helen If you are talkiing about a natural light skylight - then there is no reason why cellulose cannot be sprayed there. If they used batts and it is an exterior wall - it should have a vapor barrier. Is this a sloped ceiling? I am trying to envision a sylight shaft coming down a wall - never heard of that. If it is a sloped ceiling - then they need to install a mesh sheet onto the studs to hold the cellulose in - then they cut a hole into the mesh and fill up the cavity. Perhaps the crew didn't have any mesh - so they tried to use the batts. If so, you should either make them re-spray or install batt insulation with vapor barrier. We just had our house sprayed with cellulose. I found a spot where the crew used batt insulatation with no vapor barrier in 2 wall cavities. Turned out to be an area in front of a chase that the builder forgot to close up. I made them fix the chase and then re-spray it with cellulose. I would not accept batts with vapor barrier - I wanted the entire wall sprayed and tight. If they do come back - make sure they touch up the "smiles" you might have at the tops of the wall cavities where the cellulose may have drooped a little before it hardened.

Aisle widths...The NKBA has recommendations of minimum aisles... 6: Work Aisle The width of a work aisle should be at least 42" for one cook and at least 48" for multiple cooks. Measure between the counter frontage, tall cabinets and/or appliances. I would aim for 42" for each aisle for an aisle with no seating (but no less than 36" and only if you have no DW or oven opening into it). 8: Traffic Clearance at Seating In a seating area where no traffic passes behind a seated diner [and not a work aisle or appliances], allow 32" of clearance from the counter/table edge to any wall or other obstruction behind the seating area. a. If traffic passes behind the seated diner, allow at least 36" to edge past. b. If traffic passes behind the seated diner, allow at least 44" to walk past. Since you have appliances behind the island on the seating side (as well as doorways), you should aim for at least 54" b/w the counter edge to the appliance. Are you planning on getting rid of the door directly behind the island? It looks like a basement door, so I don't think you can w/o moving the stairs. All that noted, your kitchen isn't deep enough for those aisles, so you need to make some decisions on how functional you want your kitchen vs what you want, regardless of how it functions. Standard wall runs of cabinets are 25.5" deep...24" cabinet + 1.5" overhang Seating overhang for counter-height should be a minimum of 15" (and skimping won't help...people will take the same amount of space while seated regardless of overhang depth...they'll just be less comfortable with a too-shallow overhang. A human body can be squeezed only so much...) [I was thinking about this Wednesday night as I was seated at an island w/12" overhang for a meeting...no one was able to sit close to the island edge, we were all pushed back and had to lean in to get to the surface of the island...it wasn't very comfortable.] So, if you want an island w/seating in a kitchen, this is what you need for a kitchen depth: 25.5" sink run + 42" aisle + (25.5" on cabinet side of island + 15" seating overhang) + 54" aisle = 162" (13'6") You have 150" or 12'6"...so 12" short. (24" sink run cabinets + 39" aisle + + 42" island + 45" aisle = 150") [That 13' measurement includes the bay window) Now, you can reduce the aisle a little, but not much. Say, make the aisle behind the island 48" to gain 6". However, you're still 6" short. Since the DW is on the aisle b/w the island & sink run, narrowing the aisle 6" isn't really a good idea. Maybe 3", but not 6". Your only real option is to take the extra 3" to 6" from behind the island. But, as Bmorepanic noted, it will limit what you can do when someone is sitting at the island. So, what are you doing w/the bay window space? Have you considered expanding the kitchen into that area and using the DR for all meals and the island for snacks? Dishwasher...I suggest...

I don't think you can fit two sofas in the room with the TV. Place the TV and console in the same place the current owners had it. Then look for a sectional or one long sofa with floating chairs to use at either end. Make sure the seating stays in the main area of the room and not in the walkways (no chair by the stairs). I think painting before they move in makes a lot of sense as long as they choose neutral light colors. Narrow down your options though - you don't need 11 whites to choose from. I would look for a neutral warm white with the floors and fireplace and possible antiques, and paint the ceiling white like the trim.

Unless they built the shower totally wrong, there isn't a preslope since that is a Schluter Kerdi drain. There are no weep holes to clog. The slope might be wrong and you could have birdbaths holding the water, though. Are you sure it's mold, and not excess mortar poking through the grout? What kind of grout did they use? And what kind of chemicals did that company use? By the way, this problem was not caused by lack of sealer.