Kitchen upgrade

[Quizmonster]

We're considering kitchen improvements, but have no intention of having the current one simply replaced. I know you can buy new cabinet doors and drawer-fronts for a lot less, but my problem is this...there is absolutely nothing whatsoever wrong with these AS SUCH! The only part of them that annoys us is the plastic strip along the top of each which acts as a 'handle'.
I've done a bit of googling, but I can't seem to find any firm which supplies just these. I was hoping some of you AB do-it-yourselfers might have an idea where I could get that sort of thing, so that I can remove the offending bits and glue replacements in their place.
A "new" kitchen for about twenty-five quid is the objective! Thank you.

[slaney]

Did you mean something like this, only in plastic, QM?
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/460873740/kitchen_cabinet_strip_handle.html

[Mosaic]

Coo! I have those in brushed aluminium on my early 1980s cupboards! I never knew they came in plastic too.

I think you may find that the problem in changing these lies with how they are bonded to the rest of the particleboard body of the door / drawer front. If they have stood any test of time they are going to be to all intenets and purposes impossible to remove. Doing so would also risk jiggering the veneer that the particleboard is finished with. By the time you've wrecked one, you might as well have bought new fronts and doors.

[The Builder]

That must be a "period" kitchen Quizzers. I haven't seen one of those for years.
I agree that they're probably bonded, so difficult to remove without damage to the door. Replace with a glued on piece of hardwood maybe?

I can't say that I've ever seen them available separately.

[Quizmonster]

Thanks for the link, ma'am. The picture looks pretty-much exactly what I'd like to have. The only problem is that the minimum order is for 300 metres; I could do every kitchen in the street with that much!
Thank you also, Mosaic and TB. If I can actually remove the things without wrecking the doors themselves, I like the notion of using shaped pieces if hardwood as replacements.
Looks like I'm going to have to get the hammer and chisel out with a view to seeing if the strips are removable at all. If not, new doors and fronts it is!
Again, thank you all.

[The Builder]

Quizzers ....... a cheap solution to think about...

Cut new doors from a sheet of 18mm MDF. 720mm high by 600mm... 500mm or whatever they are wide.
You can get several out of one sheet. Radius the edges (round them off with a router or plane and sandpaper.
Drill two 32mm holes for the hinges.
Prime and paint any colour you like.
Fit any handles.

[Quizmonster]

TB, I'm the sort of person who could bring the whole house down with nothing more than a 3-inch long Phillips screwdriver, so I was being a bit gung-ho with my suggestion about hammer and chisel! The very notion of saws, routers and drills doesn't bear thinking about! Nevertheless, thanks for the MDF suggestion...I'll see if I can talk somebody tool-competent into having a look at the possibility.

[Mosaic]

Personally I would not relish MDF as a door - heavy for its thickness, and in a moisture-laden environment likely to swell and distort. Why not have a browse on Ebay and see what's around in the way of replacements?

[Clanad]

What a relief, Q! Was actually a little concerned that you haven't been around much lately (either that or I'm in the wrong sections).

At any rate, we kinda accomplished the same thing here... a company we sought out does an excellent job of refinishingthe entire cabinet door. They remove it (our we can) and in their shop sand it down to remove the odd nicks and scratches, re-stain it as desired (they an even re-stain the stiles and rails on the cabnets themselves), change hinges and... since we like the simple look, using a router, made finger tip "pulls" on either the edges, bottoms or tops (depending o the placement of the door). They expertly refinished the edges as well. Not knowing what "25 quid" equates to in our dollars, I can report that each door, finished and reinstalled cost us about $18 to $25 (US). Amazing how much of a difference it made!

[The Builder]

Moses ....... you're far too cynical ;o)
MDF is one of the most stable materials in use. I've never had a problem with warping or swelling. The proviso is that it must be primed well; undercoated; and finished with good paint or lacquer.
I've had MDF doors in my own kitchen for several years with no trouble. I rolled them in a fetching Farrow & Ball colour. Fitted self-opening touch hinges, so no handles needed. :o)

[Quizmonster]

Hello, C! I was thinking much the same as you; namely, that I hadn't seen you around for quite some time. I certainly haunt the same half dozen or so categories that I always have and - assuming you do, too - I guess we've been dipping into different sorts of questions. I must confess that THIS category we're in now is not somewhere anyone would usually find me. Obviously, I'm here for purely selfish reasons!
I dearly wish we had a local 'refurbishing' company such as the one you are lucky enough to have found, but I certainly don't know of any such one. I'll start asking around and checking the local newspaper ads more closely.
I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday yesterday.