New fronts,
or new cabinets.
The honest answer.

When the cabinet boxes are structurally sound, still square, fixed properly to the wall, and the layout works for you. If those four things are true, refacing gives you a new-looking kitchen for meaningfully less money and disruption than replacement. We check all four on site before recommending it.

When the boxes are swollen, delaminating or racked; when the hinge bores are chewed out; when the runs were never fixed properly; or when what you actually want is different storage — deep drawers instead of shelves, a different appliance opening, or a changed layout. None of those can be solved by changing what is on the front.

Usually yes with refacing, because the boxes never move. With replacement it depends: a stone top can sometimes be lifted and re-set if the new carcasses are the same height and footprint, but it is a real risk on an older slab and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth attempting.

You can, and it is the cheapest visible change in a kitchen. Bear in mind that new pulls rarely line up with old fixing holes, so doors may need filling and refinishing — at which point refacing the fronts entirely is often the better value.

Far less than a replacement, and the kitchen stays largely usable throughout because the boxes and worktops never leave. We will give you a real duration after the site visit rather than a brochure number.

Only if the end panels and fillers are skipped. Facing the frames and panelling every exposed end is what makes the difference between new joinery and new doors on an old kitchen — it is also where cheap refacing quotes save their money.

Usually very closely. Shaker is shaker; what varies is the width of the rail, the depth of the centre panel and the sharpness of the outer edge. Those three are what make one painted door look expensive and another look flat.

Changing doors, fronts or cabinets generally does not. Moving plumbing or electrical, or altering structure, generally does. If your scope crosses that line we handle the submission rather than leaving you with an unpermitted alteration.

Painted MDF is dimensionally stable and takes a flawless finish, which is why most of what we install here is painted. Solid timber moves with humidity but can be sanded and repaired locally. Both work; they fail and age differently.

With refacing the interiors stay as they are, which is fine when they are clean and sound and disappointing when they are not. Interiors can be relined, and new runners and internal fittings can be added while the fronts are off — that is the cheapest time to do it.

Yes, and it is often the right answer: keep sound runs, replace the ones that have failed or that need to change shape, and make everything match on the front. It needs the door programme and finish to be identical across both, which is a specification question we handle at selection stage.