At the suggestion of one of the electricians, we had the wires for our island pendants run to what we thought was the exact location of each pendant (leaving some slack in the wire), but didn't actually wire them. Now that the island is set, we will open up a small hole in the ceiling to wire the boxes for the pendants. When the painter comes in, he will spackle the area. The electrician said that was the only way to get them exact. He planned to use a laser measurer to center the pendants.

I am very glad we did this, not only to make sure they were centered, but also because we ended up moving our island from the original plan. Despite our cardboard layouts and drawings made to scale, in reality the island looked too cramped where we placed it, so we moved it over about 8 inches. It made a world of difference and our lights weren't off-center because the boxes weren't wired yet.

The measurements you have though do sound fairly accurate, other than not knowing if a wall will be out of square. Just wanted to note, if you are doing inset cabinets, 1.5" for the overhang may be too much. Hope this helps!

Thank you for that idea.

Kind of one of those situations where our GC is our GC/painter/electrician/plumber/etc. A few jobs are subbed out, but he and his crew do most jobs. Somehow I think it would be easier if he had to make it where another crew worked with what he had done.

We are planning on one island light, that splits into multiple lights. (I am not using the right terms, but one hole in the ceiling and multiple bulbs.) Because of that, he wants to beef up the support in that area to hold whatever light we decide on.

He is fantastic with "function", just has a bit of a problem with "form". We will probably have to fight him a bit because I am sure he will want to attach it to a joist or something instead of where we want it, which may need extra work done.

I remember in the early part of the construction when he placed the two mockup dormers on the roof. Well, he did it so that they could both have holes cut in to act like a sky light in the vaulted part of the great room. Fine idea, except for they looked absolutely rediculous and off center from the outside. He didn't see this though. Made him redo it, change to 3 dormers, and only have the center one "functional" with the other two being for looks only. Because of little things like that, we have to keep an eye on certain details where the best function may not be the best form.