Unless its a tiny gap 1/8 or less that can be filled with matching wood putty or made flush with a couple more fasteners. It sounds like crappy work, it disgusts me what "pros" do and get paid for. Tiny gaps with the ceiling can be filled in with caulk. The cure is to remove it re cut the front piece and re-install.

I know a lot of guys who build the crown section on the floor before putting them up. It get the miters tighter and is easier to work with. It's not a short cut, it a better way of doing it. The gaps are there because he cut the front piece to long. The fix is to pull it down take it apart, cut the front piece to the proper length and put it back up.

Question: Are the sides of your cabinet flush? Is this gap because you have a cabinet with a face frame and a reveal on the side? Because that is a whole different problem.

I agree with robb. From your description, it sounds like you have a pro that knows what he's doing, but the problem is the cabinet wasn't finished correctly Any cabinet that has a side that will show, even if it's only a small reveal, should be ordered with a skin to finish off the gap, or the flush plywood upgrade. You can cover a bit of the gap with scribe molding and some touchup, but it isn't a look I'd allow. The solution is the pull down the cabinets and install the skin, or see if he can cheat and manage to install it in place. With it being so high from your vision, he might get away with installing it in place.

Pics of the issue could help to clarify to be sure that's what the problem is.

really? Leaving the Crown that way is what a good pro does? OK

Robbcs3, not sure what you mean by flush. The cabinets are frameless and the best I can tell there is a stock piece of wood the color of the cabinet added to the top by the factory for attaching the molding. They were made by kitchen craft in Tennesee.

Can the crown be removed without damage? I'm concerned because the workmenship showed so far is sad. To list a few other issues, a portion of the drilled hole for knob attachment is visible at several locations, knobs have been spun and left a circular gouge in the door, there are several doors were the inside face is gouged due to not letting the drill bit do it's job and the light rail at the end of cabinet runs is flush at some locations and other locations sticks out a bit.

The sink cabinet is built just like the one above but has to be replaced due to a fabrication error. The crown was not attached so I will take some pics and post them tonight.

OK, with further input from you (these are frameless cabinet, not framed ones with a 3/8" box reveal) then your installer needs to recut the molding correctly. He mismeasured. Installing nailing stock at the top shouldn't be that hard either. It doesn't matter if he damages the molding by removing it, it's his fault, and if he has to buy more molding, then he has to buy more molding. He'll learn how to better measure the next time.

agree with above. You will certainly be left with a few extra nail holes- it all depends on how well he can hide them.

The circular gouges around the knobs you are referring to are probably not from the knobs, but from the drill itself. He probably ran the bit in so deep the drill chuck hit and spun on the door face. Doesn't sound like he's very good with the hardware.

Robbcs3, the circular gouges were caused by spinning the knob. The knob has a very small rectangular base in the vertical direction. There is very little room on the base outside the limits of the screw hole, so drilling the correct hole size is critical. Also, after I looked at one, the base actually has a tit I assume to bite into the door preventing any future movement. He must have used his power driver to attach. I could understand one door, but to have 5 is extremely negligent.

Another question. As stated above my cabs are frameless thus requiring a furring strip at the top of the cab for attachment of the crown. What is the preferred orientation of this strip on wall cabinets (side/ends with no doors) that do not go all the way to the ceiling? I was thinking if it was inset a 1/16 inside the wall line no seam could be seen when looking up or set it flush with the wall so the seam would be in line with the cab wall? Also, does an inside corner dictate the positioning of the furring strip or can it be placed in either position aforementioned?

Is the seam you are referring to the nailing strip ? No you shouldn't see that at all. Flush or inset an inside corner shouldn't matter. I'd like to see a picture. I'm really sorry this guy is doing such shoddy work, its an aggravation you don't need and a shame to damage your brand new cabs,. I think he should have to replace the doors he damaged.

Sorry to hear about the hardware. I always tighten with a screwdriver for this reason. Its really not that much faster to use the drill. I would certainly ask about having the doors replaced.

I would mount the strip flush. I have no experience with setting it back and I am not sure how that would look. For the orientation, in theory it should not matter because you should not see it anyway. You said it does not go to the ceiling eliminating the need to adjust up on the nailer. Most guys would run the grain of the nailer in the same direction regardless of inside corners and sides because the grain on the crown will match it anyway.

How much space do you have above the cabinet to the ceiling? Could you have done a top mount crown and eliminated the nailer all together?

Having misunderstood the situation once, I really think pictures are necessary before being able to give any more comments that would be useful to you.

Robbcs3, I have 9 foot ceilings so the gap is to much.

Greendesignes, my camera does not take clear closeup pictures. So, if you can tell me the specific issue you want to discuss maybe I can explain it better.

At this point, I will have the crown removed and reinstalled on the vent cab mentioned first above. The other issue not mentioned is the furring
strip install. On some of the cabinets (end wall) the strip starts out flush with the wall then runs off the cab wall resulting in seeing just the bottom of the crown were the strip is flush to seeing part of the strip and the crown bottom where it runs off the wall. At another cabinet (door front) the strip overhangs to much were the seam can be seen with the door closed. At all other door fronts, the seam (were the crown and strip kiss) can only be seen when the door is opened which is acceptable.