My husband was there every minute of the cabinet installation...yes, he hovered...but he wanted it done right the first time.

My install is happeneing this week. I show up in the kitchen every couple hours or so, and they call me in with any questions. I try to keep my comments to myself until the end of the day. For instance, I could see that a few upper doors went in out of alingment; I didn't say anything and they were perfect next time I looked at them. Obviously the hinges are all adjustable.

I hate it when people hover over my shoulder when I am working so I'm not going to do that to our subs. But I do expect the work to be done right and that once or twice a day check in seems to be working ok. So far we have a pretty open line of communication. Everyone is human on this job but the mistakes have been mostly minor and fixable.

I'm confused. Is the guy who does a weekly fly by your general contractor? Is he the same guy who's doing the cab install, or one of his subs?

@newcastlemom: that's exactly how I handled my cabinet installation. How I handled every aspect of my kitchen reno. I didn't hover, but I was lucky to be around. And I checked every now and then on the work and waited usually til the end of the day to ask questions of request changes.

I will stress, counter top installation is important to be around for!!!!!!!! And hover on that. Make sure the templatetor knows exactly what you want and don't wait til they're done installing it before you check over the countertop!!

we did a complete gut. my husband (a carpenter) did not even visit during window installation, hvac, electric/wiring, repointing, plastering (got a little taken by the plasters getting paid hourly), yet he is taking days off to watch kitchen install. So, for whatever my observation is worth, there it is.

I will be there observing everything that gets done in the kitchen. Fortunately, I have the time to do that. Nothing gets ordered/installed by any of the contractors without me either buying it myself or giving the ok for them to buy it. I don't want some builder grade dimmers or can lights or wall speakers or trim piece....anything. They can offer options, but I want to choose. And I've watched enuf HGTV, DIY, Holmes,etc to have a basic idea of how things should be done, and I will ask and have them explain if it doesn't seem right to me.

The window install started today and I asked for options options options on the window-to-the-counter height issue. Bless his heart, the contractor put the new window in 4 different times showing me how it would look at different levels. What I thot I wanted and what the KD thought I should do were not the same, so he showed me what it would look like. I'm fortunate he's flexible, gives his opinion, but always says, it's your kitchen, what do you want?

The cabinet maker has already suffered thru my multitude of questions on options and changes and what ifs.... So by the time install comes, I'm thinking that should go fairly well. But I will be there hovering, just to be sure.

By the time this project is done, I am sure my face with a big red circle and a slash thru it will be on some peoples lists, but that's ok. I'm not going to be doing this again.

I had a good view from the family room and pretty much watched them all day. It's best if you can watch because sometimes they cause damage on the way in or drop a cabinet and if you don't see it they might not let you know. Also you can tell if there's a problem so you know what areas to check closely.

If you see a big issue, let the installers know right away so they can correct it before moving on.

Ditto Hellonasty on countertop templating and installation. Of all the workers we had, the countertop guys ask the fewest questions and make the most assumptions about what you want.

I was always there, everyday for every phase of our gut/remodel. I didn't hover but I was always available for questions and to clarify the situation. I also earned about 50 gold stars from the cabinet installer by having pictures on hand of the walls before the drywall was put in. Even though he had all these tools to find studs, wires, etc. it still made things go a lot smoother to sort out the innards of a 100 yr old house.

I'm planning to hover for ours, but that's partly because we have some game time decisions to make on cabinet placement, so they need someone there to test aisle widths and make the final call on where things go.

Taking photos of the wall pre-drywall is a great idea, though!

Hover, yes that's the right word.

I will find out definitely tomorrow when the cabinets are delivered, but best I could gather from the owners of cabinet store are that the contractor would be doing the install. I am assuming one of his carpenters will be assisting.

The contractor was brought by to meet me when we finalized the cabinet order. Next time I met him was 2 months later when the cabinet order was in and they started demo. He was here for demo but left midday. BF is retired and stays here all day, but I'm in the middle of a large project and have to go to the office every day.

The contractor has been here 4 times over the last 3 weeks, but I gather from BF that any time he comes here, that he will leave after about an hour. The owners of the store call to let me know what subs to expect over the week and what time to expect them. When subs come, I give them any extra direction they need. But I have to be at work by 9:30. I don't get home until 6pm, so by that time all I can do is inspect, take pictures and send emails. The last time he was here was about a week ago. I was so pissed off, I went ballistic as soon as he opened his mouth. I feel like I have taken over as GC and no one is allowed to make decisions or purchases without my approval.

I hired the tile installer and granite people myself so the work will be done outside of my contract with the cabinet store. So far the tile guy was wonderful and while I will be here for the granite measurements and installation, I'm not worried about it. I am honestly thinking of sitting here though and watching every move the cabinet installers make.

hovering for me too. our cabinet company does all their own installs - but i did hover. and in your situation i would be sure that the contractor is there at the beginning of the install. if he isn't...don't let anyone start. really. given what's been going on.

HelloNasty, I agree; when the granite went in I was down in the kitchen every hour. And before they left, I did a close inspection, running my fingers along and under every edge. I asked for extra polishing here... and there... and over here... and got it. That would have been a different story if they had already left and I had to get them back here with their equipment.

I set up a nice comfy chair and sat there all day long. For 3 days! I smiled a lot and was just like "golly gee this is so exciting everything is beautiful" to try and take the pressure off. Things went very well.

I am headed into it soon, fingers crossed, and my plan is to provide refreshments, run errands, and basically hover while also being helpful. I will also do the "gee... this is so exciting" thing. The bottom line is I want everything done right, but will try not to make it so obvious that I intend to be a control freak. Free doughnuts, snacks, coffee and soda may help with that, lol.... I will be the unpaid assistant to them while also being their not-missing-a-trick boss.

We will be basically camping out in the bsmt during the whole process and I will work based from home, so while I will not be watching every single minute, I will be there for 75% or so of it. I want to make sure that any decisions that need to be made will be made with my knowledge.

We came home and found the wall cabinets were not level - 3/4" to be exact. Contractor come to the house and blamed it on the floor and ceiling not being level. It was a complete gut job and the uneven area was a new build. Bottom line we FIRED the contractor.

I have to give most of the credit to the person at our kitchen shop. She was so upset about the cabinets she tracked us down at a volleyball game and asked us to fire the contractor. She was able to talk the best contractor in town to finish the job. He was/is fantastic!

My advice, check the installation. But remember, as one poster said, adjustments will be made and to not get too upset if doors seem a bit uneven. Good luck!

I had a houseful when they delivered the cabinets this morning, both of the cabinet store owners, the contractor and his carpenter. They unpacked the cabinets and started installing them, got in the super susan and the pullout cabinet next to it. BF and I watched from the passthru. My presence was helpful when they were trying to locate a stud to screw the super susan to, and I could just look through my pictures and give them the location. I was asked once if I wanted to help with the installation.... so maybe I was hovering. They left once those 2 cabinets were attached and will be back early Monday morning to continue.

It's helpful for me to read this and get an almost real-time account from you Katsmah! We're almost to demo (finally), and your experience has confirmed my desire to be here during cab install. How do your 2 cabinets look? Level? Lonely? Please report back on Monday after more go up.