Refacing is not cost effective unless you do it yourself. And it is not a simple task, either. We did our own kitchen refacing, saved probably $8,000 in labor so it was worth it. But it was a lot of work, and applying the veneers took some practice and skill. I think what I would do is buy the new doors and new drawer fronts from Barker, they are very reasonable and they'll bore the hinge holes for you. Their website can give you a quote as soon as you enter the size, type of wood, etc. I'd paint the cabinet boxes, new doors and drawers (a bit of work, but hey, if you want to keep the cabinets...) Get the new soft close drawer glides if you must have them, (Rockler sells them I think) and either paint or line those drawers with something to cover the not so pretty inside bottoms. Add the new knobs or pulls, hang the doors, install the drawer fronts (this is not too difficult), and call it done. Shouldn't cost too much at all, and will update and refresh the cabinets. I agree with you, those older cabinets are solid, meant to last and I'd hate to rip them out too..

Matching is not part of insurance. They don't have to pay to match the undamaged uppers. And if they do, then they're going above an beyond their obligations. Whoever came up with that idea obviously doesn't read anything before signing and thinks life should just work they way they want it to simply because they think it should. It is common for people to think insurance is a big safety blanket to scoop them up and take care of everything whenever they have any kind of problem. When you have damage to your home, its nobody's problem to deal with but your own. You bought the house and said you were ready to handle the responsibility and that means even if there was no help to be had. Insurance is not a savings account, its a subscription service. The whole purpose of insurance is so that under certain circumstances, they will provide financial help so that you can deal with your problem. Most policies say something along the lines of "repair or replace with similar construction and for the same use". They have the option to repair if it can be repaired. It doesn't matter what you think insurance is supposed to pay for, because what they're required to pay for is in black and white in the contract that you signed and agreed to. The boxes and doors being 'one and the same' is irrelevant, there's no 'totaling' of anything, its not car insurance. 'Making you whole' is not in the policy, neither is your contractor's guarantee/warranty, nor anything regarding putting new materials with old materials, and certainly there is no requirement to pay for anything that is not directly damaged. You're not being cheated, its not absurd or preposterous. And furthermore, nobody is demanding that you have to make any repairs the way they're estimating for it to be done. What they are saying, is that the repairs can be done in such a way that meets their obligations under the contract and they can get it done for $X amount of dollars and that's as far as they're obligated to assist you financially with your loss. Its not 'short-cutting' or 'low balling' and its not relevant if everyone in the world thinks is 'not worth the trouble'; its called holding up their end of the contract to the letter. If you don't want it fixed that way, fine, its on you to make arrangements to take it further. Nobody forced you to buy a house with old cabinets. There's no law that says you have to have insurance on your home. This is how insurance works, you don't have to buy it if you don't like it; you're more than welcome to deal with everything on your own 100% out of pocket. I am an homeowner and an adjuster of 10+ years. But make no mistake, I am not a fan of big corporations in general and I'm not defending insurance companies, and I'm certainly not a 'company man'. But it does get under my skin in any area of life when people think they're entitled to something their not. I know exactly what I signed up for when I bought my property and I have no illusions of what our insurance will pay for if something goes wrong. Same as you guys, I am responsible for repairing and maintaining my own home in the manner I prefer it to be done. Just because you don't like the way something works doesn't mean you've been wronged, it just means you didn't know what you were talking about.

Hey everyone... I had the same exact problem. Some of the thermofoil doors/cabinets started to peel on about 4-5 of my doors. I found a company that is amazing from California. I live in Boston but wanted to provide this info as they so far have been the best fix I could come by. The website is below: http://www.cabinetnow.com I purchased the Artesia RTF Cabinet Door - Frosty Satin White to match and then had the TSQ cut corner. I've attached a picture of the replacements. In my kitchen...can't noticed the difference. They also can do cabinet faces for the drawer fronts. It's the solid door front with TSQ edge. They will talk you through it. See attached photos. Hope this helps everyone with this same FRUSTRATING problem that I had. WAY better than replacing the entire kitchen cabinets! The second photo is an original next to a replacement. If you're staring at them you may notice a slight difference, but once up...seriously the same. Well worth it and reasonably priced. Shipped to my door. GOOD LUCK!

@ci_lantro 1) smaller sink - NO. Clearly you don't cook. Or at least you never do dishes. Plus, I have no idea why you even suggested that to start with. I don't NEED to put a smaller sink there because there is already plenty of room for a full size sink. A "smaller" sink that is still big enough to manage a few dishes isn't going to give me more than a few inches of extra countertop space at most. The ONLY reason to go to a smaller single bowl sink would be if there isn't enough space at the corner for an angle-mounted full size sink. But I'm 90% sure that there is, without cutting into the drawer unit next to the fridge there. I may have to cut into the stile about 1/4" though. I'll know better when I get the existing countertop off. Angled wall cabinet is not a problem as it can easily be cut down - or rather "up", perhaps. Remember this is actual wood, not the MDF crap that is all anybody can afford these days. As I said in the OP "I may or may not have to shorten that corner cabinet where it would hang out over the new sink area." I know, it was super long, but that cabinet is not an issue. I can do the same to the wall cabinets to the right there as well, if necessary. If it's a problem, it is easily fixed. In fact regardless of what else I do, I WILL be semi deconstructing that cabinet anyway to install a lazy susan as it is virtually useless as-is. 3) CANNOT move the fridge as you say without losing ALL the upper cabinetry on the opposite side of the room. From the OP "The entire expanse of wall cabinets along the long wall is one big long open space inside, ditto the 8' of cabinets on the opposite wall." Plus, the fridge is WAY deeper than the dishwasher and would stick out too far there. I didn't post a pic of that but it is next to an exterior door and putting the fridge there would block the passage through there. That wasn't mentioned in the OP simply because the fact that there is a wall cabinet over there (single unit 8' long) precludes doing that already. 4) putting a corner sink over the current "dead space" is an excellent use of that space. Since "under the sink" is already pretty much dead space. But if I WERE going to replace cabinetry there is no way I would leave that "dead space" dead, I'd at least put in a lazy suzan corner cabinet. "Dead space" should NEVER be left "dead". Unfortunately the kitchen backs onto the bathroom there (the toilet is on the opposite side of that wall) or I would have seriously considered cutting into that wall (NOT a supporting wall) from the back and gaining access to that space that way. Honestly I think those L corners are the best place to put a sink with the least wastage. Plus that space all the way back in the corner is already too hard to reach when looked at in the context of "working" counter space. Currently it just collects kitchen "driftwood" until I get fed up and clear it out again. But it is PERFECT for putting dishwashing accoutrements behind an angle-mounted sink, that you only need to get at briefly while doing dishes. In fact if this works out I'll be making a triangular dish draining "rack" to go there with a dish draining mat under it. PERFECT for doing dishes and not taking up otherwise usable working countertop space!