Well, I can honestly say I have never seen the counter come over the door trim like that, looks like somebody measured wrong, and that caulk/seal is not acceptable. Not sure what you want noticed about the laundry room, except what is the blue on the wall near the baseboard?

Margo..the blue is masking tape covering the dryer vent pipe prior to installation. At least I hope so.

Who's to blame? What was written in the contract as far as measurements? Did you not approve the design? Were you not home during any of this installation to stop this? Did your contractor actually install this himself or was this sub contracted out? So many questions to determine the full blame. One thing, who ever did this install should have thought to double check with you knowing this is not normal. I hope you did not pay in full yet.

Although...most dryers are set up to go on the right (door hinge on the right). Some are reversible.

Thanks Ironwood ;) What else do you see in the laundry room?

I can't tell exactly, but the 220 outlet for the dryer looks too high and it appears someone misplaced the trim to the washer box. Typical washer wall box trim is about an inch wide on all four sides and snaps in, making a clean installation...they are thin plastic too. The trim around that box barely misses the outlet above, is unpainted...and has knots. Not sure what the doohickey is at the floor to the right of the hoped for dryer vent...pipe? Gas line for dryer?

Ironwood- what is the square with the dark circle left of the outlet for? Have you ever installed counter over the door trim?

The dark circle is a 220 outlet for dryer electrical hook up. And no. I've had to finesse that particular fubar on a few occasions (we used to do subcontract work on trim and cabinets). It makes the counter top guy's job easier and it looks cleaner if our trim cuts (scribes) around the nosing of the countertop. Proper prior planning prevents p poor performance. This particular install only happens when there just isn't any room for everything the owner wants at this point....and I can generally figure out a away to avoid it.

Do installers not use clear silicone anymore? I think white would have looked better for the countertop installation. Looks like liquid nails to me :-/

mveasey, no we don't use silicone that much. Paint won't stick to it and it provides a false sense of security....because it won't stick to anything for long. Caulking is changing. We use a lot of polyurethane for weatherproofing and specialty caulks for gutters and windows,, siliconized acrylics for bathrooms and kitchens....can't remember the last time I intentionally used silicone.

Thanks Ironwood Builders! Always happy to learn something new from the Pro's!

Thanks so much for responding! My real problem is not with dryer vent or 220 (I know the picture leads to that...) however I'm trying to find out if this is "NORMAL-STANDARD-ACCEPTABLE" for the granite to to be hanging over and cut into door trim? Mind you we had a clean slate.....brand new cabinets! My opinion; someone measured cabinets wrong ( contractor and cabinet maker both working together) granite installer when measuring template should have known the cabinets- too long and deep, if not then how about when they installed granite don't you think they should have called homeowner or contractor before cutting into granite or cutting into the trim? As my husband ask the contractor "why would you notch into the granite and not the trim"? Response from contractor "it would look the same!" If someone would have done their job correctly, I wouldn't have to have this discussion! I let the contractor know I'm not happy and his response to me "once everything is done, it will just go away!" We do this ALL the time! Granite installer also stated "We do this ALL the time!" The contractor has a very good reputation ( our friends rave about him-(small community) so you see I look like the bad guy! Ok, so if that's not enough my slide-in range wouldn't go in correctly someone took it upon themselves to chip the granite and shove in the range! Value to kitchen botched! Please correct me if I am overreacting?

It is not really that unusual to go into the trim with the counter top a bit, especially if you are using stock or semi-custom cabinets. Stock cabinets cannot be altered in any way, semi-custom can increase or decrease in depth. If you had custom cabinets made - they should have been held back off the trim. Some one measured wrong. They measure to the door opening, not the door trim. I agree that they should have used white caulk matched to the grout in this application, but I, myself, prefer to do a 2-4"granite back splash with the tile stacked on top. It's just a nicer, cleaner install that allows better for variances in the walls and the granite. I would ask them to remove the caulk you have now and redo. The counter around the slide-in range is just plain unacceptable - I don't see how they can argue that. It doesn't even look like it has a polished front edge anymore.

This comes down to planning, job site supervision and review of the drawings. I personally wouldn't blame the granite company. They probably see this more often than they should and they show up and template based on the job site conditions and what has previously been installed.

Since it is a remodel, I am going to assume this was done because there was not enough room for 24" deep cabinets to set behind and clear the casing. If there were not any appliances in the area I would have used a shallower cabinet to allow for clearance behind the casing. I would normally shoot for at least a 1 1/4" but would prefer 3" to 6".

If the door casing was to be cut around the granite the casing should not have been installed yet. It is not the granite company’s responsibility to cut the casing nor would you want them to.

If the appliance installer chipped the granite to install the cook top without the direction of the job site supervisor then they should pay to have it fixed. In the picture it is not clear if the range is installed all the way. We have had to notch the granite for the range installation before and it is not uncommon for the specifications provided for the cooktop to not be correct for the actual installation.

What size door was originally specified for the laundry entry? Was it increased in size due to washer and dryer clearances and no one thought to tell the cabinet people? That may be why the cabinet fronts cut into the door casing.

There are two approaches when it comes to cabinets and door trim
1. Butt the sides of cabinets against the trim. This provides alignment for backsplash tile between the underside of the wall cabinet and base cabinet. However, the countertop overlaps the casing at least 3/4"-1"
2. Hold the cabinet back from the casing at least the extent of the top overhang if not more to avoid notching. Unless the wall cabinet width has been increased enough to allow full backsplash tile alignment top and bottom, the top of the backsplash will show beyond the underside of the wall cabinet or the bottom of the backsplash will fall short of the end of the countertop, Some people find this more unsightly and unfinished than notching into the casing.

Do not use white caulk in the joint between the granite and the casing. It will bring attention to the irregular cut. Better yet, ask your GC to take off the casing, build it out 1/4" or so, just enough to cover the granite cut. Then notch the casing. It should hide the granite rough cut.

As far as the range...let the granite fabricator try to repair. If it's unacceptable, then replace the piece. It may mean removing the backsplash, etc.

It's unfortunate your kitchen designer did not bring such detail options to your attention. It's unfortunate your GC did not pay attention to jobsite details. If "he does this all the time" then the same conditions must occur in homes of his previous customers? Did you visit any of his jobs before you signed on? One person's "great job" can be another's "so-so."

Way too much overhang + bad installation + chipped granite = small claims court.

@Margo C and Ironwood Builders, wow you both played very nicely today!

bschr- are you sure you are not confusing Ironwood for River Valley? LOL

You know what, you are right again Margo please accept my apologies! Knew it was too good to be true! lol

LOL bschr- I was just thinking today that I have not heard anything from River Valley lately?

Nor have I, your debates are missed!

another question why did they do the backsplash on the left hand side wall but not the right hand side wall...so when you pull out and do a picture one side of the door has backsplash the other doesn't was that how you wanted it?

Why Michelle Morton- you have quite the eagle eye. I too would like to know now??

I could almost live with this if they had asked which to cut either the door or the granite my choice would have been door I think and a "discount" for the mistake ... the chip is not acceptable at all and the subway tile on one side and not on the other ... was it not suppose to go on the left and they put it there and ran out or was it suppose to go on both sides. Poor measurements, and poor communications with you...if a mistake and they need to fix they should have given you options...now I am wondering when I do my back splash the way my kitchen is designed I would have only one "side" wall everything would be the back of the wall..will have to make sure I know if I want it on the side wall or not (wallpaper there now no backsplashs 20 + years ago like they do now...

the other question on the chip that is in the front not the back of the granite right? because do you have a "rough finish" on that part of the granite where as by the door you have the smooth finish...or is the chip all the way around the front making the granite rough on the outside?

I guess I am going to go against the grain here. Since this is a remodel and not new construction, I am guessing that the door was there to start with and is the same size now that is was before. I am also going to guess that moving the door to another location was not an option or was not within the budget. There is no way to reduce the size of the door and get a washer and dryer through the opening. No amount of planning is going to change some variables sometimes - there are just constraints in an existing home that can't be changed or that a homeowner doesn't want to pay a fortune to change.

There is no way to get standard 24" depth base cabinets on either side of that door in the picture and a countertop with acceptable overhang without encroaching into the casings. Each fabricator sets their own standard for overhang - our fabricator happens to use 1 1/2", and it looks like that is what you might have on your countertop.

Unless you wanted something less than standard depth cabinets, then the only choice is for the countertop to be notched or the casings to be cut out. We have seen both done and have done both for customers depending upon the situation. When my personal kitchen was done the guys routed out the casings and then caulked the granite in. I dislike it very much and would have preferred that they notch the granite instead of cutting the casing.

IMO, whoever established the cabinet design should have at least brought the subject up to you in the beginning.

Okay Margo after a few more looks I can see there are NO drawers on the left side so that is most likely the back wall so that should have a backsplash then...the right side would be like my side wondering if I need it on there... just looks weird in the picture not sure how I would want it would need to see a full view...

Michelle- If yours is just like the right side- I would only put the backsplash on the back wall. I hope I am understanding you right? In this posters kitchen it looks like the right side should be tiled to match the other side. But, like you said, maybe a full view would tell a different story?

My problem is not this problem... But I feel that if I had caught it in time, my countertop tile guy would NOT have cut the glass tile he was installing *and* the light plate the electrician placed... All in order to fit in the same four inches of vertical backsplash. One or the other but not both, buddy.

So I blame myself. Four years ago and it still bothers me. Sorry that it's happened to you as well.

Yes, Margo you are understanding what I am asking...thanks I don't think I will I think I will keep it to the back....the higher up pictures you can see the drawer on the right side so I realized it was a "sidewall" not a back wall once I relooked at it.

Remodeling is an art, just as much as designing all new spaces. Remodeling is the art of choosing the most acceptable compromises for that particular owner and budget. Many times the guys and I have scratched our heads and wondered just how the best way to trim out something we can't change whether it is cabinets, doors and windows, flooring, tilework etc. We work usually on houses at least 50 years old, so lots of things aren't square, or level, plumb, current available sizes etc. Sometimes, it is a lot easier to say how something shouldn't have been done than it is to see the right way. I often browse photos in Houzz and try to zoom in on some obscure trim detail when I get stuck in a crazy situation.

In the past I have used all three of the possible approaches mentioned above. Once we cut existing cabinets to 21 inches deep which then required a custom countertop and special sink. We have also had to cut a premade countertop to slide into an existing opening but our usual approach is to notch the casings.

Other people go to model homes and open houses to see the overall house...I go to see the details, especially in custom homes. One house I saw last year had a really nice way to cut a baseboard return and I was able to use that detail in a project recently.

I'm having the same issue with a new custom home build. Can you share the outcome and resolution.