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Ethren / Home Improvement
Cabinet Refresh & Repairs
Your kitchen does not need demolition. Often it needs a new face and hinges that close quietly.
Open a door. Does it rub? Stick? Show its age in the finish? We photograph the boxes, test every hinge and slide, and tell you plainly what is worth saving.
If the box is plumb and solid, a refresh is half the cost and half the dust of a new kitchen — and you keep the layout you already live in. If it is swollen or failing, we will say so and price both paths.
Scope & materials
We fix what is worth fixing
Not every kitchen needs a dumpster. If the boxes are square and the layout lets you move without a shuffle, a refresh is cleaner, quicker, and lets you keep the stone and floor you already like.
- New fronts on saved boxes · slab, Shaker, or thin-rail — reveal scribed to your existing boxes so the line stays even
- Refinish in place · strip to wood where stain will show, sand and prime per substrate (MDF drinks differently than maple)
- Hinges, slides, soft-close · Blum or equal, boring corrected so doors do not rub, drawers do not rack
- Box surgery · toe-kick swollen from the sink? We cut it back, splice new, seal the edge so water does not return
- Alignment for integrated panels · fridge and dishwasher fronts set so the gap reads as one, not as an appliance stuck on
Approach & execution
When we tell you to replace instead
We will tell you when a refresh is lipstick. If the particleboard has blown and the bottom crumbles in your hand, if the layout forces you to sidestep every time you carry a pot — new boxes are cheaper than a patch you will curse in a year.
That conversation comes with photos, a 40–60% cost comparison, and both scopes priced the same way, on the same page. You choose. We do not chase the more expensive job if the small one is the honest one.
Approach & execution
How we keep a kitchen livable
Doors leave, boxes stay. We label every front, spray it in the shop where dust does not land in your coffee, and bring it back even. On site, boxes are masked, hinges replaced, and you still have a place to make breakfast. That sequencing is written before a screw comes out.
Materials
Finish is specified per substrate (MDF, maple, oak, laminate) and per exposure (steam, sun, touch). Samples are sprayed and approved in the kitchen’s light before full run.
What is included. What is not.
Clear scope before work begins. Written in the proposal, not assumed on site.
Included
- On-site assessment with photos and written recommendation
- Removal, labeling, and shop finishing of fronts where applicable
- Box repairs, hinge/slide replacement, and alignment
- Priming and two-coat finish per spec (sprayed where profiles allow)
- Reinstall, reveal alignment, and hardware fitting
- Soft-close adjustment and labeled touch-up kit
Not included / by others unless stated
- Stone, appliance, or plumbing replacement (coordinated if part of wider scope)
- Electrical for under-cabinet lighting beyond hardware install
- Structural layout changes — billed as custom millwork if requested
How this service runs.
A measured sequence. Each step is confirmed in writing before the next begins.
Assess
Photograph boxes, test hinges and slides, check for moisture and deflection. Written refresh vs. replace recommendation with range.
Specify
Choose refinish vs. reface per door, confirm profile, finish, and hardware. Sample sprayed for sign-off.
Execute
Fronts labeled and finished in shop; boxes repaired and prepped on site. Dust control and daily clean maintained in an active kitchen.
Refit
Reinstall, align reveals, adjust soft-close, and punch list. Walk-through with care notes and remaining paint.
Hinge test
A drawer that finds home on its own.
Soft-close that does not thud. A reveal that stays even when the light rakes across it.
See kitchens we have savedGood to know before we start.
Direct answers. Full terms are documented in the written proposal.
Can I still cook?
For the most part, yes. Doors are gone for a few days getting sprayed, but boxes stay. We sequence so you are not eating out for a week — the schedule is written before a hinge comes off.
Will the new color match?
We spray a sample and hold it up in your kitchen light until you say yes. Sheen is chosen for where steam and hands live. Only then do we run the rest.
My base near the sink is swollen — can it be saved?
Often we can cut it back, add fresh material, and seal it so it does not return. If the guts have failed, we photograph it and price a new box honestly — no patch where a rebuild is right.
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