the layout is the actual problem, no finish fixes that and we will say so at the estimate rather than take a deposit.
Do you refinish cabinets outside North York?
This page is for North York and the Toronto neighbourhoods around it, which is where most of our cabinet work is. Call and tell us where you are and we will tell you straight whether it is a job we can take.
Are you insured, and is the work backed?
Yes. Co Painting is fully insured and licensed in Ontario, and cabinet work carries a warranty of up to 12 years. We can put the paperwork in front of you before anything starts.