I agree with your contractor.

I’m trying really hard to see what you mean, but I just don’t. But, I am no pro

Right or wrong--what I did was make the crown level. I then filled in the gap between the crown and ceiling with caulk. In a space where the gap was too wide to fill with caulk, I cut a thin wedge and placed that in the gap, then filled around it with caulk. There is no level or plumb spot in the old part of my house, to I had to get creative. I don't think anyone has raised an eyebrow when looking at my cabinets for the first time, but then everyone in my circle understands old houses.

The difference in your cabinets is so slight I would agree with the contractor, although I think I'd have done it my way.

No walls and and ceilings are perfectly square. The same thing happened to our remodel. We waited a few months and caulked

This appears to be the ceiling and the contractor cannot fix that. However, if you can find a paintable caulk that matches your cabinets (white/white is the easiest), then you can caulk and it won't be noticed. Paintable caulk will allow you to paint it the ceiling color if necessary.

I can't see anything off other than the recessed lights don't line up. Cabinets look fine to me -- I guess if a couple of us can't see anything, it's not too likely anyone casually walking through your kitchen will either. {shrug}

I anticipate this in my kitchen as well, the ceiling has visible slope. Having read a lot of tips about it in old houzz threads, I think a few of them would be worthwile to you as well. I think what your contractor did is acceptable and I would not look for a fix.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1194419/kitchen-cabinets-and-uneven-wavy-ceiling

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2574661/13-inch-cabinet-crown-sounds-huge-positano-anyone

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2674090/cabinets-installed-ceiling-not-level-help

Ugh, that’d drive me bonkers. I’m wondering if it’s look better if the molding was relative to the cabinets instead of following the ceiling with the gap between molding and ceiling filled somehow.

I'm not seeing a "very significant slope" - just a bit of an uneven ceiling, which is quite typical. Just take a bit of caulk and fill the gap and you won't notice. What's up with the placement of the can lights? That IS something I'd notice!

So I shouldn’t have included both pictures. The top picture is fine. The second picture is the one with the problem. I don’t know how to get in and delete it now to avoid confusion for others

You run into this problem too often installing kitchen cabinets. If a contractor were to give you a price to level the ceiling prior you would say it’s not worth it. Once everything is put together you will forget about it. There’s really nothing you can do

People see the same things you see, OP. They just don’t see it as a problem. Deleting your first picture isn’t going to create a “problem” in your second pic. If you’re not satisfied, then you can ask your contractor to fix. But expect that to come with an expanded price tag for an expanded project scope, because most consider the way he did this in the first instance to be acceptable.

I agree to ignore. We have seen far worse.

I think OP is right- some people appear to focus on the molding and ceiling gap suggesting it’d be caulked but the issue is the space between the lower part of the molding and the cabinet doors in the second photo.

Ahhhhh...I see it now! Very hard to rectify without re-doing the ceiling....

So we actually did redo the ceiling. I’m wondering if when they did that they didn’t do it correctly or if maybe the beams that they attached to werent correct

In your kitchen, my top molding suggestion would have been "stacked crown molding": Flat stock + a bit smaller crown molding. Using the two pieces helps to minimize the uneven ceilings. Plus with your 'overlay' door, it just looks better.

Here is another definition from Google: What is stacked crown molding?

Although single-piece crown molding is available, strips, edges and fillers placed on top of one another in a “stack” create a custom piece that elegantly fills spaces and distracts the eye from flaws.

Here is a photo: I often use long valance boards. They are less money than the Lshaped molding. But then my installer needs to attach a nailer board to the cabinets.

So...I would suggest that you live with what you have or redo what I have shown. Your coved molding is a nice size. There are pros/cons to doing it either way. Re-doing it will certainly incur a substantial cost. Maybe once you hear the price, you'll be able to accept it as is.

When I do a field measure of a new job, I will measure a ceiling in several places to get an idea of it's height. But you still might not have any idea of the unlevelness. Sometimes it's just not that evident.
If I know we are going to the ceiling with cabinetry, I will use a laser to find a high spot on the floor and a low spot on the ceiling. Then plan accordingly so everything fits and looks good. Being a kitchen designer involves a LOT of MATH!!!

Ps. Your ceiling is only as level as the joists in your home unless you drop the ceiling some and redo it. I'm not a drywaller....so maybe there are shimming methods to level a ceiling but it sounds like a lot of work and labor intensive. $$$$ I think most will accept the minor imperfections. To be honest, I've seen a lot worse than yours.

I would remove the crown and redo the ceiling with drywall mud and feather it out. You may not get the full difference so caulk the rest.

Can you edit the photo to add two arrows so that people know what you're talking of? It seems that some people think it is the space between ceiling and molding.

Surprising that they redid the ceiling. I would have thought there would have been a way to make the ceiling flat even if the beams were not (but I am not a pro).

Did you check the ceiling with a level? Because to me it looks a lot. We just redid the upper cabinets in our mid 80s kitchen and, while the ceiling was not flat, we're far from that. We had abpout 1/4" betweenthe two walls. I was pretty surprised.

I wish I knew how to edit the photo And remove the top one altogether. I’ll try. if the problem was just the little bit between the ceiling and the molding I wouldn’t care at all. Oh well.

I see what you’re saying kimbers6. These pics aren’t the same group of cabinets. The first pic is the section that you mentioned is fine. The next pic shows the section where the space between the top of the far left cabinet and bottom of the molding is bigger than the space between the top of the far right cabinet and bottom of the molding. Honestly, I only noticed it because you pointed it out though.

You could spend thousands to redo the ceiling. Or you could try to ignore your over-sensitive focus on the trivial princess and the pea bit that more than half of the posters can’t even see. It’s fine. Construction isn’t a space program.

Focus on something else for 3 months. If it still bothers you at the end of that, then you can pay the thousands to redo the ceiling.

Leave it alone or drop the drywall slightly down in that location. If there is an attic above it's even better.

No one will notice unless they stand on a chair and look.

P.S

These gaps come from wood shrinkage or wood having has a slight bow in it or when framers don't crown floor/ceiling joists... When you running a crown molding or pretty much could be anything i.e base, chair rail, plywood, etc you end up with a gap similar to what you have.

When the drywall is installed and put a screw in one piece of wood like that, it pulls the drywall in and that is the effect from it.

Here is an example,

as you can see the joist in the middle has a slight crown in it and you can see the gap. If you release drywall from 1 or 2 of the screws, you can see the drywall will be nice and straight and it will close the gap.

I use to run miles of trim of all kinds and used this trick thousands of times and still do... It's the oldest trick in the book.

Good luck

To help point out the difference. I plainly see it. I just think this is reality. How old is your home, OP? If this is a new build, sure, it’s a problem. If your house is old, your expectations seem off.

We had same issue but two piece/stacked molding installed like The Kitchen Place mentioned, and it made it less noticeable. You may notice it now but in the end when it’s all done, it will be unnoticeable.

thx muriel

I have to say it's also more visible on.a desktop than on the phone.

the house is about 30 years old. I appreciate everyone’s input. Thanks for highlighting the picture Murial. if you’re looking at the right picture it’s definitely noticeable without standing in anything. I’m not talking about the space between the molding snd the ceiling. Anyway, thanks for the help to those of you who were helpful.

Okay, I saw what you were concerned with right away. HOWEVER, my only concern would be if the cabinets in the first pic (that are correct) are very close in proximity to the ones in the second pic. The comparison is what will be so noticeable.

Without the proximate comparison, it very much APPEARS to be an optical illusion (even though you know it’s not). This is caused by the fact that the ceiling molding starts in the corner of the room (on the high end) and runs outward to the narrow end. The “acceptance” of the illusion in the mind of the viewer is also aided by the fact that it comes from a corner with a doorway adjacent.

The cabinet that is correct is not against a wall/corner on either side...thank goodness ;)

Dude was hired to set cabinets and install crown, not float a ceiling.

Reminds me of when I built a light metal soffit perfectly square and level in an 80-year old kitchen and leveled the corner of the floor below. The ceiling and the floors ran in several slopes, so I was only adding to the visual confusion and should have split the difference, pointed out my much more experienced tiler.

I feel like the answers mama goose_gw zn6OH and The Kitchen Place posted might be the best options. it won't be noticeable when standing below looking up. it will be a tiny bit noticeable if you are standing back, but only if you point it out. is the room big? can you even stand far enough away that the problem is visible, or do you have to get up on a chair to see it?

I agree. I think those were good ideas. I’m going to look into it. You don’t need to be on a chair to see it. It will work out. Thanks for your comment

As a general rule, no one ever looks up. That's why all the ninjas of my childhood hid on the ceiling. But yeah.. you have to fix the ceiling if you want to fix it "right."

Okay, now I see it with the blue arrows pointing right at it. But seriously -- who is even going to notice that besides you?!? If it's a cheap fix, have at it. Otherwise, save your money and treat yourself to something nice.

The cabinet installer agreed that it needed to be adjusted. They were able to play around with the molding a little bit and it looks so much better! Thanks for those of you who shared positive comments or suggestions.

yes! looks much better. once the edge is caulked, nobody will ever notice.

I agree!

The absolute last thing I do when I go to someone's house is to look up at the ceiling. Don't point it out to anybody and they probably won't look up either. When you go to someone's house, you're going there to be with the person, not to nit pick their house. Unless you invited them over to see the remodel job.

Everything has to be perfect in the bathroom, especially in front of the toilet, because this is the only time when someone will notice every imperfection there is. :-)

hahahah GN Builders....so true!

Much better :)

Yey- that looks like a good improvement! I’m happy you found a solution. Best of luck with the rest!

Thanks! I wasn't needing perfection. This is great in my opinion!

that looks much better kimber. not even noticeable. I like your cabinets.

what kind of tile / countertop are you doing?

We’re actually doing a quartz slab

For both countertop and thinner for backsplash