I am upgrading old cabinets in a church basement. The face frames are in poor shape and I was considering attaching new face frames over the old ones to straighten and strengthen them. This would also facilitate new hardware and not fighting/covering old hardware holes, etc. The new countertop (already installed) has room below it since it was set against a new level of sheetrock installed over cement/plaster walls with out removing the cabinets below. I was considering new rails and stiles that were wider than the 1 1/4 or 2 1/2 to straighten the lines.
Reactions? Anyone ever do something similar with out tearing out old cabinets?
Replies
New over old
Ole,
It does sound a little goofy, but I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't work. It sounds like you will end up with stronger than new cabinets. If I understand you right, you are going to put slighly wider rails and stiles on to straighten the front of the cabinets. That should work assuming the doors still fit. I would be careful if trying to bend the original wood straight and supporting with the new wood; there is no guarentee that the new wood will win. Getting solid connection between new and old faceframes is probably important, as is understanding the cause of the current sag to ensure it doesn't cause the new faceframe to sag as well.
On an unrelated note, did you ever see the play "Church Basement Ladies"? Your post made me think of that immediately:)
I Hear & Behold
I hate to be a doubting Thomas during this season but it sounds to me that with a new counter top this room needs to have visual appeal ? Put that idea on hold for a sunday or two and see if among the many congregants there is a woodworker in the pews to consult with. Better yet - 2nd collection to fund new cabinets ! A photo would be great to help the faithful here recommend a virtuous course.
SA
Don't do it, build new
I faced a similar situation while renovating my son's house. The existing base cabinets were made in place out of OSB with solid wood face frames. The OSB was rotted in places and the cabinets were sagging. I thought I might save time by carefully taking them apart, replacing the rotted pieces, a reassembling. As I thought through it I realized I could build new cabinets quicker than I could repair the old and be better off in the long run.
Don't waste your time with these, they're shot. Building new cabinets is easy and not that expensive to do out of big box store plywood. Just make you face frame assembly first and build the case to fit the face frame.
gdblake
Repair vs. Replace
If the old cabinets were not constructed well, and are not currently in good shape, the effort in "refacing" them is likely doomed to early failure. It may be more productive to simply replace the cabinets.
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