I have an 8-1/2" deep Blanco SS sink and a Blanco Aires faucet. Though I love the look of really tall arcing faucets, I have cabinets over my sink so I didn't think there would be room. The Blanco is more of a "standard" style faucet. Anyway, when the plumber installed my faucet, he didn't attach the aerator - he just left it on the side of the sink (no idea why). So the first time I tried out the faucet, the water came out with a great deal of pressure and splashed all over and was very noisy. I set the faucet to sprayer and it was much better. I thought I'd have to use the sprayer setting *all the time* - very annoying - the sprayer does "lock" on my faucet, but it unlocks as soon as you turn off the water. Then I discovered the aerator sitting there. Oh, what's this?? I screwed it in. Much better. :-) Don't know if it helps any with your situation. Probably not. LOL! (Have to say, though - I do love my faucet. Heck, after three months, I love having running water in the kitchen!)

Lien laws vary by state, but my general rule is that you should not give final payment to the GC until he provides you with signed lien release forms from all subs, precisely because the subs can file liens against your house even if you pay the GC in full but he fails to pay the subs. You contracted with the kitchen company, and they hired the sub that did the faulty work, so the kitchen company is ultimately responsible for the quality of the work. Assuming you have not already paid the kitchen company in full for whatever you owe them, I would inform them that you are withholding payment in an amount equal to the full cost of the counters until they provide you with a signed lien release from their sub (it is between them and the fabricator what financial arrangement they come to to get the release signed) as well as properly installed counters. In other words, don't pay until you get exactly what you are paying for plus a lien release from everyone.

I just checked our current kitchen (the one that tenants will move into in a few weeks), which was a DIY by the former owners and is really unusual and cute, and the distance from countertop (at 36" height, standard, from the floor) to the open shelving above it is 20.5", even 21", not the usual 18". Their kitchen sink is also not on an island or in front of a window but we never noticed it for 7 years since it's open shelving and higher I guess. Their faucet is much lower but even at 16.5" faucet height, if we have cabinets starting at 20" we should be fine. Now, whether we CAN put the cabinets 2" higher, remains to be seen, and we won't know until we delve in later this month. (there's a soffit along a small section of wall, that might interfere with my plan, high ceilings or not) But I'm going for the slightly (not very) higher cabinets all along the line, probably 20". And I'm 5'3" tops and my husband is 5'7" or so, and we have a child who's not much more than 4' tall. But we're used to standing on stools for things that are above the bottom shelf anyway and I don't think that 1-3" difference from standard will make or break resale. I just noticed it after 7 years in the context of putting in a kitchen upstairs...

No. It's been almost 10 years since the remodel--the new sink is also 9" at the edges--and I definitely wouldn't want a deeper kitchen sink. I do have a laundry sink not so far away. I have a grid in half the sink, but it's only about half an inch tall. It's useful, but sometimes, I could like to have a shallower sink, or something like the reef in the Kohler...Stages? The one with the prep bowls. Fixtures aren't the place to scrimp. If you're changing a big element of quality with the inch, then maybe consider price, but in the normal scheme of things, I wouldn't guess more than a few hundred dollars difference, all else being the same. If so, unless your budget is under $10K for the whole shebang, take the difference out of the finishes, not the useful bits. Keep in mind that sinks are adaptable. If you have a reason for wanting that extra inch, go for it, because it's hard to adapt a sink deeper. OTOH, I have a couple of dishpans that fit nicely in my sink and make it easy to do traditional two bowl dishwashing. Turn one over and one has a platform which is next best to the built in reef. I also have a roll up, over the sink, dish drainer grid. When I just can't stand to lean over a tiny bit, it makes a great platform for setting dishes and pots on while I wash and rinse them. That's the big thing to keep in mind. Every inch deeper your sink is, is another inch lower you have to bend to pick up a dish. I say get the 9" sink. If you can figure out three good reasons why this is wrong and why you must have a deeper sink, then I must be wrong and you should get the 10". Good luck with your decision.