Did he notice it during the install and say anything? Is that a manufactured sink that he welded into the counter?

I would consider something like removing the wood window trim and facing the front of the window opening with the backsplash material to deemphasize the difference in the position.

It is noticeable, and it's a shame because its really nice. I am not sure I would have it redone, though.

We also have stainless counters with integral countertop, and our space didn't allow us to quite get the sink cabinet centered on the window, so the sink is also not centered. We don't notice it (it's been in about 2 weeks). Love your counters!

I know it is a cost to the fabricator to fix it, but it would bother me. I would say something to him and see what he responds.

I thought about taking out the trim too, Pal...but I also thought that since we'll be doing a white backsplash of some sort (probably mixed white glass mosaic), maybe it will all blend. DH has this idea that this window has the match the other window, which is 5 feet wide and 5 feet high, so doesn't match anyway. I'm not sure, I'll have to noodle that one.

It's so NICE. And it's so INSTALLED. With all the plumbing and everything. I just hate to send it back...make me feel better. Tell me it's really nothing and I won't notice it when everything else is new and pretty and perfect!

It would bug me ;) but most people aren't as ocd as I am (which is a good thing). I have taken to carrying a level in my car because everyone seems to eyeball everything (including baluster height, walkway cuts, etc.) and I can spot crooked a mile away.

I think you just need to ask if it would bother YOU. If so, fix it now. It sure is beautiful though!!!

now that you know it's there, you will likely keep noticing it...its really a matter of whether this sort of thing bothers you... - given the rational you have stated, I would be likely to learn to live with it - I would know its there but know my reasons for not changing it so would be at peace.

For others, for instance, my wife, if she sees a light cover out of true, she will mention it daily until it is fixed. She would expect the counter to be fixed at the fabricator's expense.

I wonder if it would be cheaper to move the window?

Just curious -- our counter is glued to the subtops with construction adhesive -- how is yours attached?

When we redid our kitchen, the budget didn't allow for moving of the window or custom cabinets, so the sink cabinet and sink are a couple of inches off-center. I remedy this by pivoting the faucet toward the center of the window (the opposite direction it is in your picture, for you) and it's a lot less noticeable. Silly, but it works well to camouflage.

I wish I could say it wouldn't bug me but I can't. He messed up. To me it is a bigger issue that it isn't centered in the cabinet. I'm not put off by things that aren't symmetrical and like things at odd angles and offset, but this clearly isn't right. The sink is clearly meant to be centered and is obviously off. I'm sorry. :(

Such good advice, all of you.

I was really hoping to keep this simple - it's a 2-week refresh, with stainless laid over our old laminate counters, refacing of the old cabinets, and a fresh coat of paint on the walls. Why would I have thought that it was going to be easy peasy? It's not like I was born yesterday...

Getting these redone creates havoc with my two weeks, and the thought of moving a window (and the cabinets around it, and calling a mason to deal with the brickwork on the exterior) make my brain hurt!! Maybe that's the ticket...list all the alternatives, and figure out what the best one is.

- learn to live with it.
- get it redone, extending the project several weeks.
- move the window, moving the cabinets on the interior and the brick on the exterior to accomodate.

Huh. Daddy bear, Momma Bear, Baby Bear. Which is which?

I did email a pic to my fabricator and ask for "options." I guess we'll see what he says.

Crampon - these are glued to my old laminate counters. My kiddos had a ball the night before scribbling on them with a sharpie.

Deb

If it's a brick exterior it won't be cheaper to move the window.

If these are glued to the countertop he may not be able to get this one off without destroying the old countertop which means you will need a new substrate.

Since you are refacing the cabinets, you may be able to design the facings on the lower to deemphasize the off-ness although that wouldn't be super easy either.

I don't think there is a very simple solution for this one.
If he is a perfectionist I don't think he would be happy leaving it this way.

If you are putting in the backsplash to match the trim it will be much less noticeable. Removing the bottom trim board will also help and would be something I would recommend for a sink window regardless.

My sink is also slightly off but I was able to center the faucet - it's a big/little bowl so it's not obvious - and that helped. But honestly, you don't see my sink when you first look into the room, it's on a side wall and unless you are directly across from it and are looking to see if its centered, it is not noticeable at all.

Once you get everything in place I think people will notice the cool stainless counter/sink run and not be thinking about if it's centered or offset.

You are clearly concerned about this and I know you are trying to find an easy solution for the sink being off center, but the fact is that it was installed incorrectly and no matter how nice the fabricator is and no matter how much you like him, you need to address this issue with him. If you don't say something to him now and have him correct it, you will not be able to do so two months from now when it is still visible to you and he is paid. My guess is he knows it is off center and he is hoping you will be a nice gal and live with it. He needs to make it right and he should have done so without you having to point out the obvious to him. You are paying good money to have the job done correctly. You deserve to have it done correctly. It is definitely noticeable. For your sake I wish it weren't, but it is. Correct it now or you will forever be irritated by it.

If you have the drain board, will you have a dish rack on it? I'm trying to think of what might work there to basically conceal the left corner of the window.

I agree with the remove the bottom trim board recommendation--maybe make the sill into a shelf that stretches beyond the window? Maybe that would de-emphasize the difference?

Are you planning curtains (I wouldn't, but plenty do), could you conceal that way somehow?

I'd go with D) figure out way to make it liveable, rather than a) learn to live with it. Though I've certainly managed to tell myself to ignore things I hate successfully. Usually things like how the kids keep their bedrooms ;).

Good luck! That is one gorgeous counter!

Oh my gosh! I just took another look at your picture and Poohpup is right!
The sink is not even centered in the cabinet! I cannot believe that you would even consider excepting this! It is a bad job all the way around. Your fabricator is not blind. He knows it. The problem and the expense is his to correct. Stand up for yourself and I wish you the best. Keep us all posted on how this plays out.

Once the sink cabinet front is in I don't think you will notice that the sink is slightly off center. Right now, because you can see that the sink is not centered in the cabinet, it emphasizes the asymmetry. Once that visual is gone, I honestly think it would be difficult to notice anything askew.

There is nothing that can make that really work because it is off-center from both the top and bottom cabinets. Larger offsets look intentional but this just looks like the brain-dead goof it was.

I can't imagine never, not noticing this. I am the OCD woman here, too. I can tell you if something's 1/8th of an inch not level, plumb, centered, etc. My barn window, 400' from the house, isn't level. It's 1/4" off.

What did he say about it? He had to have noticed at the install.

It is really beautiful work.
Hmmm. Can you trim off the let end of the countertop and shift it over? Perhaps some back splash trim to cover those ends?

It's definitely something I'd hate, and feel bad about it, forever.

I think you should have the sink cabinet front put in (even just temporarily) before you decide what you do. Personally, I don't think you will notice it as much then. And if you use your drainboard as much as I use mine, that will also make it less noticeable. Perhaps, you can get the fabricator to give you a discount to accept this mistake?

Sometimes I think we all get so hung up on perfection (although, I know we are paying for it). I think it would bother me more to have it redone, knowing all the waste of resources involved.

If you are going with a white backsplash, have you thought about getting some white paper, paint cardboard, anything, and cover that part of the front of the sink, put it up against that dark inside showing where the backsplash will be and see what it looks like before you make a decision?

It may de-emphasize it, or make it stand out more, I would do that "test" before making a final decision.

It's not a farm sink where you see the apron front right when you walk in, and there's not much space on either side of the window before it hits the cabinets, so it might not stand out as much with everything in the same color shade.

Good luck!

My sink is 2.5 inches off center. It has bothered me ever since we bought this house. I have hated my kitchen partially because of this and I am not OCD. Your faucet is off from the center of the window because the sink is off center. Both would force me to have it redone.

I'm so sorry. It is very noticeable to me and it looks like a mistake, like an amateur did it -- which is possibly even worse because the stainless itself looks so high-end and professional. I have been thinking about it since you posted and I just don't think there is any way to make it look right without replacing it. Any alteration to the window or window trim is going to throw off the spacing between window and upper cabinets, and covering the whole thing up with paint or curtains or backsplash is not going to change the fact that it was measured incorrectly.

I have to say, my kitchen installers did a couple of things that I thought looked a little odd but I just let it go because it was their last day here, they were trying to get finished up, and they had done such a good job on everything else. But a few weeks out those little things are bugging me more and more and look just plain wrong. I have already arranged for one of the guys to come back to fix them (it's just trim, easy enough to change, and I'll pay for materials and his time). I think if the sink is bothering you now, it is going to bother you down the road too.

Unless the PP's idea of cutting a couple of inches off one side of the counter and shifting the whole thing over works, I'm afraid that redoing the entire thing is the best option. I know it will be a pain for you to have to extend the time frame, but it's really just a drop in the bucket compared to the life of the counter. And the fabricator really should eat the cost if it was his own measuring error. Perhaps you could offer to pay for the new substrate/MDF (if the counter underneath can't be reused) to help mitigate his pain.

We had an embarrassing measuring error in our bathroom reno too (because plaster is thicker than drywall, and our handyman, DH and I had all forgotten that); but the fix we came up with ended up looking great, like it was meant to be that way. I bet the same will happen with your kitchen. By the way, all of the sheet metal fabricators I talked to said they couldn't weld in a sink and make it look right, so I am jealous of your counter! It really does look great -- just shifted over a bit. :)

My advice: LIve with it, but try and get a discount. Perfection is an illusion.

Because the cabinet is on center and the sink is not centered in the cabinet or against the window, it would bother me. I say this having a sink not centered against a window, but it's aligned with the left of the window and looks purposeful. Unfortunately in your case, it looks like the fabricator made a mistake. Probably no one else will notice it if you don't point it out, but yes, it would bother me if it was my sink.

I think I could live with this. Easy to say when it's not my kitchen. The cabinet over my range hood is off center and has been since I bought this house in 1999. I never noticed it until they replaced the doors during my reno and pointed it out to me. They tweaked the overlay a bit to minimize it, but I can see it plainly now. For some reason, it doesn't bother me, probably because nothing's perfect in my kitchen.

I am semi-OCD also and usually notice everything. I have been in my house for 12 years and I never noticed that my sink was not centered with the window and cabinets until my kitchen designer pointed this out to me last week. I think that once you have the room put together it won't be noticeable at all and you'll be thrilled with your beautiful kitchen!

Youngdeb what are you thinking after reading the comments? Have you talked to the installer about this? You know he will try to talk you into accepting it as is. NO amount of money off would make it workable for me, but that is me and not you. I think more offensive than the window is the cabinet. No matter what you do, the sink will look off center in the cabinet and that is very noticeable. You cannot disguise that with curtains, trim etc. Let us know what you decide. I, for one, am dying to know how the installer will handle this mistake. Curiosity killed the cat!

If you look under the sink, there's a big gap on the left side, between the sink and the cabinets...and none on the right. How did they not notice this??? I would want it fixed and yes, it would bug me!

Who is supposed to be watching over the kitchen remodel? The GC? I think he needs to pay more attention, because with a mistake this obvious (since you can tell it's not even lined up in the cabinet) I would be questioning the other work, too.

I don't think that you are supposed to see the sink in the cabinet front. The cabinets are being refaced she said and this is not a farm house sink. There is a piece of wood which will hide the sink front. The fact that the sink itself is not centered in the cabinet does not affect the functionality of the sink or the cabinet. Perhaps the OP should confirm that the sink front will be covered.

I would hope it would be covered...but my point is, even if the installers weren't paying attention to the window...how did they miss this not fitting into the cabinet space correctly?

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this! It's frustrating to work so hard on something and then have someone else make a big mistake like this. I do think it should be fixed, unfortunately.

Has the fabricator gotten back to you? I hope he owns up to his (or his employees') mistake. He may not give you any trouble at all, if you're lucky. We had our counters installed a couple of weeks ago, and the installers broke the end off one of the slabs and tried to hide it. When we called the owner, he came out and immediately said that it wasn't acceptable, and they're replacing it. I hope your fabricator also does the right thing without argument.

perfection might be an illusions, because it's often in the eye of the beholder.

Symmetry is not.

It would bother me because I'm a huge symmetry freak.

It's always hard to ask someone to redo something, but YOU are the one who has to live with it for years. Whenever I've let things slide and decided not to make a fuss, I've always regretted it. My kitchen island is still in the wrong place after 26 years because we chose not to make an issue of it. I learned my lesson from that. On our current build, It needs to be done right and if that means doing it over, then they have to do it over.

Deb- Unfortunately, there are some people out there that don't want to pay to fix a mistake...so they install the mistake, hoping the customer won't notice/care/or settle for a discount. Still cheaper than fixing the mistake.

That sink was not lining up correctly, when the installers set it down...but they installed it anyway. They must have seen the gap around the main cabinet, when they set it down to 'dry fit' it. Even if you can get past the window being off center, the bottom cabinets will be, too.

This should never have been installed and I think your GC should be the one talking to the installer. Or is it a small project and you're the GC? Either way, I'd want it fixed. Just think about the first time a 'friend' or family member "helpfully" points out to you at a party...you know your sink isn't centered...

UPDATE!

Just got off the phone with the fabricator, and he is super embarrassed. He didn't even try to get me to keep it, he said "we're going out of town for 4 days, I'll come get it as soon as we're back. We are going to make this right."

Good example of how sometimes, these things present a business with an opportunity to show a customer how great they really are. If they make this right, I will have an even better impression of them than I would if it all arrived perfectly, warped as that may sound.

BTW, there will be a cabinet face in front of the sink...my architect friend pulled it out when they were doing the install, since we made the sink huge and it interfered too much with the front of the sink.

Now on to my quartzite, which just came in and I went to see this morning. I want to get it honed, which will chill out the color a bit, but...I'm a little concerned it's a little too dark, I wanted something lighter. It's very gray, but with all the stainless, I think that might be a good thing. Thoughts? It's going on the bar and island. Cabinet boxes are to be painted BM White Dove, cabinet faces will be full overlay dark walnut. I think with this, the white backsplash may be a no-go, it looked weird with white tile next to it. But I'm going to pick out the backsplash after everything is in, so no rush.

Deb

youngdeb, that is great news! Sounds like your fabricator is a good guy. We all make mistakes. So much easier to deal with them when people take responsibility. Looking forward to seeing how your kitchen comes together. Your stone is gorgeous! Can they hone a sample of it so you can see what it looks like?

Great News! My faith has been restored! I am so glad he is replacing it for you and without a hitch. Good luck with the remainder of the project! The slab looks very nice!

How much is it off? I don't think it standards out that much. If you cover up the panel where the sink basin is showing, it'd be a lot harder to tell.

Once an extremely OCD friend of mine had me out to design her kitchen. I took the dimensions and started laying out the kitchen. I called her up and said, 'you know, I can get you a really great layout but your sink would be off center by 2". She went on and on about how she could NEVER live with that...and how it would bug her everyday! She called me back 15 minutes later, laughing hysterically. When she went back in to her existing kitchen...the one that she has been living with for 12 years....she said....it's off now...by 5"!

I think people become more OCD with something they are paying for. If you had moved in to that house and it was all done and paid for by someone else, you'd probably never notice it. I think once everything is done and in place....you'll never notice it. Then again, you are paying for it....it's really up to you.

I'm glad to hear your fabricator is taking responsibility without a fuss. He sounds like a good guy.

Personally, having the sink be off center with the window and the base cabinet would drive me nuts. The window in my master bath shower is slightly off center and it bugs me every morning when I shower. There is 10.5" between the window and the adjacent wall on one side and 12" on the other. The tile installer centered the 6x6 tiles perfectly, which makes the problem more obvious because the center line of the window is off center with the grout line. When we remodel the bath this summer, I might actually ask the GC to frame the shower 1.5" smaller to center the window. Then again, I am OCD about symmetry.

Youngdeb, that's great news! I'm so glad he's going to make it right. Woo hoo!

That is an absolutely gorgeous stone. I think it would look beautiful with a white backsplash. I would try to pick a tile that brings out the shades of white in the stone, though. There are lots of different whites out there; I'm sure you can find one that works well with the white in that fabulous stone. I don't think it's dark at all. I think it will read as very light, even with white cabinets and white backsplash. (FWIW, we got super white for our counters. It's much, much greyer/darker--pretty much just like Bee's--and yet it still reads as light in our kitchen.) It's gorgeous. Enjoy it!

When my bathroom countertops were installed, I saw that one of my sinks was not centered on my cabinet door, and it really bugged me. I brought it up to the manufacturer, and he was willing to fix it. Then, I thought about it some more, and I decided that a decent discount would make it "disappear" for me! And , surprisingly (because I obsess over details), it has! It rarely comes to mind, but if I ever think about it now, I smile and think about the savings that small mistake brought me.

N your kitchen, I think that the white backsplash and the refacing of your cabinets could make the sink problem less of a problem, and the right discount could make it "disappear!"

Sorry, I didn't see your update before I posted! I'm glad your fabricator is on the ball.

Sounds like a very good guy, and I'm happy for you. I was going to suggest curtains--the classic solution to repositioning windows without moving them. :)

BTW, your counter and sink are gorgeous, and I'm having one of my rare moments of wistfulness on this forum. We had to pass because of the cost--price of steel had soared just 2 months before.

We are already slightly off center. Too change it would mean changing a lot of other things as well. Its hardly noticable.

That integrated sink and counter are amazing. I'm SO happy for you that this will be fixed and you didn't have to decide between a fight or just living with it.

The stone is beautiful, and seems like it will be beautiful with your other elements and materials. But only you 'see' the vision in your head. But this is a case where CPovey's idea that 'perfection is an illusion' may come into play... Or the old "perfect is the enemy of... gorgeous!" ;-)

BTW, nice to see you back around the forums, CPovey!

UPDATE:

They came and picked up the sink and counter, and it popped right off because they'd used crap glue. Signs point to...idiot.

They came back & delivered it, and the sink looks great. He used the "good glue" (for pete's SAKE), clamped it down, but hadn't listened when I told him about one side sitting against the studs leaving no room for drywall, so he didn't cut it down. They had to use a fine tool to cut the counter into the drywall, and every moment I am less impressed with these guys.

On the bright side, they recentered the faucet hole, recentered the drain, it all aligns perfectly and it is more of a horse trough than a sink, and I say that in a GOOD WAY. It's beautifully polished and I am happy with how it looks and functions. Plus I had time to send back that Hansgrohe Talis S that I didn't like at all and get a cheaper Delta that functions better, looks better, and is apparently made in the same dang factory.

But after 2 days, I take off the clamps and find that two segments are bowed up at the back (it's not too bad at the front.) F(&^%#(!!!

If you look at the above picture, you can see one to the left of the sink (that one goes down easily if I press, so if I can inject some glue an there somehow and get some bricks it will lay flat.) the other is more problematic:

My carpenter/architect friend is coming over today and I am going to ask whether he can think of any options. Even if I can get glue under there, I'm not sure it will bend down...it's not flexing down when I press. (I am, however, an enormous weakling in the arm department.)

And...this is what you get when you go with the lowest bidder.

In other news, I got an email from my fabricator that the stone warehouse had sent over my slab of quartzite and included a picture, and of course it had major irregularities in it. I drove over to the warehouse and picked a better slab Friday (of which they had 2, but they assumed I wouldn't either notice or make a stink, I'm sure). Does every vendor I deal with think I am a doormat?

People, don't get Mommy mad. Things will get ugly.

Deb

bump