There is nothing wrong with the foundation. Abnormally cold = abnormally dry. Check what were the dew points while you were away? Houston rarely sees dew points below 40 F for an extended time. The central heat continually dries out the air, and without mixing in fresh air, it just gets drier and drier inside the house. When you keep the house completelty closed up and run the heater for several days, this will make the inside dew point even lower than outside. When you are home, each time you open a door or window, it allows the fresh outside air to mix in. In the desert, people have the opposite problem during the summer monsoon. Everything swells up and doors don't close properly. The use of evaporative coolers amplifies the problem.

I do not ask contractors to pay for anything. They could explain the issues, educate the consumer, and/or bid both ways. But my point was when it is possible with the available materials, they often do not plan ahead or think it is important, or even seem to notice. It's a mindset and attention to detail, a pride in workmanship that comes from within. Interest in one's work. Craftsman, professional versus laborer. As a working person (like probably the majority of people here) with my own business, I do think, and I know it costs more to do things well, and that customers do not always understand the issues. I never opt to not do things well. I also don't assume my clients know the details of the job, but rather, look out for their best interest and the quality of the outcome.

Thanks for the input. For some reason I cannot picture my crown being white with the other trim elements being stained. Dunno why. But if you say yours looks good, I do believe you. My house is a little ranch style 2/2 that we are remodeling from builder grade stuff to 'us'. It is a dwelling that is on a large piece of land that we use as our facility for training horses so I can feel pretty free to do what I want, since any potential buyers down the road will likely be more interested in the barn and land than the house, LOL! I have put rough slate on the kitchen floor, scabos travertine on the backsplash, and pretty much done it up in the kitchen altho I did not go custom with cabinets - used Ikea - and am thrilled, BTW. It looks great, IMO. The Acacia wood floor is so cool - natural graining and lots of movement. Altho I like the crisp, creamy trim against the darker wall color, I think using stained or even raw cedar boards with a sealing finish would be very appropriate. I also have some great cypress logs that I would like to bring into it if I can find a way. None of that - IMO - marries that well to the rather colonial looking white moldings that I presently have. Hub will be puzzled at my wanting to redo what looks pretty good right now, but as an artist and first time home redecorator in my 50s I aint wantin' to do it any way other than MY way! LOL! If I did NOT want to keep the crown white, does anyone have any suggestions / opinions? Pics are always appreciated, of course and would not mind seeing pics of that 1926 Tudor, if you have any. I dont really know how to post pics but would do so if it would help and someone can point me to directions. Ceilings in my house, BTW, are 8 feet. I am open to creative ideas and only limited by money as the husband is open too!

ffjunk, of course it's a personal choice, but thought I should add, we have a situation similar to yours, with a pass-through window between painted cabinets, as well as a pocket door between a cabinet and a cabinet pantry. Our cabinet crown molding, and our whole house crown molding are the same heights, but different cuts, so the choice was easier for us - keep the same crown molding throughout the kitchen, though it is open concept. We are using stop blocks at the pocket door crown as the pantry is a stained along with the crown molding above it, and the cabinet adjacent is painted, along with the crown above that. The trim around the door will be painted the same as the cabinet/cabinet crown molding. Our ceilings are 9'. We are also using a stop block where the whole house crown meets the kitchen cabinetry crown - it would be very difficult to both cope and scribe the crowns to match and we prefer the stop blocks. I don't have photos as we are still in the midst of remodeling and our cabinet maker has yet to bring and install the stop blocks.