Hi zver11, Thanks for your reply and addressing my questions. I am concerned about fan noise so that would definitely be a drawback for me. I don't know what you mean by the ductless minisplit system - could you elaborate? For clarification, the rest of existing house will remain baseboard forced hot water heat. The LR would also still be forced hot water from the same Buderus boiler. (The addition will be radiant floor heat) Thanks in advance for any further information from others as well. Would the old standard radiator be an option?

We aren't doing laminate again. I despise laminate. And the cabinet color may be interesting, but for me it is undesirable, in my opinion it's too dark to go in such a small kitchen area. A green paint on the walls, white paint on the cabinets with new silver hinges and knobs, and a darker tan tile is the look we're pursuing. We are also not going to put any more money into this project than we have to, and that includes ripping off the counter top and replacing it. I guess the only choice I will have is just to try and cut thin vertical strips of tile to go around the outside edge, and I'll end up with a counter that looks like the edge of a quarter somewhat.

Yia sas, youles! I think remodelfla is interpreting you correctly. Baseboards usually refer to the molding which runs along the bottom of walls where they meet the floor. What we call toekicks here in the US, the strip which runs along the base of the cabinets, does keep the area under the cabinets from accumulating dust and dirt. Depending on how much vertical space you would have between the floor and the bottom of your cabinets, without the toekicks, you could have difficulty getting underneath to vacuum or wash the floor underneath. I am including a photo from the finished kitchen blog, which show some traditional cabinets with feet, but I can't say how they're constructed. I am also including the link for that blog below. I have also seen very modern kitchens on legs with quite a bit of space below them, but I always think it's wasted storage space when I see those. Modern kitchen: http://www.hansenliving.com/data/media/hansen_forside_eng.jpghttp://www.hansenliving.com/data/media/hansen_forside_eng.jpghttp://www.hansenliving.com/data/media/hansen_forside_eng.jpg Here is a link that might be useful: finished kitchen photos

If new baseboards are taller, workers wouldn’t repair, they'd just install new ones right on top. as for removing, I would have covered that when negotiating contract. Now might be too late and they’ll charge the same wherher you or they do removal. Then again, it never hurts to ask. You’d also need to be specific— will you remove and dispose? Or remove only. Typically removal alone would have little value to them.