What do the shop drawings show? Did you ask him to install the crown moulding? I assume you are GC'ing project since you are asking here, and as such you are responsable to give the direction and or make sure your workers are clear on the task. Unfortunately, yes it will be on you.

Oh, no matter whose fault it is, they will want you to pay.

But who was responsible to direct this? You, or some kitchen company/designer?

The installer should have known better. What's the cabinet install look like?

I'm trying to understand what was done here. It was a two-piece crown but he installed the flat stock on top of the crown? If your cabinet does not have wide top rail to allow the flat stock to be applied directly to it, then a nailer piece should have been provided to the carpenter which would mount on top of the cabinet. He also may have been able to make his own nailer piece. I have never seen a carpenter interpret a two-piece crown like this, so I would say the fault is his to not question this first before installing.

Installers should always ask if they don't know, on things like this and hardware drilling. As GC, you should have communicated more or oversaw the install better. If you just purchased materials from cabinet store, it's not their responsibility to find out how good your installer is. There's so much they'd have to explain. However, they should have probably been nice and drawn a side detail elevation of the crown. But they aren't required to. I think you should pay for the crown and the installer you hired should reinstall at no charge.

If he had any cabinet install experience at all, he should have been able to easily tell that the mounting strip is meant to attach to the cabinet top, and the crown to the mounting strip. It’s a really simple system, and extremely common.

It’s on him, completely.

I’d frankly be much more worried about how the rest of the install was done now that there is this red flag. Show the screws that’s he attached the cabinets to the walls. Show the cabinet sides meeting the walls. And put a framing square on everything to see if he racked it.

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts! I'm hopeful his idea to rip it down will work and I can live with the result. Getting new from the cabinet manufacturer won't work because it mounts on top and there will be holes from the face mount. No amount of wood putty and stain will hide that. Cabinet company offered a trim piece in addition to new crown to hide the holes, but that sort of defeats the purpose of simple Shaker, imo. I will accept some responsibility, but to not communicate with me beforehand is what is bothering me most. Does anyone think this looks normal??

No. It looks goofy. Check his other work. Seriously.

millworkman, I will have to find the drawings and see how detailed they were. Thank you for suggesting that. This is a Master Carpenter we are talking about who usually does beautiful work for us.

midcenturymodernlove, I did not direct him to install. He just did it in between other items in the remodel he was working on. And yes, I'm afraid I"ll be paying for any solution.

Taylor's Cabinets, the cabinet install themselves look great! Wishing I had forgotten to add crown!

Kristin Petro, this is actually a one piece crown. I"m not sure how he installed other than it's upside down. It seems obvious to me, but perhaps there is actually crown that looks like this??

I'm sorry, but I can't visualize how they are supposed to look. At first glance, I can't see what's wrong.

The Kitchen Place, your suggestion is a good one, except we can't use the same crown or install holes will show. Perhaps I should have given better direction, but this is literally the 10th project he's done for us and all of his work and communication has be impeccable. However, on this project we are starting to feel taken advantage of. A complete remodel is now on month 18.

Sophie Wheeler, thanks for the support. As mentioned above I just cannot fathom how he thinks this looks normal.

Is the crown two pieces or one? If two, then I think Sophie is correct...the piece he installed on top is likely a nailer or backer piece, not part of a two-piece crown. A master carpenter should not make this mistake...

Kristin Petro, it's one piece.

So the 1.25" vertical piece is part of the crown?

So there are two parts and they are in reversed order? I thought you literally meant upside down and could not see how that would be a better look.

This is how a lot of cabinet company’s do moldings for full overlay cabinets. The mounting strip attaches to the box, and the molding dogs into the mounting strip. Simple. And he messed up simple.

The MS isn’t even clear coated. Just stained. It’s totally obvious to anyone that it is not a meant to show finished piece.

Seriously, check his other work. I can already tell he has adjusted the doors incorrectly. There is probably more.

More than just the faceframe has nail holes that can’t be filled. He installed the crown itself upside down. Meaning all new crown. The spring angle should have given him a clue here. This is complete and utter cluelessness of basic carpentry. He is no “master”.

Well, I am pleased to report we reached a compromise. There was literally no way to remove these and start over without destroying my cabinets. So the carpenter shaved down the vertical 1.5" piece at the top to 1/2". It looks fine now. I've got a lot of straight angles through the house so it blends fine. Just didn't see how else to do this. Of course, I've been charged for it. DH and I are trying to hold our tongue and cannot wait for the trades to get out so we can enjoy our vacation home. I"ll snap a pic when I'm up there next. Thank you to everyone who helped me! I really appreciated it.

Why would you be charged for him fixing HIS mistake?