New Pulls and Knobs
We supply pulls and knobs from Richelieu's Canadian catalogue, or install the ones you bought at $4 per piece.
Pulls, knobs and soft-close hinges
Cabinet Hardware Upgrades and Soft-Close Hinges in Kitchener
The cheapest time to change cabinet hardware is while the doors are already off for painting. Kitchener Elite Cabinet Painting & Refinishing fills old pull holes, drills new ones with a jig, fits Blum soft-close hinges and installs Richelieu or customer-supplied pulls as part of the same job, so you get new hardware and a new finish in one project.
Over 16+ years and 1,700+ cabinet jobs in Waterloo Region, the request we hear most after a colour change is to get rid of the old pulls. Done before primer, that is always possible, and the old holes vanish under the new finish.
Prices are simple: $6 per hole filled or drilled, $14 per Blum soft-close hinge supplied and installed, and $4 per piece to install pulls and knobs you bought yourself.
- Written fixed quote
- WSIB covered crew
- 1-year labour warranty
Upgrades we fit
Cabinet Hardware, Hinge and Trim Upgrades
Cabinet hardware upgrades cover the parts you hold and hear every day: pulls and knobs, the holes behind them, and the hinges that decide whether a door slams. Pairing them with a paint job means every hole is filled or drilled before primer, not after.
Filled and Redrilled Holes
Old holes are filled with two-part filler and new ones drilled from a jig, at $6 per hole either way.
Blum Soft-Close Hinges
Blum Clip Top Blumotion hinges close every door quietly, at $14 per hinge supplied and installed.
Crown, Valance and Panels
Existing crown moulding, light valance and end or island panels are painted with the boxes in the same colour.
Holes that disappear
New Pulls and Knobs: Filling Old Holes, Drilling New Ones
Old hardware holes disappear completely when they are filled with two-part wood filler, sanded flush and primed before the topcoats go on. Filled after painting, a hole shows as a dull patch; filled before primer, nobody can find it.
That is why we settle your hardware choice before prep day, not at reinstall.
Filling Old Holes
Each hole is cleaned out, packed with two-part filler slightly proud of the surface, then sanded flat once it has hardened. Primer seals the patch, so it takes the topcoat exactly like the wood around it.
Drilling New Holes
New holes are drilled before primer too, so the primer seals their edges and the finish never chips around a fresh hole. We drill from the face with a backer block behind the door to stop the bit tearing out the back.
Changing Pull Sizes
Moving from 76 mm (3 in) pulls to 128 mm pulls means filling two holes and drilling two new ones per piece. Switching from knobs to pulls means one filled hole and two new ones.
Quiet doors
Soft-Close Hinge Conversions
Most cabinets can be converted to soft-close, and the work depends on the hinges you have now. If your doors already hang on concealed European cup hinges, it is a straight swap; if they hang on exposed face-frame hinges, each door needs new 35 mm hinge cups bored first.
| Hinge you have now | What the upgrade involves | Price before HST |
|---|---|---|
| Concealed cup hinges without soft-close | Swap for Blum Clip Top Blumotion hinges and adjust each door | $14 per hinge |
| Concealed hinges with add-on dampers that have failed | Replace with Blum hinges that have soft-close built in | $14 per hinge |
| Exposed or semi-concealed face-frame hinges, common on 1970s and 1980s oak | Fill the old screw holes, bore 35 mm cups in each door and fit face-frame plates and Blum hinges | $14 per hinge, $6 per filled hole, cup boring quoted at the estimate |
| Stripped or torn-out hinge screw holes | Repair the holes first, then fit new hinges | Repair usually $40 to $150 per item |
Blum Clip Top hinges clip onto their mounting plates, so doors come off and go back on without losing their adjustment. Every door is adjusted for height, depth and side gap until the reveals are even, and a stripped screw hole goes to our cabinet repair service before a new hinge goes in.
Templates and jigs
How We Lay Out and Drill New Hardware
A drilling jig is what makes 30 pulls line up as if a factory placed them. We set one jig per door style and drill every matching piece from it, so each pull sits at the same height on every upper and the same centre on every drawer.
Choose Size and Position
We agree pull size and placement with you, for example 128 mm pulls on lowers set the same distance from the corner of every door.
Set the Jig
The jig is set to the centre-to-centre spacing and the offset from the door edge, then checked on a test piece before it touches your doors.
Drill Before Primer
Every door and drawer front is drilled in the shop before priming, with a backer block behind the hole to stop tear-out.
Fit and Check at Reinstall
Pulls go on after the doors are rehung and the hinges adjusted, and we check every run by eye and with a level before the walkthrough.
On Shaker doors, pulls usually sit vertically on the stile opposite the hinges, and on drawer fronts they are centred on the top rail or the middle of a slab face. Wide pot drawers often look best with one long pull or two matching ones.
Finishes and sizes
Choosing Hardware: Finishes and Sizes
Choose pull length by the width of the drawer or door: a common rule of thumb is a pull about one third the width of a drawer front, and 96 mm or 128 mm pulls on most doors. Finish is the bigger style decision, and it should suit both your cabinet colour and your faucet.
We supply hardware from Richelieu, the Canadian distributor, or install anything you bring.
- Matte black: strong contrast on white, sage green and light greige cabinets
- Brushed brass and champagne bronze: warm against navy, deep green and creamy whites
- Brushed nickel and stainless: quiet and practical beside stainless appliances
- Common pull sizes: 96 mm, 128 mm and 160 mm centre to centre for doors and standard drawers, and 192 mm to 320 mm for wide drawers and pantry doors
- Knobs: 30 mm to 35 mm suits most uppers and small drawers
- Edge and finger pulls: clean on slab doors, and best planned before painting since they sit on the top edge
Hardware finish and paint colour are easiest to choose together, and our cabinet colour guide covers popular Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams cabinet colours and sheens.
Trim and display ideas
Crown, Valance, Panels and Open Shelving
Trim and display changes can make builder-grade cabinets look custom, and the painting side of each one is where we come in. Existing trim is painted with the boxes, and new trim that your carpenter installs before day 1 is filled, caulked and painted in the same colour.
Crown Moulding to the Ceiling
Crown closes the dusty gap above upper cabinets and makes a kitchen feel taller. Existing crown is sprayed with the boxes, and new crown fitted before we start is caulked and painted to match.
Light Valance Under Wall Cabinets
A light valance hides under-cabinet LED strips and puck lights from view. We mask the fixtures, spray the valance with the boxes and keep the light channels clean.
Island and End Panelling
Shaker or beadboard panels on an island back or fridge end panel finish the look of a painted kitchen. We paint existing panels in place, and our kitchen island painting service covers islands on their own.
Open Shelving and Glass-Front Uppers
For open shelving, we leave a few upper doors off, fill the hinge holes at $6 per hole and paint the interiors at $45 to $65 per box. For glass inserts, a cabinetmaker cuts the door panels and we paint the frames, while our cabinet interior painting finishes the inside for display.
Per hole, per hinge
Upgrade Pricing
Hardware upgrades cost $6 per hole filled or drilled, $14 per Blum soft-close hinge supplied and installed, and $4 per piece to install customer-supplied pulls and knobs, all before HST. Richelieu hardware we supply is priced per item on your quote.
| Upgrade | Price before HST |
|---|---|
| Filling an old hardware hole | $6 per hole |
| Drilling a new hardware hole | $6 per hole |
| Blum Clip Top Blumotion soft-close hinge, supplied and installed | $14 per hinge |
| Installing customer-supplied pulls or knobs | $4 per piece |
| Richelieu pulls and knobs supplied by us | Priced per item on the quote |
| Painting a cabinet interior for open shelving or glass fronts | $45 to $65 per box |
| Repairing a stripped hinge screw hole | Usually $40 to $150 per item |
As an example, 24 doors and drawers changing from 76 mm pulls to 128 mm pulls need 48 holes filled and 48 drilled, which is $576, plus $96 to install your own pulls. Adding 32 Blum hinges on 16 doors is another $448, and the paint job itself follows our cabinet painting prices.
Common questions
Hardware Upgrade FAQs
Hardware questions usually come up at the colour consult, once people picture the new finish next to the old pulls.
Do you supply the hardware or do I?
Either works. We can supply pulls, knobs and Blum hinges from Richelieu's Canadian catalogue, or install hardware you bought yourself for $4 per piece, as long as it is on site before reinstall day.
Can you add soft-close to old cabinets?
Usually, yes. Doors on concealed cup hinges take Blum soft-close hinges directly, older doors on exposed hinges need 35 mm cups bored, and doors too thin for a cup or with damaged edges may need repair or new doors first.
Can you change hardware without painting?
We can, within our $650 minimum job, but filled holes will show on an existing finish because there is no new topcoat to hide them. Hardware changes look best as part of kitchen cabinet painting or a door-only spray finish.
Will a backplate hide my old holes instead?
A backplate can cover old holes without filling, and it suits traditional kitchens. Filling costs only $6 a hole during a paint job, though, so a clean door with the pull you actually want is usually the better choice.
Free quote
Add Upgrades to Your Project
Tell us what hardware you have now and what you want, and send a photo of an open door showing the hinge. We will itemize every hole, hinge and pull on your fixed quote, so you can see exactly what each upgrade adds.
- A photo of your current hinges and pulls
- The size and finish of the new hardware, if chosen
- How many doors need soft-close hinges
- Quotes sent within 1 business day
- Shop
- 330 Gage Ave, Kitchener, ON N2M 5C6
- Monday to Saturday
- 7:00 am to 9:30 pm
- Sunday
- 9:00 am to 9:00 pm