The cabinets are lovely, but surely he isn't finished? I would have thought the wall at the end of the run would have been painted before he put the cabinet so close (but no cigar?) to it.

And I'm not really sure what I'm seeing in that last picture, but that certainly isn't finished.

Hello Donna, That is what I thought too that when the installer removed the old cabinets, he would stop, call me and allow me to rectify the walls and fill in the large gaps between the floor and wall. He continued installing the new cabinets and considered it finished as far as the wall and cabinets are concerned. He was scheduled to come back a 2nd trip to finish up appliances, knobs, and trims on the wall cabinets. The last picture is the base cabinet gap between the plywood and finished floor. Shoe molding is too small to cover all the way to the finished floor. Thank you. Sie

It is normal for there to be shims to make sure the cabinets are set level. A shoe molding or quarter round will be used to cover the gap between the floor and the cabinets and will hide the sims on the side. I am not sure who has the responsibility for the finish carpentry work. Are you working with a general contractor?

I know our walls were refinished before installation of cabinets happened.

Was the flooring going to change?

Judging by the age of the previous cabinets, which appear to be site built- If it were me, I would have not ordered the new cabinets until the old ones had been removed and any problems that surfaced were addressed and corrected. Not knowing the details of your contract or agreement I will make no comment on the installation. If your are installing new flooring and a tile backsplash the final product will look much better,

Is that old and slightly rotted wood under the cabinets? Would probably have been a good idea to lay some new plywood.

When is he planning on repairing/finishing the walls around the windows? It would have made much more sense to do that dirty work before putting up new cabinets.

How did you find this guy?

No, the installer didn't think it was his responsibility which is ok for me. But, I would like to be given a choice to rectify the wall before he installed the new cabinets.

I found a handy man to fix the walls and plugged the 1 1/2" gaps between the wall and floor. The wall was difficult to fix because it is made of plaster and wood. The mud would not be able to stick to it while another layer of drywall was too thick to install in front of it. The handy man put a really thin piece of wood around it and cut the cabinet trims to tie it together. Then we painted the color to be close to the cabinet color.

The granite measure person was also great. He added 1/2" on the backsplash to cover the unsightly wall.

I just wanted to hear the public opinion how you would handle if the installer demolish the old cabinets and install the new cabinets on the same day. I was shocked when I came back in the afternoon that the cabinets were up when the walls are so unprepared.

not sure how the contract was written, but you probably paid for a demo and install of the new cabinets, and that's exactly what you got and charged for, nothing less or more. you assumed the contractor would fix and patch up the wall and floor, and he assumed you were ok with it since you didn't ask him to patch or fix anything before install. The install wasn't too bad, if that's what you paid for, a demo and install of new cabinets.

I paid for demo and install. I did not assume the contractor would fix and patch up the wall and floor. I understood that would be considered additional expense. When he told me that I needed a plumber, I got the plumber. When he told me that I needed the electrical box to move to a different location, I got an electrician. If he told me if I would want the walls to be fixed , I would be glad to pay a carpenter to fix the wall before the cabinets were installed. What I don't understand is if he advised me to get a plumber or electrician or any items for the project that are added expenses for me, why wouldn't he gave me this option to fix the wall first. I had to hire a handy man to go to the crawlspace to put a 2" backer rods between the wall and floor which were behind the base cabinets.

Are you acting as your own GC, General Contractor to save money?. That is an important position to coordinate various subs to work together in sync. A Cabinet fellow shows up to install his craft and it is not his job to fix a floor. Or to advise plumbing unless just helping to be kind.

Maybe i'm off a bit but i'm not following the rating # you are asking. He schedules his time and you are not prepared to have cabinets installed? Is the bad floor his problem?

I can't comment on your installation without seeing the cabinets with a level on top, but whoever designed that fire hazard stove next to a combustible wall needs to be smacked. That has to be changed.

Are you acting as your own GC, General Contractor to save money?. That is an important position to coordinate various subs to work together in sync. A Cabinet fellow shows up to install his craft and it is not his job to fix a floor. Or to advise plumbing unless just helping to be kind.

Maybe i'm off a bit but i'm not following the rating # you are asking. He schedules his time and you are not prepared to have cabinets installed? Is the bad floor his problem?

I know. You are absolutely right about making 3 trips vs 2 trips. Lesson learned. Thank you for your comments.

Yes, the stove issue is trouble.

I agree with Rych about making minimum trips. I was not the GC. I bought the cabinets and install as a package and supposed to be a 'turn-key' process. I didn't know the right questions to ask but now I do.

The cabinets were installed about 1 1/2" back compared to previous old cabinets, causing the base cabinets to push back 1 1/2". This caused the base cabinets showing the sub floor. The quarter round would not completely cover the sub floor. The end result was to add a baseboard and the shoe-molding to completely cover the sub floor.

Hello Joseph and sleevendog,

Oh Gosh! What should be the clearance from the stove to the wall?

Consult your appliance manufacturer's installation instructions, please.

I think your cabinet installer leveled the cabinets and did what HE/SHE was supposed to do.

You may need to hire a GC and pull a permit.

Yes that stove situation looks questionable. You could pull the stove out and install a sheet of stainless steel against the wall and behind the stove. Probably the cheapest solution. Were permits pulled?

My contractor had demo crew remove old cabinetry, next crew repaired any issues and plumbing was laid out and electrical done, everything was painted and prepared for the cabinet installation. The crew from the cabinet and granite place came in and installed the cabinets, leveled and all gaps taken care of. They were perfect before the granite installation began. Different crews different trades, all aspects need permits. Touch up was done to paint etc after granite and backsplash were installed. Then floor was installed. Floor was installed under where stove goes and, fridge, and dishwasher, not under cabinets, it can be done under cabinets also, cost more for extra flooring.. I can't imagine one person doing it all except if you are doing it all yourself. But as seen on all the flip shows on TV permits are needed.

OK....so......I'd put the bank of drawers against the wall, move the stove closer to the sink. Close off the exterior stove vent. Use the circulating vent. The upper cabinets would also be moved to fit with their lower counterparts. That's actually the 2nd thing I'd do.

The 1st....put down subflooring and either tile it, linoleum....a floating floor....

3rd...Your electric outlet on the wall needs to be moved to the left to clear the stove.

Are you putting in a dishwasher?

It is too late. Thank you any way. The granite has been installed. I do need to figure out how to fix the wall that is too close to the stove. Most likely going to use a metal sheet.

Here is the finished kitchen. Thank you all for you comments and advise. I appreciate it.

gowonga:

You can't turn a combustible wall into a noncombustible wall by covering it with a noncombustible surface.

I understand what is your grief gowonga. It may be true that the installation, what he was contracted to do, was done properly but that still doesn't make him a good professional. If he was, he would pull you aside and asked if you would like to have the walls and floors fixed before installing. Even if charging you extra for having to reschedule a second visit in the future to do the installation after you had arranged for someone else to fix any issues.

I mean, I would rather pay a rescheduling fee and have it done properly than what happened to you. He just didn't care.

Is this a company? Or you found him through word of mouth/craigslist? If a company, just relate your experience without any embellishment on yelp, angie's list and the like. I am sure other homeowners would like to know about your experience before contracting him.