Magsnj, I'd almost certainly want to protect that nice window in the pantry too. Sigh. I liked my idea, too. The big issue is obviously what to do with the elephant-in-the-kitchen. 1. How about seeing what reframing the door from the DRM down in the lower corner does for you, like Bellsmom's but all the way down? You'd be able to go in and out from the back garden without actually walking "through" the kitchen. The refrigerator could go left of the doorway, invisible from the rest of the house (you put a panel across its side), the stove would be on the LRM wall, and there'd be work counter to the fridge's right to join the counter around the stove. 2. My favorite option from a distance: How about moving the door to the back yard out of the kitchen and into the dining room, giving it the work space it needs? Perhaps as one a trio of French doors. I imagine those three windows there are a very nice feature you'd like to leave alone but, ultimately, opening up a direct relationship between your living spaces and the rear garden would improve livability as a whole and, of course, allow you to set the elephant down into that lower left corner where the current door is, with storage alongside. Then the options would be much more fun: * Have the stove back to the DRM wall in a closed kitchen, * Put it on the LRM wall and create an open work counter at the DRM wall. * Slide the DRM door up against the closet for the additional layout options that offers. (You'd probably have to reframe it anyway to fit in the fridge.)

Perhaps it WILL work for you to put the tv against that long blank wall, if you think outside the box. Furniture doesn't have to always line up straight against a wall, it can be outside in the room and at angles. I can't quite imagine why the set you describe wouldn't work in that room with the TV where the PO's have it. I too think the fireplace looks overly tall for mounting a TV. You could reconfigure the fireplace but maybe more work than you want to do to the room? I'm not crazy about that fireplace surround especially with those windows they way they are. You can do better with that fireplace wall than the PO's did. What's up with those windows above the windows? With three big windows all on that side of the room, not sure what they bring to the show. I just realized that with windows above windows, you could keep drapes closed there all the time and still have light during the day from the upper windows! So putting a TV in front of them wouldn't really impact the room that much. Unless someone is home during the day, you'll probably be in there mostly at night anyway.

Welcome to Virginia! I think I have some good news and bad news to offer you with respect to your remedies. First, the bad news: While Virginia has a statutory warranty for new construction, there is none for remodeling projects, so you don't have that as a remedy. Now the (maybe) good news: mechanic's lien law in VA is very complicated. It's not difficult to record a lien, but they are often tossed out unless every "i" has been correctly dotted and every "t" correctly crossed. There is a 30-day rule that requires contractors and suppliers to register with the applicable mechanic's lien agent within 30 days of beginning work in order to preserve their right to file a lien for that work. If you don't have a mechanic's lien agent, then I'm not sure the contractor or any supplier or contractor working for him has any remedy under the Virginia mechanic's lien law. I'm not suggesting you "lawyer up,"nor do I advocate going to court as a remedy, but paying for a 1 hour consultation with a Virginia attorney with a construction law practice would help you understand your rights and those of the contractor. Then you can make an informed decision about how to proceed. Best wishes for getting things fixed soon and enjoying your home.

Looks like you need to demo the whole thing to the fire box, then build it much smaller so you can balance the built in with ease. I would assume you will want a tv to the left side? in that case it would be ok, or make sense for the left side built in to be larger. As to Code, you really need to ask a contractor in your area what those laws are.