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How Do You Know When It’s Time to Replace Your Cabinets

When you have an aging car that needs repairs beginning to cost more than the total value of the car, it only makes sense to consider replacing the entire vehicle. The same can absolutely be true of cabinets, particularly when you’re refreshing the paints, re-adjusting the hinges, replacing shelves, or just looking at them makes you think to yourself that it’s time for an update. Although it can be easy to put off replacing your cabinets, especially if you don’t know exactly when it’s time to do so, don’t wait until it’s too late. Here is a quick guide to help you learn when it’s time to replace your cabinets and give your kitchen the upgrade it deserves.

Your cabinets are cheap
That’s not to say cabinets need to be replaced simply because they’re cheap – for many circumstances, budget cabinetry is a great choice. That being said, one drawback is they definitely will not last as long, and when problems do start cropping up, it probably won’t make sense to repair them when they should really just be replaced in their entirety. If you weren’t the original purchaser of the cabinets, a few signs that your cabinetry is lower-end includes the whole cabinet structure being made out of particle board, weak hinges, and short drawer glides that don’t allow the drawers to fully open.

Extensive water damage
Or any other type of damage, though water is certainly the most common culprit in kitchens. Plumbing issues aren’t so unusual in the kitchen, and sometimes the first victim is your cabinets. Water damage can lead to mold, rot the infrastructure, bloat the system, and cause all kinds of problems. Similar issues can occur if you’ve had pest problems, or even if an overzealous puppy got to work on the lower cabinets. Regardless, significant damage is a good sign that it’s time for new cabinets.

The cabinetry is made of metal
Overall, this actually makes them much more durable and extends the life of your cabinets, but nothing lasts forever and metal cabinetry is difficult to restore, so it often needs to be replaced once the effect of aging becomes apparent. There was a time where these were a more common option, and for good reason, but if their lifespan is nearing the end of its time then you may want to consider replacing the system instead of attempting to repair it. If you like the look of metal, there are definitely still options you can consider for your new cabinet system that will still be more friendly to repair farther down the road.

They smell
Cabinets are usually made out of some type of wood, which is a porous substance, which means eventually things will absorb into it. Particularly being that they’re in a kitchen with steam, oils, water, and a number of other substances, sometimes a weird funk just settles in. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a lot that can be done about that, and while the actual infrastructure of the cabinets could be reinforced or repaired for some damages, a lingering odor may be something you want to remove by replacing the system entirely.