This forum is great - I was in Home Expo yesterday and raved to a husband and wife (doing research for new construction in another state) about the knowledge of the participants and the expertise and information available. I'm not as nervous about the frameless option now. I've been looking at the KitchenCraft, Kraftmaid Venica, Hanssam, and Apple Valley Woodworks. I am also looking at the Kraftmaid (framed) with the slab door. I want to get the most bang for my buck, and at the same time want this kitchen to last until at least the kids are out of college (18 years - yikes). circuspeanut - I have been perplexed by the plywood box issue and think I understand the scribing issue. This is another topic I am going to discuss with my contractor. cheri127 - I will make note of what your installer did and ask my contractor about his plan. It is good to know a solution just in case the issue presents itself. caryscott - Thanks for the photos, it helps to see the cabinets with the filler. I spoke with the KitchenCraft people yesterday and they were very helpful. shannonplus2 - It seems that my ceilings are one height in the original part of the house and another in the addition added by the PO in the 1980's... I haven't measured where we will be relocating the kitchen, but I'm curious to see if the ceiling is uniform in that space.... We are on day 2 of the renovation and the contractor has already encountered unforseen "issues" having nothing to do with the kitchen..... If this keeps up, I will be constructing kitchen cabinets from cardboard boxes and using a hot-plate as my new stove.

If the ceilings are really as high as they look on that plan, would it be possible to run a duct to the spot where you can vent to the exterior, along the wall in a soffit or short cabinets just for the purpose of hiding the duct? I agree that venting is necessary, but more flexibility in where you put the range would be great. I would not like mine in the position where you currently have it. We have a somewhat similar layout, and have our fridge in that area. I can't tell if the cabinet in the corner where the sink and other wall of cabinets meets is one of Ikea's corner cabinets with lazy susan-type options. If not, I would encourage you to consider those. Especially if the dishwasher is not going to be in that corner, you might be able to fit the 37" cabinet which extends about 12.5" on each wall and provides quite a large amount of storage space. We have that one with the lazy susan and really love it. Or, if behind the sink is the other side of the peninsula, you could put a full-depth cabinet facing out that way. We have that in the corner of my peninsula and have been happy with that as well. How wide is the walkway between the end of the peninsula and the cabinets on the wall with the range? It looks kind of narrow to me in the picture. One of the motivations for my renovation was a too-narrow walkway in exactly that spot, so I would be cautious about that.

Everything IS bigger in TX! Find a builder or home that is Energy Star certified or insist on it for your current build if it's not too late. You're correct to be concerned with your build's lack of attention to detail behind the finished surfaces. Not only is the concrete inaccurate, the brushed surfaces indicate a lot of honeycombing cosmetic cover-up. No sill sealer or garage leg shear wall?

I second Johnson Flooring's statements/suggestions. First and foremost, this is a professional fix. Even if it is 'just' the subfloor that you fix, it will be faster (and in the end cheaper) than a DIY event. How is that cheaper you ask? I always say, "Giver yourself an hourly wage," and then figure out how much it will 'cost you'. Do a guestimate of how LONG it would take you to do this yourself. That INCLUDES the time it takes to EDUCATE yourself re: flooring and building industry standards. And example of 'education' is reading the National Wood Flooring Association Handbook (which you can purchase on line from www.nwfa.org). And then reading it again. And perhaps again - while taking copious amounts of notes. The first 'read through' should be 6-10 hours (yes I suggest cover to cover for the DIYer). Now the next two reads should be about subfloors and how to make them and how to FIX THEM. Now you start taking notes. By hand. At this point you should have 15 'billable hours' under your belt and you haven't picked up a hammer. At 15 hrs, how much have you 'spent' on your own wage? Right. That's just the education part. Now the 'doing' part. If a single professional would require 3 days (8-10 hr days) then I suggest you look at 3 TIMES the amount of time to get the subfloor ready. That means you are looking at 25-30 hrs for the subfloor fix (not to mention all the running around purchasing all the products and tools etc). At this point, the subfloor will have cost you 45 hrs of your time (a full week of work + a weekend) and you still have to figure out the material costs and the flooring costs + install. Depending on your flooring of choice and method of install and amount of flooring you are looking at, you could be looking at another week of work. That same professional who would take 3 days to deal with the subfloor, could have installed the flooring in the same amount of time you will take to fix the subfloor. This is how you budget 'yourself' into a DIY situation. Some people have more money than time, which means hiring the professional is the logical thing to do. Others have more time than money which means they would rather 'spend' their own time then spend their own money. Without knowing your time/money situation, it is hard to tell you if it is a good idea to DIY this type of fix. Look at your situation (time vs money) and decide if this is worth 2 weeks (or more) of your life. And the other concern (for me) is the Pandora's Box that can be opened when opening up an old subfloor system. In the profession, we ASSUME there will be something weird going on. The question becomes, what will YOU do (as DIYer) if and when you come across the 'weird'? If you decide to DIY, please make sure you have a contingency plan for 'weird'. That includes a quick bank loan option and other professionals on speed dial (plumbers, electricians, etc).