Danielle

I think the majority of us on here can relate -

But your "wavy wall" may not be sweating small details - if cabinetry is designated there plumb walls are best for cabinet install - also, if the drywall is bent - It won't get better, only worse - cracking shifting etc...

I am guilty of obsessing over things like that too. don't feel bad. i've been obsessing over this splotch on my granite. It looks like a stain to me and i think everyone else will think so too. I focus in on it everytime i walk into the kitchen.

Hopefully in time as your kitchen progresses you will stop focusing on it. maybe it won't be as noticable when new things are put in. or maybe like you said, just have them do it over and fix it.

i was losing sleep over a draw i wanted next to my stove. the layout would be tight if i added it. but you know what i called and changed it anyway and i'm glad i did!

No, you aren't the only one. We paid a contractor to do the shell and the sheetrock (we did the plumbing, electrical, insulation) 3 years ago. It included extending/adding 8 feet to one of the walls of the kitchen. Because of supports that wall had to be double depth.

Well, DH and I (mostly me, that was one of my projects) went to add the double wall to the original kitchen area a month ago- one day project right? Wrong. Spent the whole first weekend looking at, measuring, sighting with a level...the 'new' wall. It wasn't straight by any means. Bowed between studs, in places almost 3/8". Not plumb in some areas. It was only 8' long for pete's sake!

DH thought I was making too much of it. Just build the next wall, it'll be fine, he said. So I cut the studs for the new wall, fit everything into place. Then took a nice long, straight piece of leftover oak flooring and held it to the wall, old and new. It didn't work. Cabinets were not going to go on that wall without lots of shimming.

My solution? The next weekend I took all the sheetrock off of the wall the contractor built and got most of MY wall built. The next weekend I finished it and DH shimmed out the contractor wall and got it nice and plumb and right.

Three weekends. We may still have to shim. I don't expect my work to be perfect. But it's a whole lot better than what I paid to have done.

If you can get those waves out, do it!

Though I want to add that a certain amount can be hidden by your backsplash, if you are tiling.

thanks, everyone. we don't have uppers OR tile there, which is why I'm thinking my GC let that slide.. (if he even saw it-- it happened a day he was doing a deck somewhere else).

In any case, I am going to show it to him... our kitchen is small and we have extra time before the cabs come. we want it right.

for now, though, i'd like to stop thinking about it.. except I can't.

Oh.. and by all means.. I need to talk to the GC about the wavy wall tomorrow, so please, please please continue telling me why this is not an overreaction.

I've lost lots of sleep over things. The cabnet guy screwed up and made the space for our son's refrigerator 3 inches too small. I was sooooooo upset and ofcourse he wouldn't admit he did anythong wrong. We managed to fix it but it took three days.
I'm a good listener - you want my cell number??

I'll confess that this is the primary reason that I am a confirmed DIYer. I find that by doing things myself I am not driven to harass contractors and tradespeople about things that may not be earth-shatteringly important, yet by attending to them myself - I am able to ensure that they are done to my satisfaction.

E.G.: I just spent the afternoon ensuring that two opposing walls on each side of a window are now exactly the same size. Previously, one was 3/4 of an inch deeper than the other one ...

:(

After the first two weeks of our project (mostly demo and clean up at that point), my mom asked if I regretted not hiring a contractor. My reply? Not at all! First of all, there is NO contractor money in the budget (doing the whole shebang for 15K- with a complete gut and rebuild of the room), second- NO ONE would work with the probably unnecessary precision that we do, without charging us a fortune. I do know of ONE highly precise team in our area. I would trust them. But could never afford them now. I refer people who can to them!

Don't sweat the small things or make too much a deal out of it. MY DH resents our whole kitchen remodel now and doesn't have the energy to finish it. He says I am never happy with anything and now he feels I am not and will never be happy with him either. I probably have obsessed over things like paint color, knobs, and whether all the drawers are exactly even. I am trying to forget the little things, but it is my personality. Word of advice: unless it will truly matter in the long run, try to forget it and move to the next step, because chances are you will forget the last thing very soon!

Hey Danielle

Sorry to hear about the wavy walls. Is this something that visitors will even notice? With your fabulous cabinets and soapstone drawing the eye?

Many things in my kitchen look a little "off". I am trying to tell myself that a perfect kitchen would look ridiculous when everything in my old house is so off-kilter. I saw the picture you posted in the yellow kitchen thread - it's looking great so far.

thanks, everyone. I talked to the GC-- he was really friendly and said he'd look at it next time he's out and fix whatever can be and/or needs to be fixed.

Maureen, I don't think anyone would notice. To be honest, our soffit situation is so incredibly funky that I'm not sure a wavy wall will be on anyone's radar but my own.

My main concern is that we have the flexibility to hang something like open shelving or a plate rack at a later date if we decide we want to do that. In that area I only have base cabs (for now), so it would not have an impact on the cabinet installation (our floor will, though.. LOL.. it looks like you could go skiing on it.. the GC will have a good time with that).