I think it does come down to the fact that I'm not 100% certain of his competency. We've had so many incompetent people involved in this remodel (costing us time and money) that I just don't want to take a chance on this. For example: --Contractor's assistant decided to cut drywall ON TOP of the piece of MARBLE we just had cut for the master bath shower bench (you can imagine the outcome of that) --Contractor's sub / electrician knocked holes in newly hung drywall in order to access what he wanted in order to avoid doing it the right way due to being "too much work." This same person also cracked/chipped about 8 slate floor tiles in the basement while working at the electrical panel. --Floor company took 3 weeks to complete hardwood staining/refinishing only to majorly screw up (I posted photos in another thread) the floor, leaving us to find another company to do it all over again. We've since been living in our basement for over 2 months. So...I could go on and on and on - those are just a few of many things. And so far we haven't asked our contractor to pay for even ONE thing he or his subs have screwed up. We simply want him to finish the job and GET OUT! Since everyone involved in our remodel seems to be having financial issues, we're lucky if anyone even shows up to work, much less have any idea when our "5-6 month" project which has stretched into 10 so far will be finished. Sigh....

Robbcs3, the circular gouges were caused by spinning the knob. The knob has a very small rectangular base in the vertical direction. There is very little room on the base outside the limits of the screw hole, so drilling the correct hole size is critical. Also, after I looked at one, the base actually has a tit I assume to bite into the door preventing any future movement. He must have used his power driver to attach. I could understand one door, but to have 5 is extremely negligent. Another question. As stated above my cabs are frameless thus requiring a furring strip at the top of the cab for attachment of the crown. What is the preferred orientation of this strip on wall cabinets (side/ends with no doors) that do not go all the way to the ceiling? I was thinking if it was inset a 1/16 inside the wall line no seam could be seen when looking up or set it flush with the wall so the seam would be in line with the cab wall? Also, does an inside corner dictate the positioning of the furring strip or can it be placed in either position aforementioned?

I am so grateful for this feedback I have received today. And thank you again PPF and Bryan911 for all the helpful details. I am going to see about a new upper cabinet. We’ve put too much into this project to let two upper cabinets good us up :) I had a lot of people including a designer I hired for a short time out eyes on this, and we still missed it. Just goes to show you how difficult it can be to build a house and get all the details to work out as hoped. PPF — the reason we broke up the expanse of the pantry door with shaker panels was since we wanted it to look integrates with the cabinetry and to break up the tall doors since we have 10’ ceilings. I do agree also about hinges that can be hidden. It also annoys me that they are such a bright gold when my lights and cabinet hardware will be more of an aged, satin brass. Is it easy to switch out hinges and not mess up the doors?

All base cabinets should be installed to a level line at 34.5” above the high spot of the finished floor. The bottom alignment height of all wall cabinets should be at 54” above the high spot of the floor. The height of the wall cabinets should take into consideration any fall in the ceiling, and be designed for the shortest distance between the 54” AFF line and ceiling height, rather than the tallest difference. You’ve designed for the tallest difference, and the molding is too tall for the shortest distance. You need a shorter crown. Then you use starter filler strips, scribed to the ceiling slope. Apply the shorter molding. Done. Cutting down moldings never works, or looks good.