Painting, refacing, and replacing are three very different budgets that all start with the same ten minutes of inspection. Here is what to check before anyone quotes your kitchen.
Cabinet painting, refacing, and replacement all touch different layers of the kitchen — and the price difference is really a difference in how many layers get replaced. Painting refinishes what is there. Refacing replaces the doors, drawer fronts, and veneer over the existing boxes. Replacement tears out the boxes themselves. Which one you need is decided by the condition of the boxes and whether the layout changes — not by which option sounds cheapest.
Top Tier Building Services Inc. is a Castro Valley based general contractor handling cabinet painting, refacing, and full kitchen cabinet replacement for Bay Area homeowners.
Want the full walkthrough, with the box test, the cost ladder, and the finish-quality math?
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Ask for the contractor's license number and current insurance before the numbers start. Top Tier Building Services Inc. operates under CA General Contractor License #1146790 and is licensed, bonded, insured, and workers' comp covered.
Open every cabinet and check the joints — where sides meet top, bottom, and back. Push on the sides near the hinges. Swollen particleboard, water staining, and hinge screws that keep pulling out mean the box is done, no matter how the doors look.
Painting and refacing freeze the layout by definition. If the plan moves the sink, the range, or a wall, that is a replacement project — and the cabinet cost becomes one line in a bigger remodel.
Sprayed paint, brushed paint, factory thermofoil, or wood veneer — each delivers a different look and lifespan. Prep — degreasing, sanding, priming — is where durability lives, so the quote should describe both.
A paint price, a reface price, and a replacement price on the same kitchen, with the same assumptions, is the only honest comparison. If a bidder quotes only the option they sell, ask why.
Get these checks as a one-page PDF you can hold any contractor to — sent the moment you request an assessment.
Get the Checklist →A reliable cabinet quote starts with the cabinets — open, probed, and assessed. Watch for these gaps.
A price quoted without looking inside the boxes prices the look, not the project.
Degreasing, sanding, and priming are most of a paint job's durability. If prep isn't written down, it isn't priced in.
A paint-only or replace-only shop sells what it sells. The honest answer depends on your boxes.
An accurate cabinet number starts with knowing what the boxes can hold — which is why the process opens with your photos and a box assessment, not a per-linear-foot guess.
Cabinets, door style, what's wrong — dated finish, peeling thermofoil, worn veneer, or boxes that have failed.
Open-door photos of the box interiors help the team read box condition before the walkthrough.
Paint, reface, and replace priced side by side on your kitchen, with the same assumptions.
Named finishes, written prep, new hardware, and a warranty on the work.
Send the basics about your cabinets — what's wrong, what style they are, and whether the layout is staying. Open-door photos help the team read box condition before anyone shows up.
Prefer to call? Reach Top Tier at 510-470-1870 or email sales@toptierbuildingservices.com .
Prefer to call? Reach Top Tier at 510-470-1870 or email sales@toptierbuildingservices.com.
Painting is typically a third to half of refacing — roughly $4,000 to $9,000 versus $9,000 to $18,000 in the Bay Area — because everything stays in place and only the finish changes. Refacing replaces the doors and drawer fronts, which is why it costs more and changes the look more.
When the boxes have failed — swollen particleboard, delaminated laminate, hinges that keep pulling out — or when you want to change the layout. Refacing leaves the failing structure and the layout in place, so a new finish inherits both problems.
A well-prepped sprayed finish typically lasts 8 to 12 years before it needs redoing. Factory-finished refacing doors routinely last 15 to 20 years. Prep and finish method — not the paint brand — decide the lifespan.
Yes, with the right prep — thorough degreasing, scuff-sanding, and a bonding primer. Peeling thermofoil cannot be painted back flat; if the film is lifting, refacing or replacement beats painting.
Yes — new cabinet installation, layout changes, and full kitchen cabinet replacement. See the kitchen remodeling service page .
Still researching? Reface, Paint, or Replace Kitchen Cabinets? The Honest Math .
Top Tier serves Castro Valley and Bay Area clients with quality craftsmanship, clear communication, and dependable project delivery.