Please allow me to explain some facts about the different types of sand. As a contractor and someone who has worked in a concrete plant you better know what type of snd you need for the job you are doing. With that said lets began. Sand is either dug up in a quarry or dredged from a pond, lake or a sand quarry that they hit a spring in and filled with water. All commercial sand is washed so it can be graded for size and type. You have to go out and dig up your own if you want to get unwashed sand ( which is not recommended for landscaping ) to be used as fill sand or what we call sandbox sand. First thing to fall out of the washer is mason sand. Next is concrete sand followed by fill sand which contains some clay. Next is gravel base and is made-up of lots of clay and small gravel.This is what you typically find on ball diamonds and clay tennis courts or as a base for a gravel driveway or path through your garden. It can be packed down so hard you would think it was concrete with a colored dye in it untill it rains. Dogs, cats, kids and husbands get in quite a bit of trouble when it rains because of this stuff. Next is pea gravel. This can be used to cover the gravel base or partly fill holes like lateral lines where you need good drainage or placed under downspouts to keep the water from making a canyon of you lawn and it gives it a decorative look. Just remember to use something to keep the gravel in place or your mower becomes a machine gun when you mow around It. A lot of people use it in flower beds and around the base of trees too for decorative look. Rock gardens look neat and pea gravel mixed with river rock works well for this. Next comes river rock. Used as I just mentioned in place of the pea gravel ecept not on lateral lines or sewer pipes or any other underground lines and pipes. Although it does work well for drip irrigation or soaker hose. Then the last is river stone. Good for decorative landscaping and filling in wash outs or anywhere you need the water not to erode the ground beneath them.

Your cabinets: Good for you! We also did our own demo and installed our cabinets. We also did our own measurements, so I have one thing to say about that: do it enough times in the space and compared to the drawing that every number checks out. Don't forget to double check that cabs that need extra room to open the doors fully have that room, and that drawers will not bang into door trim because you forgot to leave some extra space at the end. For installation - our best move was to rent the lifter that held the uppers in place while we leveled both horizontally and vertically. It really helps. Ledger boards work, but the lifter is better. Have at least 2 people to help lift and place cabinets. They weigh a ton, especially the tall ones. We needed 3 people for the tall ones, first to even get them in the house, and second to maneuver them into place. Our tall ones came with the base separate - otherwise you can't maneuver them in the room without hitting the ceiling - so you need 2 to lift and one to skooch the base under. Watch the fingers. Carefully. When you bring the cabinets in to install, you'll take the doors off/drawers out. Get out the roll of blue tape and mark every door, drawer, and cabinet so you'll know exactly where each item goes back later: "cabinet B, drawer B top, drawer B middle, drawer B lower." You really don't want to be guessing on this later! And lastly, make sure you have the hardware you need. Cabinet screws are easy to find, but do you need anything else? We needed special connecting bolts for our frameless cabinets that weren't easy to find. The good news is that there are several really good video demonstrations of how install cabinets, so that shouldn't be a problem. Good luck!

remodelfa- I could do that (standard depth) pantry, but it would make the clearance to my island only about 37 inches or so...kinda tight. But doable..my main holdup is I really didn't want a deep pantry- wanted that very convienent 12 inch deep one..hmmm.... buehl- Can't recess into that wall, family room (not large) behind it. I am so torn. This is NOT my dream house. I figure we'll be here anywhere from 5-15 years (sorry can't narrow that down more!) :) So I have 2 choices: ECONOMY VERSION: keep OTR micro and recirculating vent (right now my Jennair electric cooktop has downdraft that I never use). Would be an efficient use of space- plus its the GE Advantium which I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be using a LOT- so I need it in convenient spot for me. To keep costs down I can also resist the urge to go induction cooktop w/a wall oven, and just get an electric slide in. LUXURY VERSION: if I move the micro elsewhere (say to under the island), then I'll need to purchase a hood, pay to vent outside (not sure how much that will be- if its possible to hook up to the vent that already goes outside from the downdraft part), buy induction, buy a wall oven etc... I'm already going to do hardwoods (~3500$ for kitchen and family room), granite (~3500 depending on which granite), I've already upgraded to stainless DW and fridge (spent ~$2400)...and good chances the cabinet guy plus install will end up being around 14...we're also extending the hardwood into the bathroom, so need to replace the toilet and vanity while we're doing that (~1K).. Eeeek! PS here are some pics to give an idea of what I have now: PS There's a bullentin board on the pennisula (held down by toaster oven) to try to mimic where my island will go...bulletin board is 36 in across...also I put a 48 diameter round glass top (from my patio) on top of my kitchen table to visualize the 'rounded end' of my imaginary island...

Thank you all for your relevant input, and I certainly appreciate the interest in the minute details of the story - I think it's likely that without seeing the design, understanding my background in construction, or reading the post completely, that it is difficult to pass judgement on what can and cannot be installed, and what is and is not 'designer/installer' error. But thank you for sharing your expertise. As the end panel holds up the over refrigerator cabinet, and I have yet to figure out how to defy gravity and have it float, it is required to continue installation. If you have suggestions on how to do that - I'm all ears. It was a 2020/part description error which was discussed, and thought resolved. It's a bit of a convoluted story, which is why I focused on the result and a specific question - that the part which was supposed to be ordered, was cancelled and not re-ordered. But for those concerned, there was not supposed to be a reveal on the end panel. Obviously you cannot have a reveal on a full-height panel and a reveal on upper and lower cabinets. The upper cabinets will never line up with the panel. Assuming, of course, that the cabinets are leveled in all six directions before being joined or fastened....