Is it worth my while having my present kitchen refurbished?

donmaico

I have a vinyl wrapped Benchmarx kitchen I bought 10 years ago and it's beginning to show the tell tale  signs of peeling behind a couple  of cupboard doors so, presuming there is still plenty of life in the cabinets, would it be worth replacing the doors and other frontages with a painted alternative rather than replace the whole kitchen ?   I am told their cabinets are  guaranteed for a lifetime these days but the doors for only five years, which suggests to me the doors are  all made from vinyl wrapped MDF. There is nothing on their brochure to suggest otherwise so maybe I should look at one of those companies such as Magic Kitchen and Kitchen Restoration, that simply refurbish existing kitchens ,

The only issue I have had with the cabinets is a couple of screws popped out of a pair of doors in a corner cabinet leaving them dangling  from a pair of Blum hinges I noticed the screws were very small and replaced them with longer ones.Since then no problem although  i suspect the fitter used similar sized screws all round and others may pop out in time.Particle board does not to be good material for holding onto screws or weight load 

Anyway I would  welcome's some advice 

thanks

donmaico

I have considered replacing the kitchen  altogether mainly due to the possibility of the MFC  cabinet attracting moisture over time but am unsure which kitchen supplier to aim for ,I definitely want to avoid any of the "wrapped" options or wood so that leaves painted doors etc.As for cabinets , Finsa make a product called Superman which apparently combines the best attributes  of MFC and MDF but so far I have not  found any kitchen carcasses made from it

Doozergirl

Given that you know where your kitchen came from, if you're happy with the carcasses, I don't see any reason why you can't just change the doors/worktops/whatever.   

The doors will be a perfect fit, which would be my main concern. My in laws had doors from
one of these replacement door replacement companies and they don't look good at all - you can see the carcass through the gaps in the doors and there's some rather dubious cladding going on in places.  

Slinky

Was that a 'national' company Doozer? We have inherited a pretty new kitchen in our house but the doors and worktops aren't to our taste so we were thinking of doing a refurb of what's here rather than a rip out.  My thinking is we'll hope to get 10 years out of it, then have a new kitchen to last us another 20 which will probably see us out.

donmaico

Doozergirl said:

Given that you know where your kitchen came from, if you're happy with the carcasses, I don't see any reason why you can't just change the doors/worktops/whatever.   

The doors will be a perfect fit, which would be my main concern. My in laws had doors from
one of these replacement door replacement companies and they don't look good at all - you can see the carcass through the gaps in the doors and there's some rather dubious cladding going on in places.  

yes that was my first thought , but what I dont know because their brochure does not make clear, is whether all the door options are "wrapped" or whether some are painted. Howdens, by contrast, make clear which is which .I guess I will need to phone them but I really want to avoid the wrapped options 

Grenage

I hired an independent fitter who to replace the doors and end panels in our last place before we sold the house.  They came from Howdens, it cost next to nothing, and we wished we'd done it five years earlier.

Doozergirl

Slinky said:

Was that a 'national' company Doozer? We have inherited a pretty new kitchen in our house but the doors and worktops aren't to our taste so we were thinking of doing a refurb of what's here rather than a rip out.  My thinking is we'll hope to get 10 years out of it, then have a new kitchen to last us another 20 which will probably see us out.

I don't know, but I wouldn't recommend them! 😂

donmaico

I have come to the conclusion that it would be better for me to wait a couple of years as my kitchen is still serviceable , and then replace it completely as I will want to reconfigure it .Benchmarx only produce one kitchen that would be acceptable to me ie the Somerset range which they describe as "classic shaker style built from solid timber frames and veneer centre panels". No mention of what they mean by solid timber ie could it be MDF or tulip wood or pine and there is no mention whether they are painted or lacquered or have some other coloured finish . All other kitchens are PVC wrapped .Howdens provide better alternatives 
One thing I don't get is the obsessive use of chipboard for cabinet construction in this country.Those who promote its use say it's because it makes cabinets more affordable, in other words cheap .Now here's the thing ,Ikea make kitchens for the American  market as well as the European one .All the ranges are "affordable" but what differentiates one from another is that the American ranges use MDF and not chipboard for the cabinet construction. MDF is not that much more expensive product but it its superior in almost every way - better load bearing capacity , holds screws better and repels moisture better as well.The only down side I can think of is it's heavier but the rails Ikea provide to hang the wall cabinets from make the job easier. So do our manufactures insist on using chipboard if it is demonstrably inferior product. I am pretty sure the answer will be along the lines of "different market"