DIY housebuilding...18 months of actual building...Other stuff for several months before, including moving into a 900 sq ft, 30+ yr old single wide mobile with 8 kids, a large dog, and 2 (now 1) cats (reduction by coyote). We have 21 days until our last allowable construction loan extension runs out, and like every time we've gotten an extension (twice), my dh says, "2 more months of work left." Now I don't know how we'll get rid of this monstrosity of a mobile without tremendous expense, but the mortgage lender won't close until it's history, so this must be solved soon, too. ---I think I've not only hit the wall, but am wedged in the endless center of it, and am thrashing around in the scratchy insulation trying to breathe... Sorry so dramatic, the house is looking fantastic, but I hate having to hurry the quality craftsmanship DH and DS are doing (and no amount of prodding seems to hurry it anyway), and this financial stuff is getting to me. DS and DH look at me as if I'm responsible for deadlines and complications (classic case of shooting the messenger). I tried a nice, big glass of red wine last night...I'm not a big wine drinker so it didn't help, just made me feel gross. I think I need something more like a horse tranquilizer... Hang in there mommycooks, you're not alone in your frustrations.

As I type this, the contractors are downstairs framing the north wall of our galley layout so that the counters will be 4" deeper. They will be 2" taller on both sides. We are doing what Co-Co has done -- which I am glad to see, because a couple of the contractors we interviewed thought it was just too weird. Our kitchen is 10' wide -- just wide enough that you'd almost want an island but there's really no room for it. Making the counters the same depth as the refrigerator also allows us to repair the walls from the previous remodel where they'd cut out several studs to run plumbing.

I have been in the cab business for 30 years. we see this separation a fair amount, this degree once and a while. On mainly exterior walls also. True the better grade of cabinet, the more stable it is. Unfortunately higher grade levels of cabinets ( all materials in general going into the home) are not in the main stream budgets. You have low, medium and high end home budgets, in turn low, medium and high end materials. I have found that it is typically not one specific cause but a combination of floors, walls and installation issues. Honestly, mainly the floors sagging. It doesn't take a lot of sag to cause a problem these days. Sometimes it's the perfect storm so to speak. It seems to be more common when house is built during summer ( more rain makes it worst) ( 2018!) then when winter sets in and the heat turns on walls, floors dry out and shrink, move, etc. its gotten worst with the houses being built faster, pre-finished flooring which is not typically installed before cabinets like sanded and finished on site floors which are ( higher end budget, longer build time). So not only is the cabinet built up on 1/2" to 3/4" material then it must be shimmed to level. Then set 700 - 1,000lb granite on top of it all. Ive seen this problem and shown the floors sagging toward center of kitchen 1/2" in just 36" from wall, usually toward a nice island also with granite. Popular open floor plans have also made more expanses for joists to contend with less support. Yes, accommodations are made in engineering but you still get more movement. . Cabinet is a 90 degree sqaure box, though it is attached to wall studs the bulk of weight still falls on the floor. Floor drops, front of cab, shims etc drop to, upper back corner of cab comes away from wall some, even still screws in studs, again Remember the granite weight To. All that said, we still repair but quite often it returns due to these other factors. It's not always easy to nail down one main cause. We are always looking for ways to prevent this from happening. We are seeing less of it with homes that do add blocking between studs specifically for the cabinets, but still happens occasionally. Because there's still movement in floors and walls. . FYI: it never happens on concrete slab floor jobs, or higher end 1k and up, custom homes.

"What could cause this to happen?" It's more an issue with the hinge screws not being anchored to the wall framing versus the marble not being properly installed. With the weight and moment of the door pulling on the upper hinge, and with the hinges only being secured to the "marble slab", it caused the slab to separate from the wall. " How can it be fixed?" As has been discussed,if you can add blocking from behind, do it. Reset the slab so it's tight to the backer, then run longer hinge screws through the slab and into the framing. " Who should fix it?" Your GC from the original build is responsible for the details, or in this case, the lack thereof. He should have seen this coming. Ultimately, the GC is responsible for the failure. The guy who installed the marble, it's really not his worry. The glass installer, he should have known that screws set only in a wall slab would not be sufficient long term. The failure is on the GC and the glass guy, partially on the glass guy for not raising an objection. The repair? You'll want to hire someone new to install the blocking and repair the drywall. If your GC is still around, ring him up. Then have the glass guy back to properly anchor the hinges in to the new blocking.