Refinishing Cabinets Since 1995
Cabinet Refinishing in New Britain, CT
Gagnon Painting & Decorating has been refinishing cabinets since 1995. In New Britain the argument for refinishing over replacement is unusually strong, because 82.9% of the city's housing was built in 1979 or earlier and a great deal of its kitchen cabinetry is older, solid and built in place.
Refinishing can save thousands compared with the cost of new cabinets, and our finish is warrantied against flaking and peeling.
Why is built-in cabinetry worth saving in an older New Britain kitchen?
Because it is frequently better made than its replacement would be, and because it was built for the room. In housing from the Hardware City's manufacturing decades — 9,533 of New Britain's units predate 1940 — kitchen cabinetry was often site-built by a carpenter to fit a specific wall, in solid stock, with joinery that has already survived eighty years of daily use.
A replacement kitchen means removing that, discarding it, and installing modular boxes that fit the same wall less exactly. Where the carcasses are sound and the layout works, refinishing keeps the better product and spends the money on the surface, which is the part that has actually aged.
The case for replacement is real when it is structural: bases that have been wet, hinges failing across the whole run, or a layout you genuinely dislike. We will tell you when that is what we are looking at rather than sell you a finish on a cabinet that needed replacing.
One local note: cabinet work that disturbs painted surfaces in a home built before 1978 falls under the EPA's lead-safe requirements. We are an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm, which in New Britain's housing stock is relevant far more often than not.
New Britain cabinet refinishing questions
How much does refinishing save against a new kitchen?
Enough that it is usually the reason for the call — refinishing existing cabinets can save thousands of dollars, because the largest costs in a replacement are the cabinetry itself plus the demolition and reinstallation around it. We leave a written summary quote on the first visit so you can compare the two routes against a real figure rather than a range.
Can you match the finish on original built-in cabinetry?
Custom color matching is part of what we do, and on older built-ins it is often the whole point — you may be refinishing one run of cabinets in a room where other original woodwork is staying as it is. Bring us the piece that has to be matched at the estimate. Matching to an adjacent finish in situ is a different job from matching to a chip, and it is better to know which one we are doing.
How long will the kitchen be out of use?
You will need to empty the cabinets, but this is not a job that puts you out of the house. We will walk through the sequence and the containment before starting — what stays usable while we work, where the doors go, and when they come back on.
Thinking about your New Britain kitchen?
Call for a free estimate and a written summary quote on your first visit.