Boy, I guess there are multiple levels of issues we can all face. One is just division of labor and how spouses feel about that--so, DW may be expected to do all the house cleaning and DH may do car upkeep, bills, home repairs--substitute any similar examples. Are they each happy with the division? If not, is it because of the job--drudgery, or whatever--or time commitment ("I spend 4 hrs a day on chores and you spend 30 min). All that can be tricky to divide up and still never may be 50-50. Then there would be more of the "slob" issues in which one person creates a large burden that seems unnecessary or inconsiderate. We think of cleaning most often, but a different example is if someone abuses the car, or an appliance, or stop up the toilet (especially if repeatedly and not just a simple mistake) and then the other person has to pick up the pieces, perhaps with a large time commitment or $$ commitment. As in the example of the really messy cook (I mean, if REALLY messy)--then the cleaning spouse could have a job that can't be done with a reasonable amount of time and energy--and at night you can't just hire someone to come fix it. Control is a factor for me--I am less likely to complain if I have to clear up someone's clutter, as long as I can do what I want with it. It becomes a major problem if I can't move it, can't sort it, can't organize it, but have to watch the dirt accumulate on top of it or can't use the dinner table, or chair. If it just turns out that picking up is one of my jobs in the division of labor scheme, I can often do that, and then I decide if I also have time to cook dinner, or whatever.

Two main reasons for basic movement at that joint are: 1) new construction settling and shrinkage. That usually occurs after the first year, and it's usually a "get it out of my system" thing. It happens once, then it's usually done. 2) I was going to ask if your house is built with trusses and if there was an attic above this bathroom. As your builder already explained to you, there's a phenomenon called "truss lift" where seasonally, the lower chord of the truss moves (flexes upwards and downwards) due to movement of the other parts of the truss. Usually, movement is highest at the mid-span of the truss chord. Truss lift will usually repeat itself seasonally. It is usually accommodated for in just the manner your contractor specified, a "slip joint" with crown molding. The crown is secured to the ceiling only, so when the ceiling moves, the crown "slides" against the wall. I've seen instances of 3/4" gaps between the partition wall drywall and the ceiling drywall during the lifting. I recall one case where the builder went and and tried to stop the truss lift by going in the attic and securing the truss chords to the partitions walls with Simpson clips. The next season, the truss lift was so strong it actually pulled one entire partition wall off the floor! The proper way is to allow for the movement. There are truss clips that connect the truss chord to the partition walls while still allowing vertical movement of the bottom chord of the truss. Also, when the ceiling is drywalled, the ceiling drywall is not screwed to the truss chords near the perimeter walls of the room. The drywall floats. Clips are then used to connect the edges of the ceiling's drywall to top edge of the wall's drywall. Then you mud and tape the corners. With that detail, when your truss lifts, the edges of the ceiling drywall don't move upwards with the truss. The edges stay connected to the wall drywall. As the chord lifts, the ceiling panels flex just a tad, and you get no cracking in the corners. Your movement is not significant. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to look up and see the cracks and gaps. Truss lift is a hit or miss thing. Sometimes it happens throughout the house, sometimes it shows itself in one room more than another. In a subdivision, one house may have it another may not. Your contractor's "repair" is technically correct. But the "trim" he used may aesthetically be inadequate. Without other photos I have no idea how that added "trim" melds with the detailing in the remainder of your house, but that's your call. To my eye, the "trim" that was added is inadequate and undersized. Anyone (contractor or builder) building with trusses should be aware of the possibility of truss lift. The only way I know to minimize or eliminate it is to insulate the roof plane of the house instead of insulating the attic floor. That minimizes some of the seasonal environmental swings that the trusses are exposed to. Hope this info helps! Best, Mongo

I wanted to post some after photos and thank everyone who took the time to comment. It turns out that the wall was "indented" when we removed the chair rail so my DH has spent several weekends to build it back up with joint compound and texture it to blend in with the walls. It was a painfully tedious process (first trying to do it by hand, then with a sponge, then with spray-on compound that dribbled everywhere, and finally with a trowel lightly loading dabs of compound on). If you look closely you can still tell, but it's not as glaring as it was several iterations ago. Suffice to say, we are thrilled to be done with sanding, priming, texturing, and painting! Now, I need to figure out what wall decor to put up as the removal of the chair rail makes it a much easier space to deal with! Any and all advice would be appreciated. I was thinking of doing a photo gallery near the front entry, but that is a HUGE wall and I don't know that I can put photos high enough where you can still see them but not so low that the wall looks off-balance. Forgive the quality of the photos, taken without a flash on my iPhone.

Good things to think about--thanks! I ordered a few knobs/pulls and will test them for sharpness. I can put them in my bathroom for a test run. I decided my paper mockups don't do a good job of representing the bulkiness (or lack of bulkiness of the pulls; I needed to cut out the middles. Zwizzle, I agree with you on the function of one pull (or knob, or whatever). It just seems right for function. These drawers are big (in addition to being wide, the interior space is about 28" front-to-back), and will hold heavy stuff, so if I think I'll be tugging from one offcenter handle, I should avoid the 2-handle setup. Maybe I can mix a large rectangular bar with these pulls if they pass the pain test. So, back to knob shopping. Do y'all think black is the way to go for handles that don't stick out? The countertop here will be stainless steel, faucets and (probably temporary) lights chrome, but house-ish metals are brass (doorknobs, window hardware, etc.). I think a dirty brass might be alright but I don't want anything sparkly. At least I don't think so.