The cabinet body may be particleboard or "all wood," a term that usually means plywood. The core material is actually less important than the quality of the interiors. The best interiors are 3/4-inch hardwood plywood. A close second is melamine-laminated interiors. Lowest quality is raw or painted particleboard.

Cabinets require almost no structural maintenance other than simple repairs to the face frame joints. If your cabinets are suffering from loose doors or faulty drawers, or if they've been damaged but you don't want to replace them, Home Advisor can find a professional who can repair them.

Cabinets usually go out of style long before they wear out. You can spruce up your cabinets by painting them and installing new hardware or by having them refaced without paying the high cost of replacement.

-- Tips courtesy of HomeAdvisor.com