Upgrading your kitchen in separate stages seems to make sense. You can start with cabinet refacing this year, then replace your countertops later. You could upgrade your backsplash when you finally have the budget. However, such piecemeal upgrades often lead to more problems in the future.
When you do remodeling projects one at a time, each decision becomes a limitation for the next. This is why many contractors suggest combining cabinet refacing with countertop and backsplash upgrades from the get-go, making the process simpler and less stressful for you.
Let’s go over the reasons why this strategy is more practical and convenient for you in the long run.
Aesthetic Continuity: Everything Has to Work Together
A kitchen remodel doesn’t occur in a vacuum. When you reface cabinets and replace the backsplash and countertops together, you create a unified color, texture, lines, and proportions that make your kitchen look and feel cohesive.
These details are easy to overlook when each project is done separately. It leads to mismatched elements, such as strikingly different countertop and backsplash colors or cabinet door designs that don’t align with the rest of your space. Combining cabinet refacing with countertop and backsplash upgrades prevents these problems.
The Trapped Dishwasher Problem: A Remodeling Gotcha Nobody Talks About
One problem many homeowners (and even contractors) don’t see coming in a kitchen remodel is the “trapped dishwasher” problem. Upgrading parts of your kitchen—specifically replacing and thereby raising the height of your flooring—can leave your dishwasher stuck under the counter, unable to be removed without tearing out the countertop or flooring material.
How the Dishwasher Gets Trapped: Step by Step
To understand how the trapped dishwasher problem happens, let’s take a look at the faulty process it stems from:
- Your original kitchen is built, with standard clearances between the floor and the underside of the countertop.
- Without considering future dishwasher replacement, new flooring is installed around the dishwasher, which slightly raises the floor’s height.
- Cabinets are refaced, and a new countertop is installed, again without considering the dishwasher.
- When you need to take the dishwasher out to move, repair, or replace it, there’s no longer vertical clearance to do so.
At this time, the only way to remove the dishwasher is to lift or remove the countertop, which can damage it, or to remove the surrounding flooring or cabinetry.
Why Countertop Height Adjustment Matters During Refacing
Unified planning is crucial to avoiding this problem. Besides cabinet boxes, doors, drawers, and hardware, it’s also important to assess details like spacing and countertop height adjustments during refacing projects.
This proactiveness is even more important when installing new flooring that changes your floor’s height or when upgrading to a thicker countertop. It ensures your dishwasher and other appliances fit properly within the updated layout and can be removed easily when needed, preventing costly problems down the road.
The Backsplash and Countertop Trap
The way your backsplash and countertop are installed in relation to each other is another concern. When done at different times, contractors often struggle to work carefully with tight-fitting elements. A minor mistake, and your backsplash tiles or countertop gets chipped, which adds extra labor and costs to repair or replace.
When Tile and Countertops Are Too Close for Comfort
If you previously upgraded your backsplash and now want to do the same for your countertop, there will likely be minimal gaps or seams between the two elements. This is because backsplashes are typically installed snugly adjacent to the countertop.
In effect, there’s often no safe way to lift the countertop out without damaging part of your backsplash.
Planning Transitions Before Installation Saves Rework
A comprehensive kitchen remodel plan prevents this problem. When you approach cabinet refacing, countertop, and backsplash upgrades as one project, contractors can map out how each element fits together and complete work in logical order. It provides for proper clearance and sealing between tiles and the countertop, making it easier to maintain your kitchen in the future.
Why Coordinated Kitchen Remodeling Saves Time and Money
Homeowners often break kitchen remodels into smaller projects because it’s the most affordable approach. However, as we’ve discussed, piecemeal kitchen renovations often lead to problems that can take extra time and money to resolve.
By contrast, a coordinated remodel provides a single set of design decisions that ensures everything fits together and allows you to make future improvements to your kitchen with minimal structural constraints.
What to Plan Before Your Cabinet Refacing Project Begins
As you consider cabinet refacing when planning kitchen upgrades, take time to step back and view your kitchen as a unified system. Doing so lets you avoid the problems we’ve talked about. Here’s a practical checklist to guide you and your contractor:
- Assess the Flooring: Are you planning to install new flooring now or later? Remember, even slight changes to your floor height can trap appliances.
- Check the Dishwasher Clearance: Make sure there’s enough vertical space to remove and replace your dishwasher in the future.
- Measure the Countertop: Assess your countertop’s height, thickness, and how it integrates with your cabinets, appliances, and backsplash.
- Evaluate the Backsplash: If your backsplash needs replacing, do so with your countertop’s measurements in mind to prevent breakage.
An experienced company like American Wood Reface can help you understand how every part of your kitchen interacts with each other. We ensure you have a good understanding of the reasoning behind every adjustment we make and the time and cost it entails.
FAQs
Not necessarily. If your existing countertops are still in good condition and you like how they look, you can preserve them. However, this means you’ll have to take your countertops’ color, edge profile, patterns, and thickness into account when planning how your refaced cabinets will look to ensure your kitchen stays functionally and visually cohesive.
The trapped dishwasher problem occurs when you install new flooring after the dishwasher is already in place, raising the floor’s height. The gap between the floor and countertop becomes too tight to slide your dishwasher out. So, you’ll have to remove the countertop to repair or replace the dishwasher, which is costly and time-intensive.
Absolutely. That said, doing these projects separately introduces risks, such as installing tiles too tightly against countertops and cabinets, which can make future upgrades difficult without damaging your backsplash. It’s better to upgrade your backsplash, cabinets, and countertops together to ensure proper spacing and clearances.
You should adjust your countertop’s height if you plan to install new flooring, upgrade to a thicker countertop material, or replace appliances that need specific clearances. It’s also an important consideration when making structural changes to your cabinets during refacing projects.
Yes, combining cabinet refacing and countertop and backsplash upgrades at once entails a higher upfront cost. However, you can save significantly more in the long run since contractors only need to work on your kitchen once and don’t have to deal with problems caused by piecemeal installations.
Future-Proof Your Kitchen
When upgrading your kitchen, consider combining cabinet refacing with countertop and backsplash upgrades to ensure everything works together in the long run. It provides a kitchen that looks cohesive, functions properly, and avoids costly surprises when you plan future upgrades.
Luckily, you don’t have to worry about these things when working with American Wood Reface. We offer comprehensive refacing services with endless customization options, including backsplash and countertop upgrades. In every refacing project, we assess your desired kitchen upgrades and advise you on how to proceed in the most efficient and cost-effective way. Our industry-leading refacing system uses 1/4″ select-grade solid wood brand-new, handcrafted doors, and premium hardware to elevate your cabinetry’s beauty, structure, and durability, transforming your kitchen into a unified whole that stands the test of time.
Planning a kitchen remodel? Talk to one of our specialists about coordinating your cabinet refacing with countertop and backsplash upgrades, and avoid the surprises most homeowners never see coming.
