Not sure why you have a discrepancy, but I think standard is about 18". Taller people tend to like a bit more space and is why some are even skipping upper cabinets. I'm tiny and prefer something near 18" as you are doing...otherwise it gets difficult to reach/use anything in the upper cabinets.

I would think that they want the cabinets level with each other and not all equal distance from the counter. Your floor probably is not even which is causing the discrepancy.

No one can perceive a 1/8 inch difference.

^^i can. I can perceive it, and it affects me. But I also know it is to be expected when dealing with older homes.

Usually, varied ceiling height is dealt with via the crown molding.

• The base cabinets are installed and leveled during installation.
• The upper cabinets are installed the same height from the the top of the base cabinets.
• Then, 2- or 3-piece crown molding is used to handle the ceiling height issue. In our case, 3-piece crown was used. It consisted of:
  -- Decorative molding on the top of the cabinets ("SoffitA" in pic below)
  -- Flat filler piece in the middle ("Stock-S" in pic below)
  -- Decorative molding on the top against the ceiling ("Crown" in pic below)

.

The top and bottom pieces are the same all around the Kitchen. The middle "filler" piece was cut to fit b/w the two decorative moldings -- no matter how much was needed. Our Kitchen ceiling height varied by 3/4" (I think) but you cannot tell b/c the flat filler piece's height is what varies, not the decorative molding.

That said, I don't know if I'd worry about 1/8".

My crown molding design:

Installed:

IMO 18” is too small of a space and it was established when all women were short and not many counter top appliances were the norm I like 20-24” and really I would not think too many people can actually see a 1/ 8 “ discrepency.

Just read one of your other threads -- it's all related! Your contractor did exactly what I described above.

This is the same poster as the ceiling/crown molding dilemma...obviously there is something going on in that corner. The cabinet people did their best to work with uneven ceiling.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/fixing-sloped-ceiling-crown-molding-disaster-dsvw-vd~5520058?n=18

18” is too small of a space and it was established when all women were short and not many counter top appliances were the norm I like 20-24”

@Patricia Colwell - I do not agree. Actually older kitchens from say the '50s or earlier (when was it when "all women were short"?) have a narrower space than 18" between the counter and uppers. The 18" distance is relatively recent, and appropriate to average women's height. At an 18" distance from the counters, most women cannot reach far into the second shelf. A 20-24" (24!) distance would be ill-advised IMO.

I also agree that the 18" statement is rather odd since the average height of American women in the US is 5'4". My old cabinets were built in 1965 and were actually 15". I didn't realize it until I started designing my new kitchen and measured. The 15" height was great for me because it enabled me to have more access to the top shelf - not for everything but at 18" the entire top shelf would have been inaccessible without a step ladder.

Ironically, I was going to have an 18" height in my current remodel but it turned out to be 15" again :-). That's because the height of my floor with the necessary sublayers combined with the width of the counters meant there was only that much space left since both the lower and the upper cabinets were "standard" height and my kitchen ceiling has soffits which means the actual height available is only 7" under the soffits.

mine is just shy of 18" and I can't even fit my blender under there. To use my mixer, I have to pull it forward so I can raise the arm. I hate the smaller space between counter/cabinet.

1/8" off isn't bad for an older home. are the cabs sitting flush w/the ceiling?

I'm going to take a complete guess here and say that the installer made a judgement call.

What I mean is; chances are that your window, floor, ceiling and walls are not perfectly plumb, level etc. Again, I'm guessing but take a look at your window. Often, if the cabinetry is close to your window trim an installer may install something slightly out of plumb in order to keep the cabinet & window trim parallel with each other as your eye will see 1/8" more between cabinet & window trim than 1/8" between cabinet & countertop.

I would look at everything in this set up. With the age of your house, there may need to be some give & take in certain areas. You need to decide what will be noticed or bug you more.

You posted more in your other thread about many things being out. It's unfortunate that things have only come to light at such a late stage in your reno process. If your floors, walls & ceiling were out so much, there should have been some conversation between you & the contractor as to scope of the renovation well before starting this project. Or, at very least, at some point when it was noticed how out things were. To level ceilings & plumb walls is not simple or cheap. Levelling floors is a huge project by itself.

18" between cabinet & countertop is an industry standard & also a building code standard depending on your area.