Yes, granite is going to be changed, as I won't accept anything else - it's NOT at all what I ordered and it's still at the fabricator's yard - they can fix it. The island and the fireplace are very important because they are focal points. I know that somepeople would have cared less and never even notice, but I did. As far as the fireplace, I have recalled more conversational details. initially, I wanted a pre-made mantel, brought the spec's to the house, and the foreman told us it wouldn't work, unless we built a raised hearth (that I didn't want). I TOLD him at that point "it looked high" and questioned him if it was the same as the model - he ASSURED me it was. I then scraped the mantel - which now, I understand WHY it wouldn't work! He should have worked on making that mantel work - because if he did, we would have had to lower that firebox MONTHS ago! Yesterday I had to go to the house and drop off an item. He (the foreman) was there ripping out the bricks. He turned his back on us and never acknowledged us there! He is making me annoyed - and I KNOW for a fact that he (once again - as we caught him) is lying. I am sure he is blaming us 100% - but at this point, I don't care! I am paying enough for this house and this is important! The stairs - the treads are 10" deep, and the risers I didn't measure, but they aren't high, and step very much like a normal step. These stairs are in the back of our home, and I am not going to make this another area of conflict as it's not that important. Only we (our family) will really see these stairs and we already planned to add the wood treads ourselves at some point. Anyway, I am VERY happy about the fireplace - as looking at the photo's above - it does look strange!

The real question is what do you WANT and what did your contractor AGREE to provide you via the contract and construction drawings. If you wanted the arrangement you describe, and both the contract and the construction drawings indicate that the work should have been performed to provide you with that arrangement....then there is no question that the contractor needs to provide you with what he agreed to do...regardless of the cost to him to correct his own mistake. And don't let ANYONE talk you out of what you are due and the contractor is obigated to provide you with, by law, for your hard earned money paid. It's HIS mistake, let HIM learn from it...the hard way if necessary.

We moved our venting when we remodeled. Our cooktop (and the old range) is on an interior wall, so a bit more work had to be done...we knew that going in. What we didn't expect was that our shower drain in the upstairs master bath was directly in the path! Our GC wanted $4800 just to move the drain (& drain vent). I thought that was ridiculous and brought in two different Master Plumbers and received two estimates: $700 (including drywall repair) and $900 (not including drywall repair). We went with the "middle" estimate since we had worked with this plumber b/f and were very satisfied with their professionalism and honesty. It only cost us the $900 b/c they did some snooping around and found a place to run the drain's vent up an empty space b/w the studs so no walls had to be broken into and no drywall repair needed! Lessons Learned: (1) Get multiple estimates and opinions for large jobs or if anything seems "fishy". (2) Realize that if a tradesman does not want to do something they will sometimes jack the price up so high that either you'll say "no" or you'll say "yes" and they'll make a killing on it. [This is what I think our GC did since he kept insisting we should just get a recirculating hood and not do the extra work to vent externally...his comment was that they were "almost as good". Needless to say, his credibility plummeted tremendously in my opinion after that! He did give us a hard time about going "outside", but our KD supported us even though she had a business relationship w/the GC via EXPO (where she worked)...a plus in her favor, to me.]

They are fixing it, supposedly it would not be a problem to leave it sealed up, but it didn't seem to be a good idea to us. A 14 foot dead end with no access didn't give us a warm and fuzzy feeling.....