Quick Answer
Refinishing a Columbus kitchen with us runs $3,500 to $9,500. Full replacement runs $12,000 to $55,000+ once you add countertops, electrical, plumbing, and floor patching. If your boxes are solid wood and the layout works, paint wins. If the boxes are particle board failing at the sink, or the layout fights you every morning, replace. Below: two real jobs with the numbers, our 7-step shop process, and a 3-check decision tree.
Refinish or replace is the most expensive decision a Columbus homeowner makes on a kitchen, and most of the math gets done backwards. People price the new cabinets first, get sticker shock, then ask if paint is good enough. Wrong order. The right question is whether the boxes you already have are structurally sound and the layout still works. If both are yes, refinishing wins almost every time, and the savings often pay for the countertop you actually want.
Real Dublin job, May 2024. Same boxes, same layout — refinished in our Lewis Center shop with INSL-X Cabinet Coat.
If your boxes are solid wood and the layout works, refinishing wins almost every time. The savings often pay for the countertop you actually want.
Our 7-Step Shop Process
Cheap cabinet jobs peel in 18 months. A real shop refinish still looks new at year seven. The difference is what happens before the paint goes on, and where the paint goes on.
We pull every door, label it against a hand-drawn kitchen map, and haul them back to our Lewis Center shop. Then degrease with Krud Kutter, sand with 220 grit, prime with INSL-X Cabinet Coat or Sherwin-Williams Stix, and spray three coats of Emerald Urethane or Benjamin Moore Advance. Cure two to three days on racks. Reinstall.
PRO TIP
The single biggest predictor of how long a cabinet job lasts is where the doors get sprayed. Doors painted in place catch dust, fail to atomize properly, and never cure flat. Shop-sprayed doors on racks cure with zero contaminants. Ask any cabinet painter where they spray. If the answer is in your kitchen, keep shopping.
Side-by-Side Cost Comparison
Real Columbus quotes for an average kitchen (28 doors, 8 drawer fronts, same footprint):
| Option | Cost | Lead Time | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| PaintWerks refinish | $3,500 – $9,500 | 5 – 10 work days | Solid wood boxes, layout you like |
| IKEA SEKTION + installer | $9,500 – $12,500 | 2 – 4 weeks | Layout change on a tight budget |
| Home Depot stock, installed | $13,000 – $17,000 | 4 – 8 weeks | Failing boxes, standard sizes |
| Home Depot semi-custom | $22,000 – $32,000 | 8 – 12 weeks | Layout overhaul, mid-tier finish |
| Local custom shop | $30,000 – $55,000+ | 10 – 16 weeks | Forever home, custom details |
PRO TIP
Replacement numbers above do NOT include countertop, backsplash, plumbing rerouting, electrical, or floor patching. Plan another $4,000 – $12,000 in those line items. That is the gap most replace-it budgets miss entirely.
Real PaintWerks Job: Worthington, $3,800
1990s kitchen, solid maple boxes, 24 doors and 6 drawer fronts. Benjamin Moore White Dove in satin, sprayed in our shop. Original hinges kept, new brushed nickel pulls. Five work days from door-pull to reinstall.
The homeowner pulled three replacement quotes before calling: IKEA SEKTION installed at $9,600, Home Depot stock at $13,200, a local custom shop at $22,000. She saved between $5,800 and $18,200 by painting what she already had.
Real PaintWerks Job: Dublin, $8,500
Dublin kitchen, two-tone refinish: Tricorn Black on the island, Alabaster on the perimeter.
Bigger Dublin kitchen with a full island, 38 doors, 14 drawer fronts, pantry, appliance garage. Two-tone: Tricorn Black on the island, Alabaster on the perimeter. Nine work days. Doors and drawer fronts removed and sprayed in our Lewis Center shop with INSL-X Cabinet Coat urethane acrylic enamel — three coats, racked to cure flat, reinstalled overnight to keep the family running.
Replacement quotes she pulled: IKEA at $18,900, KraftMaid through Home Depot at $26,800, two custom shops at $42,000 and $48,500. Minimum saved against replacement: $10,400. The homeowner used most of the gap on a Cambria quartz countertop she had wanted for a decade.
Three signs replacement actually wins: particle board boxes, broken layout, MDF water damage at the sink.
The 3-Check Decision Tree
Do three checks this week before you sign anything.
- 1. Open the sink base. If the bottom is dry and solid, you are a refinish candidate. If it is bowed, soft, or stained black, schedule a replacement quote — the water damage will spread inside the carcase regardless of what you put on top.
- 2. Pull a drawer all the way out. Dovetail or dado joinery with a plywood bottom is a quality box worth painting. Stapled butt joints with a hardboard bottom usually point to replacement.
- 3. Stand in the room on a Tuesday morning with coffee. If the layout works for how you cook, paint. If it fights you every morning, remodel. Cabinets in the wrong place painted a pretty color are still cabinets in the wrong place.
PRO TIP
Most kitchen surprises hide in the prep section and allowance lines of a quote, not the bottom number. Before you sign with anyone — us included — read our breakdown on how to read a contractor quote line by line.
For the bigger interior picture, our Columbus interior painting cost guide walks through five real jobs and the line items that drive the price. Related service pages worth a look: cabinet painting service, kitchen remodeling, and paint prep and repairs.
Commercial office cabinet refresh: the same math, sharper.
For corporate break rooms, conference room cabinetry, executive suite millwork, and multi-floor commercial kitchens, cabinet refinishing wins even harder than residential. Reason: replacement downtime is the real cost. A national retail bank we walked last year priced full replacement of 14 break-room kitchen footprints across Central Ohio offices at $340,000 with 6-8 weeks of room closure per location. We refinished the same boxes — sprayed off-site in our Lewis Center shop, reinstalled overnight — for $58,400 with zero business-day disruption.
If you manage a facility, property, or multi-site corporate footprint with cabinetry that looks dated, the refinish-vs-replace conversation gets dramatically more favorable to refinishing once you factor in operational downtime.