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This page is about the cabinets themselves. Layouts, countertops and ventilation are covered on our kitchen renovation page, and planning a new kitchen from scratch is the job of a kitchen designer. If your boxes are sound and you only want a fresh appearance, cabinet refacing may be all you need.
Below you'll find how cabinet lines differ, what boxes and doors are made of, how finishes age, which hardware to choose, when to refinish, reface or replace, how installation is done and how to limit formaldehyde from composite wood.
Stock, semi-custom and custom kitchen cabinets: how they differ
Cabinet lines fall into three broad families. The difference lies less in quality than in how much of the design is fixed before you order, and how closely the cabinets can follow the shape of your room.
- Stock cabinets are built ahead in a fixed range of sizes and finishes, so they are quick to get, but gaps at the walls are closed with filler strips and options are limited.
- Semi-custom cabinets start from standard boxes but let you adjust some depths and heights, add pull-outs and organizers, and choose from more doors and finishes.
- Custom cabinets are made to the room's exact measurements, often by a local shop, and can fill awkward corners, sloped ceilings and out-of-square walls in older homes.
- Framed cabinets have a solid-wood face frame around the opening that stiffens the box, at the cost of slightly narrower openings.
- Frameless cabinets hang the doors directly on the box sides, giving full access to the interior and a clean, contemporary look.
Cabinet box materials and door styles: plywood, particleboard and MDF
- Plywood boxes are made of cross-laminated veneers that grip screws firmly and tolerate the odd splash, which is why many buyers want them at least for the sink base.
- Particleboard boxes, usually faced with melamine, are flat, stable and economical, but once water gets past a chipped edge the core swells and crumbles.
- MDF is dense and very smooth, which makes it ideal for painted doors and end panels, though it is heavy and holds screws less well than plywood when hinges are reset repeatedly.
- Inside a sample cabinet, look for banded edges on every exposed side, a back panel solid enough to screw through, shelves that don't bow and drawer boxes joined with dovetails or dowels rather than staples alone.
- Slab doors are flat, minimal and the easiest to wipe clean.
- Shaker-style doors set a flat panel inside a simple frame and suit both classic and contemporary kitchens.
- Raised-panel and moulded doors suit traditional rooms but collect grease in their profiles; glass-front doors lighten a wall of upper cabinets.
Kitchen cabinet finishes compared: painted, thermofoil, laminate and wood
The finish shapes how cabinets age more than the door style does. Kitchens are hard on surfaces: steam from the kettle, heat from the oven, grease, and hands grabbing the same corners every day.
- Painted finishes, usually sprayed in a shop over MDF or hardwood, give a smooth, even colour and can be touched up, but on painted solid-wood frames fine lines may appear at the joints as the wood moves with the seasons.
- Thermofoil is a vinyl film heat-pressed over shaped MDF; it is seamless and easy to clean, but it can lift or peel where heat reaches it, beside an oven or under a kettle, and it is hard to repair.
- Laminate and melamine surfaces are tough and stain-resistant, in solid colours or wood looks; their weak point is the edge, which can chip or let moisture in.
- Stained or clear-coated wood shows real grain that varies from board to board and can be sanded and refinished, though some species darken with light over the years.
Soft-close hinges, drawer slides and cabinet hardware care
Hardware is often the first thing to wear out and the easiest to upgrade. Most cabinets now use concealed hinges that adjust in several directions to even out the gaps; soft-close versions add a damper that slows the door at the end of its swing. For drawers, full-extension slides open all the way so nothing hides at the back, undermount slides sit out of sight beneath the box, and side-mount ball-bearing slides are sturdy and simple to replace. Check each slide's rated load against what a deep pot drawer or pull-out pantry will actually hold.
Refinish, reface or replace your kitchen cabinets?
Not every tired kitchen needs new cabinets. The choice depends on the state of the boxes and on whether the current layout still works for you.
- Refinishing keeps the doors and boxes and gives them new paint or stain; a durable result calls for degreasing, sanding, priming and spraying, ideally with the doors removed and finished off site.
- Refacing keeps the boxes but replaces the doors and drawer fronts and covers visible frames and end panels to match; our cabinet refacing page has the details.
- Replacing is the better choice when the layout no longer works, when boxes are swollen, delaminated or sagging, or when a heavier countertop is planned that the old boxes can't carry.
- Thermofoil and melamine fronts don't take paint well without special preparation, which usually steers those kitchens toward refacing or replacement.
Measuring and installing kitchen cabinets: level, plumb, scribed and anchored
Final measurements are best taken once the walls are finished, because floors are seldom level and walls seldom straight or square. The installer also notes window, plumbing and outlet positions and sizes each appliance opening from the manufacturer's instructions.
On site, a careful installer finds the high point of the floor, marks a level line around the room and shims the base cabinets up to it, checking every box for plumb so doors don't swing open or drift shut on their own. Upper cabinets are screwed through their hanging rails into studs or solid blocking, never into drywall alone, and neighbouring boxes are clamped and screwed together so their faces sit flush. Where a cabinet meets a wavy wall, the filler or end panel is scribed: its edge is traced to the wall's profile and cut so no gap shows.
Several factors drive how long it takes to go from the order to a working kitchen:
- Stock cabinets can be available quickly, while semi-custom and custom cabinets are built to order once the drawings are approved.
- Sprayed finishes need time to cure before the doors are handled and hung.
- New wiring for under-cabinet lights and any moved plumbing must be done by licensed electricians and plumbers before the boxes go in.
- The countertop is templated on the installed bases and made afterward, so the sink and cooktop are reconnected only once it is in place.
Formaldehyde from composite wood cabinets and indoor air quality
Health Canada lists composite wood products such as particleboard, medium-density fibreboard and hardwood plywood panelling among the indoor sources of formaldehyde, a gas released by some of the glues used to make them. It notes that levels may be higher in newly built or renovated homes and on hot, humid days, and that long-term exposure to moderate levels may worsen asthma symptoms, particularly in children.
Since January 2023, Canada's Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products Regulations have set emission limits for hardwood plywood, particleboard, medium-density fibreboard and thin medium-density fibreboard, and prohibit importing, selling or offering for sale products that exceed them. The rules also cover finished goods made with those panels, such as cabinets, require compliance labels, and give laminated products a longer transition period.
- Ask the supplier to confirm that the panels in your cabinets are labelled as compliant with the Canadian regulations.
- Health Canada suggests choosing composite wood cabinet items with a plastic laminate or coating on all sides, or sealing them; ask for raw edges and sink cut-outs to be banded or sealed too.
- After installation, bring in fresh air: open windows when the weather allows and run the range hood and exhaust fans.
Kitchen Cabinets: frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get new kitchen cabinets installed?
It depends mostly on whether the cabinets are stock or made to order, on the finish, and on the work around them. Installing the boxes is often the quickest step; ordering, curing finishes, preparing walls and making the countertop usually take longer. Ask for a written schedule showing the order, delivery and countertop template dates.
Are plywood cabinet boxes worth it over particleboard?
Plywood holds screws better and copes better with moisture, which matters most in the sink base and next to the dishwasher. Well-made melamine particleboard boxes are flat and stable and perform well where they stay dry, so some buyers choose plywood for wet areas only. Good edge banding matters with either.
Can soft-close hinges be added to existing cabinets?
Often, yes. Many concealed hinges can be swapped for soft-close versions or fitted with an add-on damper, and drawers can sometimes take new slides if the boxes are square and solid. An installer can check the hinge type and whether the drawer boxes are worth upgrading.
Can upper cabinets be hung with drywall anchors?
No. Upper cabinets loaded with dishes are heavy and must be screwed into studs or into blocking inside the wall. When the studs don't line up with the cabinets, the installer adds blocking before the drywall is closed or uses a continuous mounting rail fastened to the framing.
Sources
Written by the LokalMatch editorial team. Reviewed by Zubair Afzal on September 10, 2026. How we write and check our guides