replacement doors kitchen cupboards

blairie

I am looking to replace the doors of my kitchen cupboards (the wall units), which are 590mm heigh and 490mm wide (so cunit itself is 1000mm wide). To my dismay I found that all kitchen units nowadays have a height of 715mm, so they are all too long.

I looked at replacement door companies, but they appear to be rather expensive as well.

Are there still companies out there selling the old unit doors? When did they all change anyway, I bought the existing cupboards some 14 to 15 years ago, if I really go for complete new units, when will the industry change those measurements?

I tried to paint one of the doors with white gloss and made a real hatchet job of that.

Any help or advise someone?

Cheers

Blairie

CKdesigner

Hi Blairie

If your kitchen is 15 years old then it is probably coming to the end of its life in a few more years so I would recommend that you don't waste money on changing doors. If you do change them you will probably find that after a few months everything will go out of line as you tend to weaken the carcases in the area around the hinges.

CK

blairie

Hi,

a new kitchen is not an option. I can't afford new cooker etc and are happy with what I have.

I just replaced the vinyl on the floor, so don't want to replace that either. The real problem though is that the house is old and the kitchen foor and ceiling are on a visible slope. When we put in the existing kitchen my husband had to make every unit "uneven" to make it even.

A kitchen from any company would cost thousands and thousands because of all the work they would have to do when fitting the kitchen and, as I said, I only need replacement units and do not want to purchase new cookers etc etc etc.

Blairie

ormus

the budget kitchen range at wickes etc... is probably cheaper than most doors only, elsewhere.

Meepster

If there's nothing wrong with your cooker etc. then you don't need to replace them. Same for the sink (and possibly even the worktops, if you can get away with it)

Replacing the kitchen units makes most sense. Unless you use a company who specialise in replacement doors (and you'll tend to find the cost is very similar to the cost of new kitchen units) the doors simply wont fit properly. Not just the height of the doors, but also the position of the hinge holes etc...

blairie

Thanks for all the advice.

Problem is that I really really do not want to replace the standing units, because they will have to be adapted again. Replacing just the wall units would look silly though.

I'll probably just do a "hatchet paint job" on the other doors as well, then at least I'll have the same "theme" running through the kitchen.

Thanks for all your advice guys.

Blairie

Sarahmichelle87_2

It will be easier, faster and cheaper to replace your units including carcasses, rather than employing a joiner / bespoke manufacturer to make you new doors for old units.

A kitchen can easily be designed to fit around your existing appliances, this shouldn't be an issue

New kitchen units won't necessarily affect your flooring either, as long as they are the same depth or deeper. Revamping tired kitchens can be a good idea providing theyre not past their shelf life, at 15 years old I would say its just money for old rope - sorry!

sgoode

I had the same issue in my old flat. I wanted to only replace the doors as we were soon going to be moving and the units themselves were very good quality and solid, despite being at least 20 years old. The wall units were all shorter than the standard 715mm. I bought gloss white 715mm doors from B&Q and got them to cut them down to the right size in the store (I got them to cut a bit off the top and bottom so the holes for the hinges were still in the middle of the door). They cut them for free, and the cuts were very clean. I bought some iron on edging to put over the cut edges and some 99p handles from ebay and the doors fitted the old cupboards perfectly.

grizzly1911

blairie wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice.

Problem is that I really really do not want to replace the standing units, because they will have to be adapted again. Replacing just the wall units would look silly though.

I'll probably just do a "hatchet paint job" on the other doors as well, then at least I'll have the same "theme" running through the kitchen.

Thanks for all your advice guys.

Blairie

If you do go down the paint route consider using spray paint instead. Our local independent DIY store stocks it, in a range that also includes radiator paint. I have seen it in the Wickes range.

I used some on bedroom furniture to bring it back to a "good" satin finish.

It was easier to apply than brush and if you apply a few light coats they tend to dry with a flat finish.

Maybe try the inside of a door to test the approach.

Need to make sure the doors are really clean.

With any paint you will notice that they will get marked, chipped easily revealing the base colour.