I think if it were me, I'd let that one go. I honestly had to look hard to see what you were talking about. But if it will bug you, it does not seem like it will be that big of a deal to raise them up an inch and re-do the trim.

That inch you lose in airspace over your counters could be critical if you have a stand mixer or large food processor.
The look is not bad, but I'd be worried about the functional aspect.
Make them fix it and it should not affect your granite at all. If you prefer, you can be the one who puts a protective covering on the granite before they get there.

One other functional issue - Look in the manual for the micro hood for the minimum distance to the bottom. That could be a fire hazard.

If its a hazard, I'd for sure get them to fix it. If not... I might choose to live with it.

I would personally treat it as a functional question, not an aesthetic one. Will counter-top appliances fit under the upper cabinets?

I'd measure my current appliances, and go to a kitchen store and measure the height of every countertop appliance you might get someday, and see if everything will fit with enough room for easy movement. If you were planning to add a light rail and under counter lights, account for that as well.

(I think the bigger KA mixers and blenders are somewhere around 16-17'' tall - ? - so it is worth checking. Coffee makers are shorter, even the tallest ones. Something like a VitaMix is around 20'' so it wouldn't have fit anyway.)

If there is not enough room, I would have the upper cabinets raised.

If there is enough room, I would leave it as-is. Having the uppers at a lower height makes the upper shelves easier to reach - it is ergonomically better. Especially if you or your spouse are shorter, or have kids who are still short.

The aesthetics seem very minor, as the cabinets are not on the same wall or adjacent walls. There's no rule that says everything has to match perfectly.

How did you specify where the uppers were to be located? If the clearance is exactly 17'', that suggests they were keying off the counter height, which would seem a rational decision absent contrary instructions.

The bottom of a microwave hood is generally not considered a non protected surface. If your cooktop is gas, the hood is way below the 24" minimum recommended anyway, but for an electric cooktop 18" is recommended and its...less, but closer. However they are metal on the bottom, not flammable.

If your countertop appliaces fit, I would let it go. They may have measured originally from unfinished floor or something and lost an inch. There is no minimum distance between wall cabinets over counter runs that is required.

It's an inch and I couldn't for the life of me actually see it from the photos (angles and such as they are). I'd consider a lovely new kitchen and move on.

I checked the specs on the microhood, it within the allowed distance to the range by a couple of inches. Its height was actually what tipped me off that I wasn't imagining that something wasn't quite right.

I do have a wall of lower only cabinets to the right of this wall and a peninsula to the left, so tall appliances aren't really an issue. If I had uppers on all the walls, I absolutely would have them raise the uppers.

There will be a light rail added, so the total height above the counter will be about 16 1/4". I didn't specify where the uppers were to be located, they followed a drawing from the kitchen store. I don't see any specs on it. I expected that they would install the cabinets to the normal 18" height knowing that there is a light rail and that there was plenty of room above the 36" cabinets.

BF is 6', I'm 5'7", no children left at home. So it does come down to aesthetics. I already had these installers move the pantry and fridge cabinets over when they didn't line them up correctly. Somehow I didn't go into this project expecting that I would have to tell professionals how to do their job.

If you choose to have them correct the mistake, protect your countertops with those interlocking, rubber mats (the kind used to create a play floor). They're sold at Harbor Freight. I use them to create a walkway for construction crew so they don't have to remove shoes to get through my house. My electrician used his on my countertops. They work better than drop cloths which can be tripping hazards and don't provide padding.

If it works functionally, I wouldn't worry about it. The micro hood seems like the bigger issue, if that is also then lower than it's supposed to be (I assume the range goes underneath that?) That's what would bug me most. On the cabinets, there are both pros and cons to having them lower---some people do it intentionally to be able to reach more.

The moulding can also vary if the ceiling isn't level. Our friends just had their cabinets installed and their ceiling is WAY off level, so it's a huge slope that drops by over an inch in the same run of moulding that the cabinetmaker had to adjust for with creative moulding design. You don't notice it unless it's pointed out to you, and that's in the same run of cabinets. I don't think anyone will notice a difference in separate areas.

If it were me and that is not how I wanted the installer to do it, It would bother me! That is one thing I am going to make perfectly clear with my husband who will be doing much of the work in our new home, or anyone else who comes to do work, if there is ANY question whether what they are doing is how it is suppose to be, ASK FIRST! Its your house! People working for you shouldn`t just go ahead and do what`s easier or cover up their mistakes even if it looks alright, its not what you originally asked for! If they ruine the countertop, they can replace that too. If you decide to accept what they did, they can compensate you finacially by not charging you as much for the install. These are suppose to be professionals you hired, you tell me they don`t know if they put cabinets 17" up from the counter that there is going to be an extra inch at the top!

javachik, Thank you for the idea of using the interlocking rubber mats. I do have some that would just need to be cleaned up (they are in the garage). I am also worried about someone standing on the counter and having a crack down the line.

There is a gas range that goes under the microhood. It isn't in place right now because the granite in the back of the slide-in is off by 3/8". The granite people are coming back Friday morning to correct. I was going to have the range in place for the granite installation to make sure the fit was correct, but was double teamed by BF and contractor to not do that. So I can't see what the clearance will be until Friday.

They gutted the kitchen to the studs, but the ceiling or walls weren't leveled before it was sheetrocked again. I was home both days of the cabinet install, and no one asked questions. The tile floor and the base cabinets were already in place when they installed the uppers, The only thing I can think is that they made a mistake in measuring. The installer and helper must know that these were not installed at the same height as the pantry cabinet, I don't know if they told the contractor. He only shows up once a week or so. I did think that by hiring a place that specializes in kitchens that there wouldn't be issues like this, I was very wrong.

I am going to chime in again and say for the amount of potential things that could happen to each cabinet as it is taken down, apart, and may have to have new screw holes made somewhere to put it all together again, besides the moulding which would probably be ruined and have to be replaced if you took it down, I don't think an inch is worth it--the last post, --sorry, I think that sounds more like a power struggle than a resolution. Sure they did not do it right but in the scheme of things, its an inch.

Based upon people I have known who have pursued much more substantial issues all the way to small claims court, in my opinion, you would lose and end up paying court costs. I don't think a judge or arbitrator would rule in your favor even though they did not follow standard practice, (or did, from a different measuring point.) If it wasn't *specified on a plan or elevation, you may have an even weaker argument.

Perhaps a compromise would be for them to install a shorter over the range cabinet to raise the microwave if necessary.

palimpsest, it was not a power struggle to have them move the pantry cabinet. The owner of the cabinet store agreed that the install looked off. That was one item that I had specified during planning. If they had a question about the location of anything, I was available all day.

For upper cabinet installations, is it practice to measure from the floor up or from the ceiling down?

I did not mean your post but rather the posts that in essence say that every error should be completely rectified no matter the cost or trouble involved to all parties.

We cross posted so it looks like I was referring to your post but I wasn't. Sorry for the confusion.

Katsmah,

I am not sure how you should handle this. I know I would
be mad and want them to fix it, but my DH would calm me
down and tell me it would be all right. I am a bit
of a perfectionist but in the big picture of life if it
works (is functional) no worries.

The reason I am posting is to tell you I LOVE YOUR
KITCHEN. I love it. The cabinetry is gorgeous. What
wall paint color did you use? Beautiful! And the granite
or is that Quartz? counters looks perfect with the paint
and cabs. I can not wait to see more.

Thanks for the preview.
Pretty!!!!!
~boxerpups

boxerpups, thank you for your kind words. I am angry that I hired a company that specializes in kitchens and they couldn't get it right. I don't understand it. They weren't the low bid, gave me 3 typed pages of references to call and sent me pictures of beautiful projects they were finishing along with phone numbers of those people. From week one, there has been one mistake after another made in my kitchen. I caught every one except this one while the fix was still easy to make. They corrected all of the other mistakes. I'm mad at myself that I didn't catch this one in time. I keep reminding myself that in the big scheme of things, its only a kitchen.

The contractor is supposed to come tomorrow to finish up and I told one of the owners of the cabinet shop that I would like him to be here also. I don't know if either or both will show up or if they will just send subs. I just want to hear their explanation of how this could happen.

I am happy with the kitchen, I love the cabinets. They are Starmark in the Marshmallow paint color. I knew the minute I saw the color that I wanted it. The granite is Caramello. We looked for 2 months for granite that would work with my oak dining room set. Hopefully I'll be able to post finished kitchen pictures in a couple of weeks.

I am learning in life (and it took me 42 years to realize this), there will be mistakes no matter what. I just had a furnace put in. Got many bids, checked around, make a good deal with a big company, furnace went in and they left a gas valve on when they left. We had to leave the house last night, call them back at 10:00 to have them find and fix the problem. Why can't they just do it right and check themselves before they leave? Seems simple enough.

In my kitchen remodel, there were mistakes, compromises and fixes every step of the way. So I hired someone different for my bathroom remodel. Same thing. When we moved, I had another contractor do my new bathroom remodel.... he mounted the body sprays too high so they hit my eyes, and number of other little things. I don't think that anything will ever be perfect. I think it's a higher power's way of testing us, making us prioritize and teaching us tolerance for imperfection. Now, when I remodel or do a big job, what throws me is not wondering if something will go wrong, it's wondering WHAT will go wrong. Because something will. But I feel your pain. It's a lot of money and investment of time and energy to be left with something you know is not correct.

Unfortunately, I do think that's sort of the story of remodeling. (As a friend said to me the other day when I was whining about some detail, "remodeling is not for the perfectionist!") The electrician who rewired our house three years ago turns out to have made all sorts of mistakes that the inspectors missed and we're just discovering now. He was costly (we figured "get the good guy for the big work!") and came (and still comes, if you look at Yelp and our local parents network) incredibly highly recommended. The guy who did our seismic retrofit gave, as part of his sales schpiel, a handout on "why you should pick me instead of the other guys," which included that the other guys overdrive nails into shear wall, rendering it useless, but he knows better. Guess what we came home to as they finished up? Every. Single. Nail. Overdriven. (In that case, it was an issue of poor supervision of his workers, and I stamped my foot and made him call an engineer to find out if and how it could be remedied---but seriously. That's not my job when I'm paying as much as we did for that!!) That guy? Also among the highest rated (and not the cheapest by a longshot!)

This time around, I gave up on the whole "expert" bit and just hired the lowest bids for plumbing and electrical, since we're permitting everything anyway so it will get doublechecked (and since now we know what's going on, for the most part, and can spot some problems). Still licensed and insured, of course, but far cheaper. They weren't perfect, but they weren't too different from the guys the last time around, who charged 3x as much. The only area where we opted to get a costly pro was for our plaster walls, where I decided experience was going to make a noticeable difference.

The whole process can be pretty trying and frustrating. Good luck on the conversation with the contractor---I agree that the final product is beautiful, so I wouldn't stress too much over that inch either way.

I'm not certain how your cabinets are mounted exactly, but if they drilled holes in the back, you may want to specify that they will use the same holes again, or clarify how they will patch the extra holes. My brother had some cabinets moved that were mounted too low (among other issues with the cabinets) and the cabinet installers drilled numerous holes because they didn't take the time to find the studs, and then plugged them with ugly white (very visible) plugs.

I might go back a step and not exactly call this an installation error. From what you mentioned above the cabinets were installed according to a kitchen drawing that never specified a cabinet to counter height. The problem really goes back to who messed up the cabinet drawing, something as important as this should have been called out in black and white.

katsmah, do you mean that the two pieces of moldings are of different widths? The look doesn't bother me, but then, it's not MY kitchen. OTOH, I just measured from counter to bottom of cabinets here, and I estimate it's about 19". (We actually don't have counters as of today, since we're having new ones installed tomorrow morning.) I do like having the vertical space both to be able to work easily there and for the psychological sense of space.

"The contractor is supposed to come tomorrow to finish up and I told one of the owners of the cabinet shop that I would like him to be here also. I don't know if either or both will show up or if they will just send subs. I just want to hear their explanation of how this could happen."

Frankly, if I were in your shoes, I'd insist that someone with authority be there. I assume you have a final payment to be made, right? If you're not happy with the subs' work, then you should insist.

BTW, as long as the final work still needs to be done....I hate to raise issues, but when I looked at your picture of the upper cabinets, what I noticed fairly quickly is that the door on the very far right seems to have quite a bit of space between it and the cabinet itself. Am I seeing things? And the two doors over your microwave seem not quite level with each other....

Maybe I am seeing things that aren't there. Regardless, this is YOUR kitchen, and you have the right to quibble over quality details. If you don't like something, and if it can be fixed without causing more damage or problems, make them do it before you make final payment.

I know this is the way of remodeling, I hoped it would be better with what seemed to be a highly recommended contractor. I see that is not always the case. It took me 9 years after my last major remodel to decide to do this kitchen. I was so fed up after that one, that I said I would move first before I remodeled again. This time I mean it.

I just spoke to the owner, he and the contractor will both be there tomorrow. I have felt like a broken record throughout this project with the amount of stupid mistakes that have been made. I think they have finally worn me down. Enginerd, you have a good point. I don't know if the installers had a layout with specific heights or if they were just given an overview and then they winged it. The drawings that I have seen have only had specifics on moldings that were ordered.

I haven't made final payment yet, for either the amount due at end of cabinet install or the final due after the job passes inspection. There is still other work they need to complete. lynxe, aligning a few of the doors and drawers is on the todo list. Tomorrow should be interesting.

I believe what I would tell them is that you have noticed the mistake and while you do love the cabinets, you will not be able to give them a good recommendation because of the obvious error. If they are so honorable that they chose to fix it, then they are truly as great as their reputation. If on the other hand, they blow it off, then you can be satisfied by not recommending them to your friends or on local websites where they are listed. I don't think it looks bad, but it is a mistake, and that's the message you need to send.

What kind of cooktoprange are you getting? If it's a gas the side cabinets most likely will need to be 18" above the countertop to satisfy installation specs/code. I agree that sometimes the hassle isn't worth it but in this case, I think you should get them to correct their error. 18" is standard - you shouldn't have need to specify it and obviously they did the other wall that way.

What does it measure from the bottom of your uppers to the floor? With stacked moldings, there needs to be a section drawing noting all the dimensions that will factor in, and this will set up the overall height of the tall cabinet(pantry in this case) The top of the upper cabinets needs to line up with the top of the pantry, but still need to be sized to be 54" above finished floor. There are two ways to do uppers with stacked moldings, one is to order a 42" upper with a tall top rail, and the other is the downsize the upper so it meets the top elevation of the tall cabinet.

Without knowing what the balance of the wall looks like, if I was the instaler, I'd be embarassed enough to make the change for you. I really dont think it will be that big of a deal.

There appears to be a splice in the crown about a foot in from the right side of the picture and a splice in the flat molding above the microwave. Have them pop the molding off, raise the uppers, and retrim it. 3 hours max,(including the micrwave reinstall) if there isnt anything funky going on with the rest of the wall that you cant see.

For my various reno fiascos, I picked contractors that were highly recommended by both Angie's list as well as other posters here. Made no difference.

One project is like a game of "Where's Waldo?" Every month we spot a new disastrous error. Every month, they come out, fix things, and leave my attic insulation in tatters and loose boards that pop up and smack you in the face like a Three Stooges skit.

In fact, every time a contractor enters my house, there's a price to pay. The 350 pound Comcast guy who couldn't make it up the staircase tonight using his legs seems to have cracked my bannister hauling his fat carcass up by his hammy hands. Tomorrow I have electricians coming back before dawn, and I expect a houseful of cracked plaster and sooty paw prints on my ceilings.

Be done with them, and get rid of them.

ncamy, I like your response. It will be a crap shoot though. The shop owner who is coming here, has been willing to correct previous errors. The contractor who it appears hires and pays the subs is a jerk. He has already tried to lie his way out of fixing a mistake until I called him on it and produced pictures. If I had hired him, he would have been fired a month ago.

weissman, my range is a Kenmore gas slide-in range. Thank you for pointing that out. The inspectors in my town have always tended to run on the conservative side. BF is retired, so we cover all inspections. Contractor asked for that early on so he wouldn't have a paid employee hanging out at my house waiting for an inspector.

rollie, The bottom of the cabinets without the light rail are a little over 53 1/4" above the tile floor. All of the cabinets are sitting on shims because the walls aren't straight. The upper cabinets are 36". The installer and his helper "Junior" (who has made the bulk of the mistakes) have been back here since the installation, so I guess they aren't too embarrassed. Both the contractor and the owner have been here once since the installation 2 weeks ago and either they didn't notice, or hoped I wouldn't notice.

LOL, Marcolo. I feel your pain. I told BF tonight, not that I ever, ever, ever will do a kitchen again, I will know to tell all contractors exactly what they are to do. Maybe I'll volunteer for my sister's reno next year.

Katsmah...your frustration is completely warranted. If this had been the first, second or even third minor mistake, it might be more tolerable. I'm also dealing with mistakes at every stage of our reno and it's taking a toll on the excitement one would expect to feel at the prospect of having a new kitchen. If the mistake turns out to be asthetic, I would be inclined to ask for compensation, even if it's a minor amount. Your kitchen looks beautiful, but the money in your pocket will make you feel victorious. We had a floor installation problem years ago, a problem most visitors didn't notice. We were given the choice of a complete redo (a major hassle) or a discount off the installation price. We chose the discount. Every time someone commented on our beautiful floor, I smiled by the fact that I had gotten a bargain! Good luck.

If the walls arent straight, then the chances of the cielings being straight is negotiable.

Id bring it to their attention, and see what they have for a solution or "excuse" and then go from there.

Its really not the end of the world the way it is.

Unfortunately, this is closing in on error #8 or 9. They have corrected all previous things I found done wrong. It aggravates me that I'm the one who has had to find all the errors. I'm the only one who checks out the subs work. When this project is done I'm going to start a thread called 'What does a GC do?' because mine only schedules subs and occasionally brings parts needed when he does his weekly fly-by. I have to say I'm envious when I read others comments where their GC really stepped up to bat for them.

The contractor and subs should be arriving shortly. First up is the granite people who have to fix their mistake so my range can slide into it's spot, then the rest will come after that. Hope my BP medication works well today.

Not sure what you decided, but from what I've heard, some people are asking for their wall cabinets to be placed lower than the recommened 18" so that the higher shelves are easier to reach. I was told even as low as 15" spacing. And actually, years ago, 15" was the recommended spacing.

Your refrigerator wall doesn't even meet up with the other wall cabinets, so I would leave well enough alone. Who knows what may happen if they take them down and put them back up. They may chip, or even worse. To me, they look fine, and you may like them being an inch lower. Just enjoy your beautiful new kitchen!

The cabinets are moved up. I didn't remember it, but I must have said something to one of the subs who was here earlier in the week. He went back to the contractor and owners and told them. I guess they discussed a few options, one being compensation. My question was how could this have happened, and they didn't know either.

It took them about an hour to move the cabinets to the correct level. I don't see that anything was damaged.

Thanks for weighing in with your opinions. It helped alot.

Quite honestly, I had to go back and forth and back and forth to see what you were talking about. I'd let it be.

Yay! So glad to hear that! :) Now---enjoy the new kitchen!

I'm going to start a thread called 'What does a GC do?' because mine only schedules subs and occasionally brings parts needed when he does his weekly fly-by.

Wow, your GC stops be every week? I'm jealous. Mine came by 4 times--two of those were to pick up checks.

Anyway, enjoy your gorgeous new kitchen.

As I see it, the biggest concern is the distance between the top of the stove burner grates & the bottom of the microwave. Likely the burner grates will be above the plane of the countertop so you're looking at:

17'' minus how far the MW extends below the cabinets minus the height of the burner grates over the countertop height.

So you're probably going to end up w/ only +/- 15 inches of clearance between the top of the grates & the bottom of the MW.

IOW's, a major, serious PITA.

Well it looks like this company makes mistakes, actually sounds like a LOT of mistakes, but it is satisfying to know that they value customer satisfaction.

The light rail on the cabinets is now 17 1/2 over the counter top and the bottom of the MW is 15 1/2 over the grates on the range. That inch actually made a big difference.

The company did correct the many mistakes that I pointed out. If I had said nothing, they wouldn't have either, even though it appears they knew about it. The contractor or owners never came here at the end of a day to see what the subs had done. I was never told that they saw something wasn't done right and they would fix it, it was always up to me to look at the job that was done while I was at work and to then tell them what I saw. Then they would fix it.

They basically finished the job yesterday because I insisted that the kitchen be done for Thanksgiving. At the rate of work being done one day a week, it could have gone on until Christmas. BF and I just started doing the finish work ourselves. The gas line to the range still needs to be adjusted so the range can slide all the way in, the hood isn't venting through the roof, cabinet doors are unaligned, none of the handles were attached to the drawers, molding is missing, etc, etc. But it was the witching hour (4pm) and they had to leave. They'll be back in a couple of weeks to fix the bigger issues, we'll do the rest ourselves.

Katsmah. Beautiful kitchen and i'm so glad you got it corrected to your liking and that they didn't do any further damage! I could so relate to your saga. We remodeled our kitchen 10 years ago, took our time picking out beautiful quality material and the install was executed so poorly it was a nightmare. I can't even tell you how many "Do you really think I wouldn't notice that?!!" moments we experienced. I don't know what was worse that they were so sloppy or that they thought I was so stupid. So many redos that I doubt they made any money (good!), but even with that we were not as picky as we should have been and it is not the kitchen we contracted for and that's why we're doing it again.....if I ever get over my fear we'll get screwed again.

Good idea about starting a thread on what does a GC do and I'd add what you wouldn't let your contractor get away with again or beware of___ so we could all learn from past mistakes!