Kitchen cabinets

Question:I have metal kitchen cabinets with a Corian counter top that "surrounds" the cabinets on the ends and up the wall as a back-splash.  This includes a embedded Corian sink.  My house is worth about $800,000.  I am trying to decide whether to paint the interior of the cabinets and put new, wood doors and drawers in or replace the cabinets completely.  If I replace the cabinets completely, can the counter top be reused, i.e. either left in place or removed and reinstalled?  What would give the more bang for the buck?  Nancy R.

Nancy,

With your house being worth $800,000, I feel that you should replace the cabinets completely.  Since your existing cabinets are metal, I have to assume they are fairly old.  Most of the metal cabinets we come across were installed in the 50's and early 60's.  To put much money into these cabinets would not make much sense.

In regards to the counter tops, Corian tops can be removed and reset after the new cabinets are installed.  I would only use an authorized Corian fabricator to do this work.  You can find these people at the Corian web site.  These tops will most likely require some modification.  If some new material is required as a result of these modifications, the new material will most likely not match. 

I would suggest considering using a stone top, like granite, in your new kitchen.  That seems to be the preferred material by most buyers today.

Good luck and thanks for visiting our web site.

Jake