Dandylandy, I'm so sorry to hear about this mess. You unfortunately do need to talk to a lawyer now. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to file a lawsuit--sometimes a stern letter or three from a lawyer is all it takes. Also, depending on the value of this (what's the total cost of the cabinets?) you might find yourself in small claims court or in mandatory arbitration, which is a lot easier and cheaper than a full-on lawsuit. Where I live any dispute worth $25,000 or less goes into arbitration, which just means you and the contractor show up (with or without your lawyers, but obviously I'm going to recommend WITH, absolutely) and say your piece to a group of three local lawyers who volunteer as mediators, and that group of three lawyers decides how to resolve it. It's much cheaper and easier than an actual lawsuit. If you're in NY, perhaps the cap is higher than $25k. Anyway, what I'm saying is that you may not be looking at a lawsuit at all; that's not the only way the legal system has for resolving disputes like this. So, put plywood on your counters or some other temporary fix, DO NOT pay the guy another dime, talk to a few local lawyers who specialize in real estate or construction law (ask friends and your architect for recommendations) and pick the lawyer who seems best to you. The first step will probably be for him or her to write a mean letter to the contractor, and then you go from there. Oh, about this: **"Some of the things that really bother me could have been avoided with better communication - e.g. if they couldn't go to the ceiling with the cabinets b/c my ceiling isn't totally level (or something, I am just speculating), and they warned me about it, that would have been a lot better than telling me "Yes" and then not delivering."** I don't even see how that would be possible; if your ceiling's not totally level, then the cabinets would stop somewhere below the ceiling and it would be up to you to decide whether to build up the ceiling a little bit or put some moulding on to hide the gap. In other words I can't think of a legitimate reason that your ceiling would prevent you from having ceiling-height cabinets. I just mention this to cut through any BS you may have heard from the cabinet guy. Anyway, gather together everything you have in writing (including any drawings or mock-ups) and write down everything you remember saying to or hearing from the contractor. Have your architect forward you any emails she sent to or received from the contractor. Also go through your voicemail and see if he left you any voicemails that could be relevant. Then try and write up in one or two pages exactly what you understood he was supposed to build for you, in every detail (dimensions, materials, etc.), and then what he actually did build, and what problems that caused or will cause (e.g. plumbing messed up, plates won't fit, layout changed so cost increased). Also note any scheduling screwups that occurred. Go over it with your architect and your hubby (if any) in case they remember things you don't. Then send this write-up to the lawyer, along with a copy of your contract with the cabinet guy and any other really critical documents like emails where the contractor committed to something that wasn't clear in the original contract or where he said X but it later turned out he did Y. It will take less time (and thus cost you less money) for the lawyer to read this than for the lawyer to "interview" you to figure out what happened. Best of luck.

bill, Always best to start a new thread for a new question rather than resurrect a two year old thread. I've seen people use a "mixing valve" or modify a three ball bypass to feed hard water (from before the softener) into the soft water (after the softener) to temper the soft water. They end getting slightly hard (1-3g hardness) if they do it right and harder water if they do it wrong. Doing that might satisfy their objection to that "slimy feeling" but at the cost of retreating back to hardness in their water. IMO, if you have hard water then you want soft water... for all it's benefits. People I know who were initially 100% against the slimy feeling of soft water acclimated after a month or so and never gave it another thought. They especially liked the way their laundry and hair felt after washing with soft water. No one seemed to mind using far less detergent and soap or not having to repair faucet leaks and replace water heaters as often. It takes a while to get used to anything new. A vacation to a motel or visiting family that has soft water is a short term exposure and often a very apparent change from what you're used to. click here for info on "slimy" feeling soft water Another consideration, if hardness in the water is considerable then the amount of sodium or potassium ions exchanged are greater so a "taste" becomes more apparent. 5g hardness water will taste different from 30g hardness water simply due to the additional ions being exchanged in the softening process... all other things being equal. An under (kitchen) sink POU Reverse Osmosis unit works wonders providing pure water for drinking, cooking, and the ice maker or water spout in the fridge. Regardless, there is no "salt" of any kind added to soft water. Adding "salt" would be adding NaCl or KCl and that is not done. The Na or K ions are exchanged but the Cl (chloride) ions are flushed down the drain during regeneration. Softened water can and will taste different than hard water to a discriminating palette (my wife can nail it every time) but if the softened water does indeed taste "salty" and not simply different then the softener is not operating correctly and should be checked.

@tmnca My floors are Goodfellow Original - Nature Series - Maple in Sierra The more you order, the more the price goes down. I paid a little over $4/sq.ft. It took me forever to find one I liked. I visited almost every flooring store in the nearby city. I literally spent months looking at samples. The sample of my flooring that I saw didn't have much variation but I like the colour. When I started opening the boxes for install, it had a ton of variation which was exactly what I was looking for so I was really happy. Opening each box was like Christmas for me haha! They look the best at night under my recessed lighting. It's almost as if it brings out features in the wood that you can't see in natural daylight. It does scratch easily though. Not scratches that you can see (although I did put a massive, extremely noticeable one in my kitchen but that was entirely my fault) but ones where if you look at them on an angle in the light they show up. Regardless, it's not going to stay perfect forever. I'm still in love with them. If you are installing flooring yourself and it has a lot of variation, it's not like just slapping down a floor. My husband and his cousins were doing it and I had to be there to select each piece to go down. It made it more time consuming but you don't want a bunch of plain pieces all bunched together. Just like the variations in the wood, you have to do variations across the floor. For places like the kitchen where the cabinets would be sitting, we put the most plain pieces down and saved the variation ones for places that you can actually see.

Thank you, thank you all. This has indeed been an interesting journey. DH retired 3 years ago and he resisted the idea for a long time. But one day last year I mentioned that one of the larger homes that backed up to the woods had just come on the market and he surprised me by agreeing to see it. Then he floored me by making an offer. Most of the homes in this community sell quickly, usually by word of mouth which is how I found this one. My friends who live there told me the day it went on the market. Joanie - You asked how we chose this community. That was probably the easiest part of this process. We used to drive past the entrance when we took the dog to the vet and every now and then DH and I would drive through. This community is 13 years old, has 235 individual homes and 30 townhouses reserved for lower income seniors. There is a clubhouse, outdoor pool, tennis and bocce courts and a very active group of residents. As with so many other real estate decisions location was key. We have many over 55 communities in this part of South Jersey and I know of 5 more that are being built. Most of the newer ones have larger units and more options but they're not necessarily better construction and most of them are in towns with high taxes. Toll Brothers is building one on a golf course in my town. These are all townhouses and the taxes for a 2100 sq ft home are over $15,000. Our development has 8 different models ranging from 1500 sq ft to 2150 sq ft - we choose the larger one in hopes that some day we might have grandchildren who'd like to visit. We have a 2 car garage, a kitchen, family room, living room/dining room, master bedroom and guest room on the first floor. The second floor has another guest room and a loft. The lots are small and the houses are close together which is why we wanted one in the rear with a private patio and backs up to woods. The monthly HOA fee is $135 which covers yard care, snow removal and recreational facilities. Once DH realized that this move made sense he threw himself into planning the remodel. He comments that if we're giving up this home that we love then he wants to make the next one 'ours' too. So while they all seem to look alike on the outside we're completely remaking the interior. I've heard him talking to our friends about our move and he now says that he should have done this earlier. Giving up our big home, yard and pool will free us from many of those home ownership worries plus there is the financial savings - our taxes will be halved, utility costs will be significantly lower and we plan on spending more time at our vacation home in NE PA. DH is near 70 and I'm a few years behind and he has health limitations that prevent him from strenuous activity. We won't have to switch doctors or hospitals, all 3 adult kids now own their own homes and live within 30 minutes. I'll actually be closer to Wegman's and the Wellness Center where I try to do pool exercises 4 or 5 times a week. I can easily drive or take the Hi-Speed Line into Philly or take NJ Transit to NYC. I'm the social butterfly in the family while DH is reserved, quiet and definitely not a joiner. They have regular card games in the clubhouse but DH wouldn't dream of just walking in. I'm hoping he'll met someone who will ask if he plays pinochle - that would make him a happy camper. My girlfriend and I have already signed up for the September bus trip to NYC. Thanks again everyone for your encouraging words. Maire