Oakleyok- Your question os a very good one, and I'm sure that there will be a lot of folks that read this thread that will benefit from what you are asking, and the various responses from the folks that are here on GW...... Having done both types of applications, either will work for you. In my experience - the biggest things that swing a consumer one way (tile) or the other (slab) - is: 1. cost and 2. joints IF you have a guy like my Brother Bill Vincent for instance - who is a master of the trade and could do beautiful first class quality work in his sleep, or better yet - in a coma.. You'd be in way good hands. I'm not trying to blow smoke up anybody's skirt here, but that fact of the matter is this - When you hire a master craftsman that has years of experience and a long list of happy, satisfied customers that all rave about the quality of his work (again - like Bill Vincent for example....) You KNOW that you'll be getting a top notch application that you'll be pleased to show off to friends and family, as well as being happy every day you look at the finished work...... THIS.... (in my opinion) is the biggest factor that separates the players from the spectators... Many people opt for slab in lieu of tile for the "joint" factor: they (the customer) prefer less joints for dirt and other foriegn matter to collect in them (the joints). Others prefer the tile method, as there is sometimes - more variation from tile to tile, and that turns people on or off - it all depends on their personal taste & sense of aesthetics. As far as cost goes - speaking for myself - I only do slab now - just because I can - and choose not to offer a tile option to my customers (except as a backsplash application) To use the tired cliche'of: "At the end of the day"... YOU will have to be the one that decides which method you want to go ahead with - based on cost and aesthetics for YOUR taste and budget. Guys like Bill Vincent make your deciding process a lot more easy - since he can do either at a master level, and give you real value which ever way you go. hope that helps you (and I hope that you have a guy like Bill Vincent in your area) kevin Kevin M. Padden Fabricator, Trainer & Consultant to the Natural Stone Industry www.azschoolofrock.com

Thanks Bill, Currently the sheet vinyl is glued to the cement slab kitchen floor. Does that vinyl have to be scraped up or can porcelain tile be laid right on top of the sheet vinyl? I'll check the Bosch manual to see if the measurements are there, but when I open the DW door and look at the top edge of the DW it seems really close to the bottom of the countertop. I don't know about the legs, but will check. I did ask to have the DW installed with side mounts so that when we get granite the DW won't have to be attached to the granite. If the tile is installed first is there a good chance that the weight of rolling the granite pieces over the tile floor during granite installation will break the tile? Thanks again for the advice. jb

In most production cabinets, the back is nothing more than to close the cabinet box. A hanging rail is what will support and hold the cabinet to the wall. Perfect example is of Joe's picture, where you see the solid wood at the back of the cabinet, that he's screwed to the plywood. That cabinet doesn't have a back, just a hanging rail, and it's obviously not going anywhere. Now, whenever I do an island, I always try to use at least a 1/2" plywood panel across the back of the cabinets, then a finish panel or wainscoting. I don't do a whole lot of frameless cabinets, but I do the same on them. This adds to the rigidity of the cabinet boxes, as well as giving the finish panel something to nail onto, anywhere I want to attach it. Plus, people won't put their foot through the panel. It also makes it easy to attach corbels. If you have the room, build a knee wall behind the cabinets. Now you can attach the cabinets to a wall. Then either drywall and paint, or use finish panels to cover the knee wall.

If anyone had an idea who that was, I would. The bulding is 10 years old, and we bought the apartment 5 years ago, and moved in 16 months ago. When I have needed other info, the building manager just says that the developer left no info, not even drawings of the building. I had to ask the super what the floor material even was.