Thanks for the quick reply (and for the wealth of information you've provided on this forum! I must've pored over your section on sinks for hours.). We're DIYing all except the cabinet installation and the granite. I don't want to get underfoot of the cabinet installer when he and crew arrive to do their work, so is it generally acceptable to have them make this modification on site, esp if we've provided the plywood strips? (BTW, how wide should the strips be, ideally?) TY.

If your cabinets come with adjustable legs ala Euro cabinets, IKEA, ect.... then you don't have to do anything.

Thanks, xedos -- no adjustable leg cabs. Standard plywood box construction.

The strip have to be at least 3/4" wide. And, yest, it's ok to ask the installers to apply the strips. However, why not wait until they arrive, they may have their own ideas of how to raise the cabinets 1/2" that are better than mine. If the ok the strip, it takes 10 minutes make them, and 3 of those minutes is setting up the saw.

Most installers would prefer non compressible plastic shims.

I agree with Sophie about the plastic shims.

StarCraft - I'm truly hoping it's that simple. After lurking on this forum for almost a year, I
gather that some tradespeople don't appreciate being asked about
their work, lest it be misinterpreted as someone interrupting their work or trying
to tell them how to do their job.
I get that, and so am treading lightly, not sure what I can and cannot
ask for while the installers are here (this is our first and last
kitchen reno). Because we've
endured almost a year (to the week) of having our kitchen down due to some
really shoddy work (all documented and nothing disputed), I'm trying to get
informed, stay ahead of the curve, and be ready with whatever it takes to get
the job completed (in this case, cabinets raised 1/2"). I'm not by any means presuming this
company won't do a good job. CYA
mode -- I want to have on hand the proper shims/strips in case they tell me,
"Sorry...too late for that...wasn't part of the plan. We didn't know ahead of time...we
didn't bring the right saw" -- or whatever. If we have to jump in and do our own measuring, sawing,
etc., we will.

Sophie and zorros: thanks for the recommendation. When you say prefer them, does that indeed mean that we
should be purchasing these shims and having them on hand during
installation? And might that not
fall under the category of interfering?
I guess it depends on the installer. Are these available at local Big Box? We have standard wooden shims, but I've never seen plastic ones. I've always thought of shims as being
used for minor adjustments and leveling here and there, not to jack up an
entire set of kitchen cabinets.

Wouldn't a call to your KD help solve this dilemma? It seems like the KD could alert the installers and they could come prepared with whatever items they prefer to raise the cabinets.

Star Craft - I think you're forgetting the hour plus it's going to take to go to the supply house to acquire the pressure treated plywood plus the money/ credit to buy such, plus the reimbursement for it - all BEFORE your ten minutes starts. Assuming the installer doesn't have to call around to find some.

-or-

Are you one of the builders that keeps pressure treated ply on site for jobs that have concrete slabs just in case ?

- or -

Are you one of those builders that would just use regular ply and not worry about concrete contact cause "nobody will see it" ?

-and-

don't forget about the proper fasteners for that PT ply, cause regular brads/nails/screws will get eaten up toot sweet in today's PT material.

It's not just a little ten minute xtra, come on do me a favor, it's nothing affair.

And if the builder is really on top of things - that condition doesn't exist in the first place.

funky - In short, yes. From the outset, KD told me that email is the best way to communicate with and contact her. I've honored that, but days (sometimes a week) will go by before I get a reply back -- really, really nice person and is very enthusiastic about the project when I'm with her, but I don't expect an immediate reply. I'm sure she's busy with other projects, so my work-around is getting answers to my questions on GW. I thought I'd get a quick answer on a weekend here, then have time to gather materials before the workweek begins -- which is here...it's Monday again, isnt' it? :)

The various replies (for which I'm grateful) by the pros/veterans above, in addition to internet research on DIY and contractor sites, are why I'm feeling a bit stuck. There are many right solutions out there, there are some gray-area, it depends solutions, and there are downright unacceptable solutions. To me, it's more important to hit one of the right ones than, say, nail the perfect BS or whether I should move my island over 2".

In my X-post, someone mentioned PW not being a good idea due to moisture and mold potential -- and that laying inexpensive tile might be a good solution. I wonder, now, if that's not the best solution. (A few weeks ago, I actually pulled up and reinstalled a few of the 18" porcelain tiles pictured, in order to allow me flexibility to shift my island's footprint. Man, those suckers are heavy, even without the mortar gooped onto the back! We'd starve if I ever had to make a living doing this...must've averaged one tile per hour. I have a newfound respect for tile installers.)

I'll run all of this past my KD and Co., but what if they come back with one of the gray-area solutions? Do I politely ask for, say, those NC shims Sophie and zorros recommend, and risk become one of those customers? TY.

I'll just throw another idea out there. How about Hardi-Backer cement board? Cut to the size of your depression, trowel down some thin-set, lay it down and you should be good to go...

Thanks, cook! Yes, that crossed my mind a couple of times this weekend as I was running through all the possibilities. HB will hold the weight of cabinets, then?

Any cons that anyone can think of, going this route? We have some HB in the garage and a brand new cutter!

ETA: If I went with HB, I wonder if a good middle ground (rather than inserting to cover 99% of the exposed slab's surface area) is to lay them down in wide strips on which the cabinet feet edges would like sit? Front, back and sides -- then I wouldn't have to wait for the installers to get here before discussing/negotiating all of this. And it wouldn't create extra work/time for them.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to indicate that the discussion wasn't worthwhile. It's always good to learn and that's what drew me here in the first place as we're DIYers. I've never used a KD or an install company so I just assumed they would have this handled. Didn't even think about learning to ensure they're doing it right. D'oh!

Funky: no worries -- that's not how I interpreted your post at all. :) Sad to say, all my 'knowledge' has come from living through some sub-par work this past year. I've learned what questions to ask when. DH and I have mused that with all we know, we'll be even more prepared for the next reno -- only, there will NEVER be another one! :D

ETA: We DIY as much as we can, but building/installing cabinets and installing granite are not among them. So, we do what we can to at least ensure the proper prep is in place.

Let us know how this is resolved. Best wishes!

@ Sophie Wheeler

I would be wary of shimming cabinets 1/2". That is a lot of shimming. Especially if the floor is not level and on top of shimming the whole run 1/2" you have to shim another 1/2-3/4" to level the run on an uneven floor. I think that's starting to border on poor practice.

@ cookncarpenter

That would probably work well, but a little harder to work with than plywood.

If there's a dishwasher involved in this cabinet run you'll need to include it in your plan. The HB and or plywood will not be exactly 1/2 inch so your installers will need there own shims anyway.

Thanks, weed -- the DW is located to the right of the sink, and we did 'continue' the current tile into that space so the DW sits level with the rest of the kitchen floor. Had read a lot about trapped DWs and experienced an almost-trapped one a few months back: the former company's plumber installed the DW w/o high-looping the hose, so we had him come back out to redo -- he was not happy. We could have easily done the whole installation ourselves, but this was supposed to be warrantied work, so we didn't touch anything.

I've already run around with my trusty level, and am happy (relieved!) to report that all legs of the cabinet run are level -- side to side, front to back, and corner to corner (at Trebuchet's urging...thanks, Joe).

Well, shoot, shucks and darn!!!! I spoke to a tech/CSR at James Hardie, and despite my providing them an opportunity to sell more of their fine product, he told me that HB is not tested (and, therefore, not recommended) for use directly on top of concrete. And because they don't test HB for use on concrete, he couldn't even tell me why it's not a good idea to use HB for the application we're considering. So, we may end up laying down some inexpensive tile under the anticipated cabinet footprint. Off to Big Box!

Why bother laying tile? Just fill the void with mortar if it bothers you.

I agree with tile and would go with the floor tile you've already got down unless you can no longer match them or it's cost prohibitive.

ksc -- It's not that the void itself bothers me; it's that I'm trying to raise the level of the cabinets so the granite can be a continuous run from the sink from to the window/sill. I'd think that it'd be easier to create a level surface (on which to install the cabinets) with tile rather than just mortar. Plus, could mortar handle the weight of cabinets being placed onto them? This is a whole new world to me - thanks.

dan -- It took me three hours to lay down three of the porcelain tiles you see...I don't know that I have it in me any more, frankly. And time is running short. At this point, I think we're going the tile route, but grabbing more manageably sized 10" (?) tiles at Big Box. We have some of the porcelain tile leftover, but I'd prefer to save that in case we need any for a 'visible' fix. TY!

Joe had a link to some plastic leveler a for cabinets that would be ideal. I can't remember who sold them though and there are a couple that come up when I Google. Maybe he'll put a link in referencing them.

I don't know what happened up there -- I posted an update, but when I added the pic and submitted, the text disappeared...pooooh! Just par for the course today. (See below.)

I spent the better part of the weekend tiling in order to fill most of the void, so I can check this one off the list! Waiting to hear from KD re: cabinet installation. We've done all the prep work on this end -- wiring for UCL, wiring for new appliances, painting, sheetrock repair, etc. However, life did come to a screeching halt today...I'm posting this from a hotel room 2.5 miles from our house. Earlier this evening, DH shut off the main breaker to the house to replace one of the other breakers...routine stuff. But when he flipped the main breaker back on, nothing...nada...crickets. (Yes, he did flip the switch to full off, then back on again several times.) With 95+ degree days lately, no way we could stay in the house for very long, even in the evenings. Emptied the fridge and freezer contents into coolers, and off we went. DH is surfing the net, trying to find a local electrical supply house that carries one of these breakers; scheduling the electric company to come out and disconnect the power is a whole other matter entirely. Sigh...one step forward, one step back.

Tiling would have been the way I would have done it on a concrete floor. Doesn't have to be pretty, just flat.