That's a tough one. On the one hand, I think KD made a mistake, on the other hand you probably should have paid for the panel initially. But you are now being inconvenienced, and KDs and GCs do charge when the customer delays the project due to insufficient material, not choosing finishes on time, etc. so I don't think it is unreasonable that you expect some compensation. Could you split it as a compromise? I think you will have to balance the need to keep a good working relationship and the project going with the dollar amount. Although I think you are justified in making your case, it might not be worth it in the long run if KD starts adding on fees out of spite or becomes difficult to work with.

Any chance the sink cabinet was supposed to come with the panel and it was the cabinetmaker/company's mistake?

best of luck

Did you tell the KD that you wanted the panel when you decided to go with the Shaw sink?? If you didn't, then I really don't think the KD should have to pay for it now. That's just my opinion.

No, not having an overlay panel on a farm sink isn't a istake or a "should" situation. Plenty are installed with just a scribed panel and no overlay. Having an overlay is a personal preference, and you initially preferred it without. You want it now, you pay for the merchandise and the install labor.

I don't think that look is a mistake, it is just a different look. Also, you would have had to pay for it anyway. It's not as if she ordered the wrong size or something.

That's interesting. Pretty much everyone in the original thread said it definitely wasn't right; now more people are saying it's neither right nor wrong.

Since I see the seams where the front panel meets the side panels, and the front panel and side panels aren't the same color, I'm finding it hard to believe this is an acceptable look. Further, since I can see the tops of the doors, it heightens the oddity of this look. Ebse's photo below illustrates both these issues (the seam issue is more pronounced in person).

BTW, part of what I consider the mistake is that the KD never asked me which look I preferred when we initially placed our order, and I never saw a rendering of what it would look like upclose (just a 2D front view, hand-drawn). If I had known before the order, I definitely would have told her to get the panel. The inconvenience of now having to wait a few more weeks is really annoying.

I don't understand what the inconvenience is to you, is the sink not usable without the panel? I don't think the KD should have to pay for the panel - even if it should have been ordered in the first place why should they pay? A customer shouldn't pay for KD's errors (ie paying twice) but they should pay for the product.

Judging by your photo I think that an overlay panel will ruin the reveal of the sink. It looks perfectly scribed, too.

Remember when you, as the customer, didn't have to be an expert on everything? Why not just cut out the middleman and order directly from the cabinet company yourself?!

I agree that the sink needs a panel - wouldn't a standard sink base come with a false drawer? - to look balanced in the space.

Anyone can calculate how many x" drawer bases you need for a kitchen, but you rely on professionals to know the tricky details like trims, crown, fillers, and panels to complete your look professionally.

I agree with the person upthread who says you should discuss the issue with your KD and see if you can ultimately pay half as a compromise - but give her/him the opportunity to make it right first. Ask what makes the farm sink base special, why it doesn't match in with the other overlay style cabinets, and ask how you deal with the seams and color differences of the box when you use this style of cabinets. You are correct that everyone thought esbe's sink cabinet looked "off" without the panel.

Never lead with your compromise, though. ;-)

You haven't shown us a picture of your sink but in ebse's case, she had frameless cabinets so the fronts of the side panels which were edge banded looked different than the part of the cabient that held the farmhouse sink -- the picture you show again above does not show this fact. So in her case yes, i agree that she needs a panel ONLY because of that fact. She needs to be able to cover the edge banded sides that show

If you don't have cabinets that are frameless than personally i think a panel is not needed. If you have a shaws sink, look how it is curved all the way around and coming forward onto the front of the sink -- that is the beauty of it, why would you want to cover that up? It would also take a highly skilled carpenter to do it really well, so that the panel is not only scribed on the sides but scribed to fit the curved front as well. And then you'd also have to pull the sink that much further forward in order for it to look right

Personally, I like the look without a panel and let the beauty of the $1000+ farmhouse sink show through

What brand are your cabinets? Most stock and semi-custom cabinets just offer the farm sink base cabinet and say "all cutout and trimming of top rail must be done on site".

With the manufacturers that I carry (KraftMaid and Medallion), there is no mention of an optional overlay panel. If I were your KD, I probably wouldn't have thought to give you the option either. I do have one on display though, so that helps.

This is definitely not the fault of your kitchen designer. With frameless cabinets, I would think maybe you have more of a leg to stand on...since most frameless installs have overlays on fillers...etc.

With custom cabinets....this is not even a type of installation or design I would consider for a farm sink. There are much better ways to beautifully install a farm sink. This is the stock/semi-custom cabinet way of doing it.

I think that you're responsible for the $85. I think it's great that your KD is able to order you something....it is probably not an optional accessory for this sink base, but rather, it will more than likely be a slab drawer head that she ends up ordering for you. It will be very difficult to cut perfectly...and you will probably have to pull your sink forward some. Did you already get your tops templated?? IF so, that could be a problem.

I am not crazy about the way it looks and I do think your kd should have gone over your trim options with you. They build their experience into the price. I think she made a mistake in not being more thorough, but if it were me I would just pay the $85.00 and try to stay on good terms with her. You would have had to pay it anyway if the order was placed correctly in the first place.

I'm afraid I'd have to side with the designer on this one. I'll add as well that I'm quick to eat my own mistakes if I really made them.
One lately that my company ate was a microwave shelf, and I udidn't think this was my fault. Customer wanted cheap cheap everything, and then got some gigantic 5-600 dollar microwave. I should have gotten the specs first, but assumed 30" (well, 28 and some change when the sides of the cabinet were figured) would be enough.
I really think this is not necessarily the KDs fault, though ask about some sort of deal if you can get one.

Did everything else go pretty well?

Here is a link that might be useful: My Lastest Blunder