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AfterCabinet Installation & Refacing in San Jose, CA
Cabinets & Countertops installation and refacing in San Jose typically runs between $4,500 and $18,000 depending on whether you’re replacing everything or keeping the existing boxes and swapping doors, drawers, and veneers. Most refacing jobs take three to five days on site, while a full tear-out and new cabinet install usually runs one to two weeks. At Penhallow Remodeling San Jose, we put the price in writing before we unscrew a single hinge, and every job carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise.
If your cabinets are structurally sound but look tired, refacing makes sense. If the layout fights you every time you cook, new cabinets are the better call. We walk you through that decision honestly, because we’re kitchen remodelers first and cabinet installers as part of that larger job, not a cabinet shop pushing one product. Our full Kitchen Remodeling work gives us the context to know when refacing works and when you’re throwing good money at cabinets that need to go.
Call (669) 274-2362 to talk through your kitchen. A real person answers, day or night.
When You Need Cabinet Installation & Refacing
You’re not imagining it. Certain cabinet problems show up the same way in Willow Glen, Almaden Valley, and Berryessa, and they almost never fix themselves. Here’s what we see most often in San Jose homes built between the 1960s and early 2000s:
- Doors are delaminating or the laminate is peeling. The particleboard or MDF core swells from years of steam and moisture off the stove or dishwasher. Refacing replaces the door and drawer fronts while the boxes stay.
- The layout doesn’t match how you actually cook. In older San Jose ranch and split-level homes, original cabinets were often built shallow or with dead corner space. New installation lets you get full-depth drawers and pull-out trays where you actually need them.
- Hinges have been re-tightened too many times. When screw holes strip out and doors sag no matter how many times you adjust them, the wood is done. You’re not fixing that with longer screws.
- You’re selling and the kitchen is the weak spot. Buyers in the San Jose market notice a kitchen that hasn’t been touched since the Reagan administration. Refacing is the most cost-effective way to make it look current without a six-week gut job.
- The finish is worn through in high-touch areas. Around handles and below the sink, the stain or paint has worn to bare wood. If the boxes are square and solid, refacing gets you a fresh surface for roughly half the cost of replacement.
- Dishwasher or sink replacement left gaps. We see this in San Jose regularly: a new appliance doesn’t fit the old opening, and now there’s a gap or a filler strip that looks like an afterthought. New cabinet installation can build around the appliance properly.
Our Cabinet Installation & Refacing Process
Every Penhallow Remodeling San Jose job follows the same sequence. No surprises, no crews wandering off mid-project. Here’s how it works:
- We come out and look. Trevor Nash or one of our lead installers measures your kitchen, checks the existing boxes for square and level, and talks through what’s realistic. You’ll hear straight answers about whether refacing or full installation makes sense for your layout and budget.
- You get a written price before any work starts. Not a range, not a ballpark. A number. The quote covers cabinet boxes, doors, drawer fronts, hardware, finishes, and installation labor. The number on day one is the number on the invoice.
- We confirm materials and lead times. Cabinet lines have variable lead times depending on finish and configuration. We use the trade brands that stand behind their product, because our 365-Day Done Right Promise works better when the cabinet manufacturer also backs their goods. Once everything’s ordered, we give you a defined arrival window for install.
- Install or reface, clean and square. We remove old doors and hardware, prep boxes for refacing or tear out for new install, and set everything level and plumb. Our installers are background-checked and arrive in uniform. You know exactly who’s walking into your kitchen.
- We leave the room cleaner than we found it. No sawdust in the drawers, no wrappers under the sink. The Kingswell Way is simple: say the price before the work, show up in the window we gave, leave the place cleaner than we found it.
- Your 365-Day Done Right Promise starts the day we finish. If a hinge loosens, a drawer sticks, or a door doesn’t sit right within a year, we come back and fix it at no charge. That promise is in writing on every project.
Cabinet Installation & Refacing Pricing in San Jose
Cabinet work in San Jose doesn’t have one flat price, because a 1963 Almaden split-level and a 2012 Evergreen two-story need different things. Here are the honest numbers based on what we’ve quoted and installed across the city:
| Project Type | Typical Price Range | What It Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Refacing: doors, drawer fronts, veneer | $4,500 – $9,000 | New doors and drawer faces, matching veneer on exposed box ends, new hinges, new hardware |
| Refacing plus some new boxes | $7,000 – $13,000 | Refacing where boxes are sound, replacing boxes that are water-damaged or wrong for the layout |
| Full replacement, builder-grade line | $9,000 – $16,000 | Tear-out and haul-off, stock or semi-custom cabinets, new hardware, basic crown or trim |
| Full replacement, custom or semi-custom | $14,000 – $25,000+ | Custom configuration, soft-close everything, pull-outs, specialty storage, premium finishes |
What drives the price up or down in San Jose specifically:
- Box condition. If your cabinet boxes are water-swollen or out of square, refacing isn’t honest and we’ll tell you that. Replacement costs more because you’re buying the boxes, not just the skin.
- Kitchen size. A 10×12 foot kitchen in a San Jose condo has a different cabinet count than a 20-foot galley in a Blossom Valley rancher.
- Hardware and drawer slides. Soft-close slides and quality hinges cost more than builder-grade. We spec these in because they’re part of why a job lasts, and the difference is maybe $300 to $800 across a full kitchen.
- Lead paint or asbestos. Older San Jose homes built before 1978 may have lead paint on existing woodwork. If testing flags it, containment and proper disposal add cost. We handle it correctly, not by ignoring it.
- Finish choice. Painted finishes cost more than stained. Custom colors cost more than stock. If you want a specific color match on refaced boxes and new doors, that’s prep and spray time.
We give you the written price before demo starts, so you know what you’re spending before anything gets pulled off the wall. Call (669) 274-2362 for a free in-home estimate.
FAQs – Cabinet Installation & Refacing
How much does cabinet refacing cost in San Jose?
Cabinet refacing in San Jose typically costs between $4,500 and $9,000 for a standard 10×12 kitchen with sound existing boxes. Full replacement ranges from $9,000 to $25,000 or more depending on cabinet line, hardware, and configuration. Call (669) 274-2362 for an exact written quote. Estimates are free.
Is it cheaper to reface or replace cabinets?
Refacing is cheaper when your cabinet boxes are square, dry, and well-built. You’re spending roughly half to two-thirds of replacement cost because you’re keeping the boxes and swapping only the doors, drawer fronts, and veneer. If your boxes are swollen, cracked, or built in a Kitchen Design & Layout that doesn’t work, replacement is the smarter money, and we’ll tell you that directly before you spend anything.
Can you reface cabinets that are already painted or have peeling laminate?
Yes, in most cases. Peeling laminate is actually a common reason San Jose homeowners call us about refacing: the door faces fail while the boxes are still serviceable. We strip the old doors and drawer fronts, apply new facing to the boxes where exposed, and hang new doors and drawer faces. If the underlying boxes have water damage at the sink or dishwasher, those specific boxes may need replacement as part of the refacing job.
How long does cabinet installation take?
Refacing a standard San Jose kitchen takes three to five days on site. Full cabinet installation, including tear-out and set, runs one to two weeks depending on kitchen size and any structural or electrical work involved. We give you a written arrival window before work begins, and the crew shows up in that window. Call (669) 274-2362 to schedule a walk-through.
Do you handle cabinet installation as part of a full kitchen remodel?
Yes, and that’s where we do our best work. Cabinet installation and refacing sit inside the larger scope of Kitchen Remodeling in San Jose – we handle cabinets, counters, backsplash, plumbing trim, and lighting as one coordinated project so you don’t end up juggling three different contractors and three different schedules. When cabinets are part of a whole-kitchen remodel, we spec them to work with the countertop material and sink configuration from the first day, not as an afterthought.
Why Penhallow Remodeling San Jose for Cabinet Work
We’re not a cabinet shop that also does installs. We’re a general contractor that handles Full Kitchen Remodeling as a full scope, and cabinet installation and refacing is the part of the job that makes or breaks the whole room. That matters because we’re thinking about how the cabinets meet the countertop, how the sink base lines up with the plumbing, and how the whole thing holds up to daily use in a San Jose kitchen.
Trevor Nash, owner at Penhallow Remodeling San Jose, has built this business around one idea: write down the price, write down the guarantee, and then do the work. Every cabinet project gets our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something fails inside that year, we come back and fix it at no charge. No service call fee, no re-inspection fee, no argument.
Materials come from recognized trade brands, which means the cabinet hardware and finishes are backed by manufacturers that stand behind their stuff. That matters in a kitchen, where a soft-close hinge gets cycled thousands of times a year. The product warranty and our workmanship warranty stack together, so you’re covered from two directions.
Every technician who walks into your home is background-checked and arrives in uniform. A live person answers the phone 24/7, not a voicemail prompt or a call center. When you call (669) 274-2362, you get a human being who can talk about your project, not a recording telling you to press one for sales.
Penhallow Remodeling San Jose operates as part of the Kingswell family of companies, following The Kingswell Way since 2004. Each location is independently owned and operated, and the standard is the same everywhere: written price before work starts, defined arrival window, clean job site, written guarantee on every project.
Key Takeaways
- Cabinet refacing in San Jose runs $4,500 to $9,000 for a typical kitchen with sound boxes; full replacement starts around $9,000 and goes up from there.
- Refacing makes sense when boxes are square and dry. Replacement makes sense when the layout is wrong or the wood is failing.
- Every Penhallow Remodeling San Jose job includes a written price before work starts and a 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing.
- We handle cabinet work as part of a coordinated kitchen remodel, so cabinets, counters, and plumbing are spec’d together from day one.
- A real person answers the phone 24/7 at (669) 274-2362. No maze, no callback window.
Ready to Talk About Your Kitchen Cabinets?
If your cabinets are tired and you want an honest take on refacing versus replacement, call Penhallow Remodeling San Jose at (669) 274-2362. We’ll schedule a walk-through, measure your kitchen, and hand you a written price you can hold us to. The estimate is free, and the number on day one is the number on the invoice. That’s how we’ve always done it, and it’s the only way we know how to work.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner at Penhallow Remodeling San Jose, serving San Jose.
