Houston, TX · Member since 2018 · 19 posts · 4 votes
Hello all,
I am looking into an older kitchen cabinet remodel and was wondering if there were any creative people out there that had any ideas. The cabinets are in very good condition for their age and I am looking at updating them by possibly repainting or staining.
They definitely do have an aged look which will be hard to overcome and I've looked up some ideas online but haven't found cabinets with the same shape. I would replace the countertops as well as the appliances/flooring.
Does anyone have any personal ideas of theirs for this kitchen set up? Thinking about removing the cabinets overhead the cook top to open up the space even more.
What is the price point on this rental? Is it an A, B or C class property? If the cabinets are in good shape - I WOULD NOT RIP THEM OUT. Those cabinets are probably built 10x better than anything that you can get in the retail market today (outside of custom). Remove the hardware, fill in the holes, de-grease, light sand, oil based primer, spray cabinets with a quality cabinet paint. Less than $200 in materials if you do it yourself. Under $1k if you pay someone else.
I would recommend replacing the counter tops with new formica counters. Look up "Meet Kevins" youtube video on kitchen cabinet updates. Follow his advice - he knows what he is talking about.
It all depends on what are you going for / price point. What you got is 70's oak. You can replace the kitchen, if you go with IKEA and not hang uppers over the L you got may be 2k in the new cabinets. You can get all new faces. You can have kitchen wrapped in plastic. You can remove raised wood from the doors, fill the lines and and repaint - that will give you flat doors. To stain you need to sand / strip the old finish, it is more work then repainting. For paint to stick you should scratch the surface first, use steel wool or something. If you want a nice finish - spray an oil base enamel. IMHO it's a lot of labor to make old cabinets look nice and do a quality durable finish. For us it is more cost effective to just replace cabinets. Good luck.
What is the price point on this rental? Is it an A, B or C class property? If the cabinets are in good shape - I WOULD NOT RIP THEM OUT. Those cabinets are probably built 10x better than anything that you can get in the retail market today (outside of custom). Remove the hardware, fill in the holes, de-grease, light sand, oil based primer, spray cabinets with a quality cabinet paint. Less than $200 in materials if you do it yourself. Under $1k if you pay someone else.
I would recommend replacing the counter tops with new formica counters. Look up "Meet Kevins" youtube video on kitchen cabinet updates. Follow his advice - he knows what he is talking about.
It all depends on what are you going for / price point. What you got is 70's oak. You can replace the kitchen, if you go with IKEA and not hang uppers over the L you got may be 2k in the new cabinets. You can get all new faces. You can have kitchen wrapped in plastic. You can remove raised wood from the doors, fill the lines and and repaint - that will give you flat doors. To stain you need to sand / strip the old finish, it is more work then repainting. For paint to stick you should scratch the surface first, use steel wool or something. If you want a nice finish - spray an oil base enamel. IMHO it's a lot of labor to make old cabinets look nice and do a quality durable finish. For us it is more cost effective to just replace cabinets. Good luck.
What is the price point on this rental? Is it an A, B or C class property? If the cabinets are in good shape - I WOULD NOT RIP THEM OUT. Those cabinets are probably built 10x better than anything that you can get in the retail market today (outside of custom). Remove the hardware, fill in the holes, de-grease, light sand, oil based primer, spray cabinets with a quality cabinet paint. Less than $200 in materials if you do it yourself. Under $1k if you pay someone else.
I would recommend replacing the counter tops with new formica counters. Look up "Meet Kevins" youtube video on kitchen cabinet updates. Follow his advice - he knows what he is talking about.
It's a B class neighborhood 3/2 home, ~1500 sqft that should rent for ~$1600/month once updated. Good points on the build quality. I will check out Meet Kevins page now, thanks for the advice!
Depends on what the ultimate use is. Are you flipping or renting? Where is the property? What is the clientele?
I have long term buy & hold rentals. For me those cabinets would be keepers. At most, in that kitchen, I would:
1. Remove the uppers over the peninsula;
2. Paint the wall ovens white to match the refrigerator (or black & change the fridge, see #3);
3. Change the drop-in cook top to either white or change the refrigerator color;
4. Change the handles;
5. Float a luxury vinyl plank over that flooring.
For everything above you're looking at maximum of a few thousand dollars. With dark cabinets like that black goes better than white, but it depends on whether you're willing/able to change the fridge which appears obnoxiously big for the space anyway but also costs more money to change.
What is the price point on this rental? Is it an A, B or C class property? If the cabinets are in good shape - I WOULD NOT RIP THEM OUT. Those cabinets are probably built 10x better than anything that you can get in the retail market today (outside of custom). Remove the hardware, fill in the holes, de-grease, light sand, oil based primer, spray cabinets with a quality cabinet paint. Less than $200 in materials if you do it yourself. Under $1k if you pay someone else.
I would recommend replacing the counter tops with new formica counters. Look up "Meet Kevins" youtube video on kitchen cabinet updates. Follow his advice - he knows what he is talking about.
It's a B class neighborhood 3/2 home, ~1500 sqft that should rent for ~$1600/month once updated. Good points on the build quality. I will check out Meet Kevins page now, thanks for the advice!
Frank - I also forgot to mention that when you start ripping out cabinets you will run into other issues. The new cabinets probably wont work with the existing flooring unless modifications are made to the kickplates. Also - you will likely start to get project creep. Kevin does a good job of discussing that part. Replacing cabinets is easy in theory, but usually a PITA in practice. Also - your tenants probably wont care if its a middle of the road rental property.
Depends on what the ultimate use is. Are you flipping or renting? Where is the property? What is the clientele?
I have long term buy & hold rentals. For me those cabinets would be keepers. At most, in that kitchen, I would:
1. Remove the uppers over the peninsula;
2. Paint the wall ovens white to match the refrigerator (or black & change the fridge, see #3);
3. Change the drop-in cook top to either white or change the refrigerator color;
4. Change the handles;
5. Float a luxury vinyl plank over that flooring.
For everything above you're looking at maximum of a few thousand dollars. With dark cabinets like that black goes better than white, but it depends on whether you're willing/able to change the fridge which appears obnoxiously big for the space anyway but also costs more money to change.
This will be a long term rental in a nice but relatively affordable area of Houston with good schools.
Thank you for the insight. My biggest issue with looking at painted cabinets is you can typically see the wood grain behind it in the light. That's why I may look into the darker colors as you stated or an espresso stained look of sortts.
Either way you guys have given me a ton to think about. Thank you so much!
I use Rustoleum at Home Depot. You tube or google it. Costs like 80 bucks and will do a while kitchen and bathroom for one box. Pick your color off the box and you’re set. I’ve painted every wooden cabinet in my house with it.
I hate ripping out old cabinets if they're good and solid, so I've had good luck redoing the doors with strips of thin plywood to look like shakers (I call them fakers, lol), adding new hardware and painting. Just finished this one this month:
Old:
New:
The layout is a bit different than yours, but I had that ugly bank of cabinets over the stove too. I took them down, built a base out of 2 x 4's, and made a little extra storage on a weird blank wall. You can see them a little in this pic -
As a contractor the process is pretty straight forward. First, understand that latex paints won’t adhere to cabinets without a few steps.
1. Remove the sheen and/or sand the finish off the cabs. Polyurethane has both a sheen and is an oil based product - both won’t allow latex paints to work. So, removing the sheen from the poly allows for a mechanical bond. Using an oil-based primer also allows for a chemical bond. Keep in mind you don’t have to sand to bare wood.
2. Apply oil-based primer. Oil-based primers will adhere to anything; latex paint will then adhere to the oil based primer. If you are paint the cabinets a light color then white primer is fine to use. If you are going dark for the final paint then tinting the primer dark gray is important otherwise every chip/scratch has the potential to show the underlying white.
3. Apply (2) coats of semi-gloss latex paint. It will adhere well to the oil-based primer and seal in the smell (as much as possible).
You can also use this process on end panels that aren’t wood but the film of a finish panel. This process also allows you to patch holes if you also want to change the size/placement for pulls and knobs.
Question, how did you get rid of the raised surfaces on your older cabinet faces? Also, how much grain do you see through your cabinets, what product did you use?
Question, how did you get rid of the raised surfaces on your older cabinet faces? Also, how much grain do you see through your cabinets, what product did you use?
Frank - dont worry about the grain. Nobody cares. It will look better than it does now, which is all that matters.You wont be living in it, so it doesnt need to be perfect.
Yes! You have the option to do one last coat that brings out the wood grain. I did on mine with the coat that brings out the wood grain. and they look amazing if you’re not too sure about it, go on you tube and search for rustoleum paint for cabinets I watched them do cabinets really dark, then they decided to paint them white later. They look amazing I colored my ugly oak brown look cabinets really dark and put on some nickel hardware handles and knobs was simple to do and it looks professionally done
Look on the side of the box for all the colors and the people at the paint section will mix it that color. One box is for white and light colors. The other box is for darker colors. I’ll do all my rentals with this. Not bad for $80. And you might have enough left over to paint two bathrooms. At least one. Good luck.
@Frank Szymanski I am currently in the process of staining my golden oak cabinets using a dark gel stain. It takes 2-3 coats for a complete finish, but so far they are looking really great. Prep work requires cleaning the cabinets and sanding lightly (don’t need to get down to raw wood). The stain covers all flaws well, including ceiling paint on the molding. Be prepared for a timely project, though. I am allowing 2 days between coats of stain and then will cover with 3 coats of poly. It is not a difficult project, but takes time and a lot of patience. Also, if you have a partner or two, the process will go much faster.
I would probably reface those. If painting, TSP cleaner to remove oil and grease, followed with a shellac based primer (Zinser BIN). I use Ben Moore's advance product for topcoat, oil based water cleanup. Dynamite paint for trim and cabinets. Make sure to leave 24hrs between coats and it needs a week to fully cure. I use a grain filler when necessary, a lot of work in the following steps to not do it right. New hardware to make it pop.
I vote to paint them white/light and new hardware. The shaker style is basic and hard to go wrong, but it's going to be a drastic improvement even if you didn't fill or change anything else. Also I would definitely remove the scalloped edge over the sink!
@Frank Szymanski That is not too a bad color of stain. It looks worse with the countertops, floor and knobs/pulls. Put a coat of wipe on polyurethane or maybe colored polyurethane to cover scratches. You could order new shaker doors online at cabinetdoorworld, barker or such. Shaker is #1 style. But I think the cabinets would look very nice as is but painted. I love Benjamin Moore advance paint. Just have a lot of foam brushes for drips...with all the detailed trim. I recommend light warm gray or a dark cream color in rentals and semigloss finishes.
I love the major overhauls shown above, but for cheap and easy:
I've had terrible luck with painted cabinets over time. The area around the knobs where your fingers lightly scratch it, just with normal use, ends up scratching away the color over time. Then, they just look awful. It might take a year or two, but they'll start to look bad.
I'd leave the cabinets over the stove top. I know the trend is to go minimalistic, but the lack of storage is so frustrating to renters. Your tenants will love you for it.
I agree to change the hardware to a popular silver color.
I agree the white fridge stands out too much. I'd get a black one, then all the appliances are black.
If you could change out the sink for one that's a single sink with a new faucet like the one in the picture linked below, it would make it look a lot more modern and I love the new ones - it's so much easier to wash a huge stock pot. I hate double sinks. I use a lot of large pots and they're a pain to try to clean in a double sink.
I do the above and see if you like the counter top as-is. It's actually becoming trendy to use the retro wood-look counter tops again.
It's hard to tell in the photo, but is there a wood backsplash, too? It might look cool to leave as-is.
Then, you can leave the retro wall ovens, too. People like retro stuff. My daughter fell in love with a bungalow with old yellow wall ovens that she bought, and when she turned it into a rental, her tenants also loved them.
I think if you removed the wood piece over the sink, though, the un-cool outdated look of the cupboards would be overlooked more easily. You could stain it and see how it looks first, though.
Here are some examples of black cupboards with wooden countertops:
This video is great to show how much of a difference just changing the cupboard color and hardware. All these guys did was paint the cupboards and the hardware, and it changed the entire kitchen. They used paint. I'd use stain, but they painted all the old gold oak colored wood to black all through their house and you won't believe the difference:
@Frank Szymanski what about refacing. It's a good option if the cabinets are in good shape and would save a ton of money. I would also suggest putting in a microwave and single oven instead of the double oven. Most people don't need 2 ovens and a built in microwave is definitely a plus.
