AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS!!! Our nightmare is described here. We placed a nearly $4,000 order with Cabinets To Go on 6/13/12. The standardized Cabinets To Go receipt and paperwork we received stated that we should expect 1-2 weeks for shipping. Carrie, the representative in the Raleigh, NC office that we worked with and ordered from, told us we should expect 10 days for shipping. The 1-2 week timeframe on the CTG correspondence would have placed our delivery somewhere between 6/20/12 and 6/27/12, and the 10-day estimate from Carrie would place our delivery date on 6/22/12. However, we have received no cabinets by 6/29/12. As soon as CTG received our payment (which was made in-full and immediately upon ordering on 6/13/12), all communication with us stopped. We were extremely satisfied with CTG's customer care during the designing and ordering process, and Carrie exchanged 35 emails and 5 phone calls with me over the 5 days that we spent considering our options and making our decisions. However, as soon as CTG got our money, customer care went out the window. On 6/29/12 we were still waiting for delivery of our nearly $4,000 order, which was paid for in-full and upfront. Furthermore, we received no communication from CTG in regard to tracking our $4,000 shipment, updates on delivery, or even scheduling a delivery until I started asking questions on 6/21/12 about where our cabinets were. We understand that CTG may not be able to pinpoint an exact delivery date immediately upon ordering. However, we never even got the opportunity to request an estimated delivery date during any conversation with CTG, because these delivery estimates were bestowed upon us and this topic of conversation was completely initiated by CTG! If you are going to give an estimate, it needs to be an accurate estimate. If something goes wrong during the processing and shipping of an order, the customer needs to be told, so as to adjust their expectation for delivery. We were never told that the delivery estimates provided by CTG needed to be adjusted due to processing or shipping problems, so we expected the estimates to hold true. When we had received no cabinets by 6/21/12, I contacted Carrie in Raleigh to inquire about the status of our order because we had not received any correspondence from CTG during the 8 days that had passed since paying for our cabinets. Carrie responded via email on 6/22/12 and told us the cabinets were in transit, but one item was on backorder. So, our cabinets been shipped and no one had told us, and part of our shipment was on backorder but we were not informed about this. So we waited for 5 more days, but when we still had received no cabinets on 6/27/12, I began calling and emailing the CTG headquarters and their customer care representatives. At this point, it was 9 days after our items had shipped and 14 days after we had ordered, and we still had no cabinets. Chris, the corporate customer care representative I spoke with, informed me he was very concerned about the lack of customer care we were receiving and would forward my concerns on to the Raleigh office, something I had already done on my own. Later that same day (6/27/12) Carrie forwarded me an email that she had received on 6/18/12 containing details about tracking our order. (It took 9 days to get our shipping information forwarded to us from CTG, and we had to request this information from them!) We were directed to contact CGL (the carrier that CTG uses for delivery) directly about our order. CGL must have been informed that I was on a mission to track down the cabinets, because a few minutes after I got the email from Carrie, Katarina from CGL called and left a voicemail requesting that I contact her to schedule delivery of our cabinets. I called, but was told the scheduling team would not be back until 9:00am the next morning. So I called them back at 9:00 on 6/28/12 and asked to schedule our delivery. Katarina told me she could not yet schedule delivery, as our cabinets had not reached the distribution terminal yet and she could not tell me what day we could expect to get our cabinets. I called CGL three more times over the course of 6/28/12 and spoke to three different CGL representatives, all of whom gave me different answers about when we could expect delivery and whether or not they could even schedule delivery yet. My fourth call to CGL on 6/28/12 ended with the representative telling me that the cabinets would arrive in the distribution terminal in Fayetteville, NC during the night on 6/28/12, and she said she thought we could get delivery on 6/29/12. Exasperated by the back-and-forth of the last two days, I emailed the CTG headquarters a second time and updated them on the mess that we were dealing with. I also called the number Chris had left for me and left a voicemail for him with the same update. I called CGL at 9:00am on 6/29/12 to check on the arrival of our cabinets at the distribution terminal in Fayetteville, NC. However, I was told that someone at CGL had made an error since my last phone conversation with them the evening before, that our cabinets were put on the wrong truck, and they were currently at the distribution terminal in Atlanta, GA. I insisted that we get our cabinets before the weekend, but CGL said they had no trucks available to bring us our cabinets. I requested that CGL rent a U-haul and drive our cabinets to us, since this was their error and we were way past the delivery timeframes indicated by CTG. They indicated they would not consider this option. I immediately called the Raleigh CTG office and asked someone there to deal with CGL. I was told by the man that I spoke with (Bob) that he would look into it, but I never got a call back. I called him again later that morning, and he said he had no information for me. I asked him to keep me informed, but I never got another call from anyone in the Raleigh CTG store. I called the CTG corporate offices again and spoke with Chris. He indicated that he was sorry for the inconvenience, but offered nothing in terms of restitution for the incredible hassle that our order had become, and did not even offer to contact CGL on my behalf. Katarina at CGL called me several times over the course of the day on 6/29/12 and appeared very apologetic and concerned that the delivery of our cabinets had spiraled into a big mess. She indicated that she had called another shipping company in Charlotte, NC and that they could deliver our cabinets between the hours of 1pm and 3pm on 7/2/12. I indicated that this delivery time was not preferable, as we wanted our cabinets before then, but that it could work if need be. The director/manager at the Boston CGL location was also on the line and asked me to call CGL's contact in Charlotte, NC to confirm this delivery, and then call CGL back to let them know what was said. I did as he requested, but this could have been handled by someone at CGL rather than by me, their customer. We were then looking at a delivery time of 19 days at the very very best, but IF AND ONLY IF our cabinets actually got delivered on 7/2/12. As you can imagine, we were extremely displeased with the absolute mess that our order turned into. As CTG's customer, I shouldn't have even been expected to deal with their distributor, CGL. I am the customer, I just paid them $4,000, yet they put the burden of tracking down my cabinets on me. I am appalled that the Raleigh CTG office washed their hands of this mess, since they are the originators of the order and the people who are ultimately responsible for ensuring that we continue to get quality service DURING OUR ENTIRE Cabinets To Go experience. I am appalled that CTG headquarters has offered nothing in terms of compensation for time lost or for hassle, and am even more appalled that Chris said, "I'm not sure how we can compensate you for this," during my phone conversation with him on 6/29/12. I can think of several ways: 1.) Paying for and arranging for special delivery of our cabinets so we get them on 6/30/12. The drive from Atlanta, GA to Wilmington, NC is only 7 hours long. 2.) Offering our money back for what we paid in shipping and delivery costs. 3.) Offering a discounted price on our order, since we have been waiting for $4,000 worth of cabinets that have yet to show up. This order and shipment of cabinets was only half of what we had designed for us by Carrie and only half of what we planned to buy from CTG in Raleigh. We told Carrie up-front that we would have to split our purchase in two to make it fit our budget, and she indicated she would save her designs for us when we were ready to order the remaining cabinets. We had planned to order the other half of our kitchen cabinets from CTG around mid-July (more than $3,000 in additional cabinets on top of the $4,000 we just spent), but at this point, you can safely assume we will NOT be ordering from CTG ever again. While CTG offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee policy on all purchases, they in no way guarantee their service OR the customer's experience. On June 30, 2012 Mark McIntire from the Cabinets To Go corporate headquarters called me (someone had forwarded him one of my emails - I'm not even sure what his position is in the company) and asked me why I was "causing such a debacle." I told him we were frustrated with the poor communication between all parties involved in our order and just wanted some acknowledgement that things had gone wrong. We wanted an apology for being left in the dark, and wanted an answer about when we would get our cabinets. He said that I was "being ridiculous" and that he didn't "want to deal with this" so he cancelled my entire order. Then he hung up on me. And that was the end of that!

It's not common, but it is done. I'm presuming that they'll use a dry mix and plate compact it? Much depends on the thickness they are laying and what is under the portland/sand dry mix. There needs to be good gravel drainage and NO organic matter (no topsoil, roots, etc). The dry mix will cure, as over time it will absorb moisture from the ground and surrounding environment. My preference is to not use a portland-based base unless the pavers will be mortared in place. If the pavers will be dry-set, then I prefer a base of stone dust, which is crushed granite. Stone dust provides an easily compacted base that can still drain. The draining aspect of it helps with seasonal heaving found in freeze-thaw winter cycles. Tough to find fault with their methods, as it's one ingredient in their recipe. If done properly, the portland/sand base should perform just fine.

Egad, again, I managed to put my foot in my mouth and "annoy" someone.... What I really meant to imply was NOT that GWer's do not have "expensive" kitchens.... What I wanted to convey was that if one is worth hundreds of millions AND has homes that are worth tens of millions, one does not often do one's own shopping.... Peacock kitchens are bought by people that have homes that are worth many or tens of mil. They "hire" the people to execute what they want. Seattle is full of these people (but not even remotely close to the number in NY). There are many companies that cater to these wealthy people. You should be able to find someone that should click with you. Igloochic, If you want to embark on a project that is less hands-on, the most imporant part of the work is to find a designer/architect that you trust. Many of my friends/colleagues builds houses/remodels with architects/designers without being very hands on. They end up with very beautiful kitchens/houses. The way they go about it was to have the architects/designers present them with a "few" options on much of the finish work and they just "picked" from those options; door handles, cabinets, appliances etc. Obviously, if they felt strongly about something, then that stays in the design. Sometimes, they go shopping for what they want with the designers. Often, they don't worry if the project cost them 50k or 100k or 200k more than what they thought that it would cost. They just pay the bill and move on. If you are comfortable with this type of arrangement, then you can build with much less hands-on involvement, leaving you time to get on with life. Money can give you the luxury of time if you don't care whether or not you spent 100k more than you needed/planned or not because having someone take care of the details were worth it to you. The end product can be and often are quite well done, "IF" you pick the right architect/designer. To do this, you have to trust the person you are working with AND let them do the work for you. This is not necessarily something that "control freaks" like me can let happen. As I am getting older and my budget is getting "more" comfortable, I am tyring to figure out a good balance of when to call in the calvary and when to trust my own design sense. There is an amazing designer/artist that works near where I live. His projects are all over US. He has been written up in many art magazines. Rococogurl may find his work intriguing. I WISH I could afford to have his work. But at 20k for a simple couch, mere mortals cannot afford his work. http://domesticarchitecture.com/ I asked one of my friends who spent probably about 2mil for their remodel, if she talked to him. It is the type of architecture that would interest her. She said even she could not afford him. What I am trying to say is that like everything else in life, there are people working at many different price points. Design/architecture is no different. You have to find good people at your own price point. Here are a few other contruction companies in Seattle that do good work. http://www.schuchartdow.com/ http://www.dovetailinc.net/ http://www.loganshammer.com/ Luxe interior magazines for Pacific NW also feature nice homes that are multi mil in price point. They often list architects/construction companies. You can get the magazine at Barns and Noble in Seattle (?Port Towsend). I wish you the best.

And is it true that kitchen cabinets expand and retract, to the point that the seams in the corner of the door would be visible?? A KD told me that's normal, and not defective?