Jacqueline5, thanks for posting the color. I thought it might be Revere Pewter. I was going to RP with my bathroom but thought it might read too dark, in my low light. So I was going to use it in a sitting room, but decided against it and used something else. I actually have a gallon on hand. I dislike the color I ended up using. I am thinking of using the gallon of RP I have to paint up a sample board, and see how it looks in there. The sitting room has a fair amount of west light. I don't know what's going on, but I keep seeing pink in my colors and I was afraid that the Revere Pewter would have a pink cast too. I'm glad to hear you say that it is olive. I love green and blues. Your counter is beautifully installed. Is it 2cm? It looks like it is at the sink. If it is they did a terrific outer edge. The edge must have been mitered, right? I see the section of the stone from where the counter was taken. I love it.

Thanks to all who have responded. I was unable to get back to my computer since I posted so I will reply to all questions / suggestions in this response. Here goes: To weedmeister: tile goes down lastâ¦after the cabinets are in. As you will (or already have read), many of the pro installers will install plywood or some suitable material over the Hardie board to bring the cabinet install up to finished floor height. To monkeymo: You are correct. The solution is to use a stacked molding. My KD did not provide a crown diagram (she had to leave town on family business right after we ordered cabinets). When we met with our âÂÂnewâ KD yesterday to address this issue, she provided the crown diagram which showed the stacked molding. Our order did include the Single Bead Molding which is attached to blocking. As âÂÂlive wire oakâ remarked, the crown is installed on top of the SBM. Nonetheless, the crown that was ordered would still not have reached the ceiling. By ordering the Large Crown Molding (LCM8) we will get the necessary height. To live wire oak: You are correct: this is my first kitchen install and it has been very challengingâ¦and will likely continue to be. However, I will get it done and it will look great! And, yes, had I been aware of the stacked molding that was intended to be used, that would have covered one base. The crown originally ordered has a vertical height of 1 15/16; the LCM8 that we will be ordering to replace it has a vertical height of 2 13/16 so all will be fine. Several installers, including the one that works with HD to install cabinets, have told me that installing the cabinet bases on the Hardie board is perfectly OK. I know where they live so IâÂÂm sure they werenâÂÂt setting me up. :-) To lisa1 517: Thanks for your suggestion. You, too, are right on the money. Stacked it is! To kitchenkrazed09: All I can tell you is that my cabinet, including the base, is 93â tall. Kraftmaid calls it an OC302493. The base is 4 ýâ and the cabinet is 88 1/2â (the front of the cabinet âÂÂoverlapsâ the base by ýâ so it appears to be 89 (does that count for 90âÂÂ? ;-) ). To Buehl: Thanks for your picture. The link I posted and referred to in my post is of the same picture. Not trying to be a smart a**, I just didnâÂÂt want that look with painted cabinets. It really looks nice with your stained installation, however! Once again, I sure appreciate everyoneâÂÂs comments, etc. This forumâÂÂs members are a tremendous resource! I will be posting some pictures as my installation progresses.

I get that reaction. What you might be looking for is a GC who can "get" with your building goals: Beautiful result, on a realistic budget. Let me be clearer: You don't really want to "bypass" builder's suppliers, but you ARE looking for the vendors that can build to your budget. That means: --- You're looking for a GC who will give you line-by-line itemization. ALL of it, to really lay out the cost. 190-300 line items, depending on the complexity. Don't shoot yourself- a bid like this is, truly, a "blue print" for you. My last custom build was a hybrid- fixed costs on 2/3rds of the bid (infrastructure) plus the 1/3 that was classified as "allowances". I was very specific with certain wants, so he knew to find a supplier for the best price on the cooktop I wanted, the tile I thought I'd need, the plumbing fixtures and on and on. SO awesome, since, at every stage? I was free to choose something more expensive, if warranted, but also saw my path to the budget I was asking for, It was TOTALLY important for me to have the majority of my budget at fixed cost, since I was building in a hot, hot, hot market where labor costs could go up in an instant- I mean that. A bid for labor that jumps 35% in 2 weeks? Screw you- we find other avenues. And by "we" I mean my contractor. Yep. He did, and it was great. There were places that I increased my own budget. For example- stucco. I had a choice, and I ended up choosing the most expensive option- an integral color, never paint the thing stucco. The upgrade cost on that (and my true Gavalume roof) was really small, and allows me the low-maintenance costs I want. All the allowances? Our contractor set me up with ALL his suppliers, who could help me affect beauty/function in my budget. The exception was lighting, where he told me "go- find it cheaper online. It will be fine". Fine? OMG- I saved 60% on my lighting- whole house- shopping on line from reputable sources, in comparison to what the local showrooms wanted for the exact same product. Major appliances though? Contractor was VERY negative on that. He told me story after story about clients ordering online appliances on the cheap, only to realize that they'd been delivered without any "guts" or a lot missing. Still? The place I shopped was a place where my contractor is a very big customer. So I still got a great discount, and local folks to help is anything goes wrong. Long story short- find a GC who understands your goals, get your line item bid and don't look back!

IMO if you looking to hire someone being a homeowner or a GC look for local contractors who live in the neighborhood or adjoining towns. Stop at local lumber yards who mostly sell to contractors and ask if they could recommend someone, usually they will recommend someone who they been dealing with a very long time and who is a reputable contractor. I have tons of botched up pictures like above not only from botched up tile jobs, but related to many trades and almost every botched up job was done by unlicensed trade or "fly-by-night" contractors who work out of the trunk of their car and who gave prices which are good to be true and people couldn't refuse them. It works pretty much like any scam works, you given an opportunity to make money for a very little investment and you will be rewarded a huge return and this is when everything goes out the window and all the person see is the $$$ signs. "Hook, Line and Sinker" never fails. Same in the construction industry, and in most industries for this matter. Consumer gets 3 estimates let'e say $14-15-18k and here comes a guy and says I can do this for 10k but I will need 5k down and i will do this and that, don't worry bout nothing I will take care of everything... and even if there are some red flags, and the guy doesn't own a car, and you have to buy him a few tools...It don't matter, consumer forgets about everything in the world, he is the happiest guy and he will save 4k and the nightmare begins. This is a very common scenario in my and a few adjoining neighborhoods near me, you have homeowners with 80-100k cars picking up workers from the bus stop. You see them in local Box Stores renting trucks to bring material home so they can do the work. They post ad's on Craig's list something like this " Looking for someone to finish my basement, will pay 2k for labor we provide all the materials". and same for every trade they need. Or they will bring home people who post ad's "Carpentry work, plumbing, electrical work, lots of experience $100 per day." Believe it or not, people who own 1-2m homes hire this people and bring them into their homes, like this bathroom pictures come from a 600k home... work was done buy a bunch of unlicensed guys from out of state because their price was to good to be true. I been in this industry almost 40 years I haven't met anyone yet who needed to be vetted or looked like someone should be checked out, not to mention it takes a 1 min conversation to know where they coming from no matter how nicely they speak or their tongue is notarized or they cannot put 2 words together... the eyes never lie... so if they got their shades on, ask them to take them off please LOL. Most GC,'s I use go back with me almost 40 years, I don't hire others because they $100 cheaper, and if someone retired I will look for a new company that was recommended by reputable people I know. People I deal with get paid good money and I don't haggle the prices they charge but I don't need to worry when they on the job, and after the job is done, customers don't need to worry about anything. Throughout my entire time in business I have unblemished reputation and when people refer me to others "this I heard through the grape wine" some will mention that "I'm not the cheapest guy around" and frankly speaking I'm proud of that and this is the way I like to keep. When people bargain with me, I tell them right off the bat, my prices are not negotiable, and if my price are not in your budget, I'm sure there are plenty of companies out there who will do the job cheaper... Good luck. I was never about volume I was always about quality and 100% customer satisfaction and when you see this botched up jobs it really makes you think WTH these homeowners were thinking when they hired this guys and I'm talking about homeowners who are educated people and who are well-off and that "low price" or "something done for nothing" made them forget about everything. Good luck