I don't understand having paper towels hooked to the inside of a cabinet. In order to get one, you'd drip your wet hands onto the cabinet and maybe the floor.

No one has to explain to me, but I don't see paper towels in a cupboard or drawer unless it has a "slot". If my hands are wet or chickeny, I don't want to touch a knob to get the paper towel.

Hmm, Lisa and bp you do bring up a very good point. Ok off to find countertop paper towel holders. I'm not a huge fan of vertical ones though.

What gets me is that I planned every last detail and forgot about the dang paper towels. I should have made the drawer above the trash a paper towel holder opening. Don't remember what I was thinking it was going to be used for. Shoot. Too late now.

Next time we have a thread asking for what we'd do differently...

Sophie, you crack me up! Now I have to go searching for a towel manatee!

(but I think CP is on the Gulf side, aren't manatees on the ocean side?

Actually they're on the Gulf side and we see them all the time.

I can't imagine having my paper towel anywhere but on the countertop. When I need one, I often need it NOW, and am dripping something. I bought a nice brushed stainless one at Target and it is perfect - well weighted bottom so it doesn't topple over.

That's what I need a well weighted one. The one we have back in NY always topples over. Hate it.

I'm sorry there are so many problems with your cabinets. One does have to wonder how they cannot read measurements correctly. VERY frustrating for you.

Thank you. I think I understand what happened. The drawings are hand drawn and when we changed the measurements for DH's cabinet and the fridge, he didn't change the drawings to match. My guess is the cabinet builder looked at the drawings and figured he knew what to build without clarifying what the dimensions are.

The other cabinets I think were because there was a misunderstanding about the size of the oven cabinet and I'm not sure if it's the cabinet company's fault or my foreman's fault, because they went over the measurements a last time when I wasn't there.

I'd call and see if you can get a reservation at a Residence Inn or other such thing in case you have to be out of the condo before you can get the CO for your house. With it being the beginning of "the season" down there, knowing you have a place to stay might relieve stress.

Technically we do have a lease until May but we promised to be out the end of the year and our landlord has a buyer for the place IF we get out this year. She's been very good to us, and we don't want to screw her over.

I told the builder if we're not in, we are moving into his model. :)

Also the other disadvantage I have is that I can't go to any hotel that allows pets because I'm highly allergic to fur. We have a hairless dog so need a place that allows dogs. LOL Catch 22.

Sorry for all the many mistakes! That really would stress me as well. On positive side, that fireplace wall is gorgeous. Love the tile. Also proves your point how photos just cannot capture the exact colors because the cabinets look jet black on my iPad, yet I know they are a beautiful stained qs oak.

Hang in there CP (like you have a choice !), this too shall pass...

and then you will wake up every morning to a thing of beauty

Thank you rebunky and Curryup.

Rebunky, what's happening with your bed and breakfast place?

Thanks for asking CP. It’s almost done. Been a slow process, but love how it is turning out. I will post a reveal thread real soon though, I promise.

rebunky, I am so looking forward to it as I remember when we were all helping to design it. :) I'm sure it will be gorgeous.

Well more bad news. The floors in the living room are off by 1 1/2" over 17'. That's why my fireplace cabinet has a big gap on one side. Now I'm not sure what we can do to remedy this. We are meeting with the floor guy at the house tomorrow morning at 8 AM.

The floor will need to be pulled up I'm sure and that can take weeks because it will mean pulling up the floor, leveling it and then redoing it. Plus it will mean ordering more flooring to match.

"The floors in the living room are off by 1 1/2" over 17'. "

As in change in elevation?!

Yes as in one side of the room is 1 1/2" higher than the other.

Ooooh, no!!! I've never built a house. Is this common?

cpartist, well crap. That just sucks.

Gosh cp, I really feel for you. I don't know what to say.....

Jeez, I'm late to this thread, but I get to see everything in one go.

That spice rack!!!

Quarter-sawn oak is my absolute favorite and paired with the white, it's such a winning combination. You are gonna have such a beautiful place, cp.

Oh cr@p! That is horrible news. I’m so so sorry CP. :(

I am so sorry cpartist, how very disappointing. I can only imagine your frustration. I hope this will resolve itself more easily than you think (I know wishful thinking.)

I hate people.

And the flooring guy is going to have to have a discussion with the framer or the concrete floor guy, no? and what does your superintendent say about this? Didn't anyone shoot some elevations on the pour? (She asks as she spent too many nights crawling around marking the walls with the laser level (in the dark so we could see it) and ensuring the floor pour was level - within 1/2 inch over 80')

Oh - and here's an idea for your paper towels!!!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AIHW4CM/ref=strm_fun_201_nad_6_1

On second thought, I do know what to say. These are the kinds of things that have happened to me. Through no fault of my own (or yours), stuff happens. LOTS of stuff. And it makes you so mad, because you are helpless to other people screwing up. There's only so much babysitting you can do. Heck, you shouldn't even have to baby sit. This is what these people do for a living, it's THEIR JOB for crying out loud. Why can't they do it??!!

if I wasn't dead set on not hating people, I'd second jannicone.

How did this ever happen on a new build? Are there any cracks in the foundation - i.e, this can't be settling already on poorly prepared soil or poorly poured foundation can it?. If they can confirm that it is only the floor that is out of elevation rather than what is underneath it. Does that make sense?

cpartist - I am so sorry.

Oh no! What is wrong with everyone? I'm really sorry.

Yes as in one side of the room is 1 1/2" higher than the other. I'm so sorry cp, is there anything that can be done to correct the gap at the fireplace cabinet or make it less obvious? I'm thinking since the foundation/slab (not sure which you have) is in place, the hardwood flooring is now laid, this may be something that you may have to live with?

Thank you all. We think it's not quite as bad as it first seemed to be. It appears that it's a dip from about the middle of the fireplace down to where the sliders are. The rest of the floor appears to be level and the walls are square and my hatband trim is level to the ceiling so that's a positive.

The flooring guy was here today. They will pull it all out in that area and going back far enough towards the kitchen to fix the slope. It also means the hearth tile needs to be pulled out and redone so it matches.

And the flooring guy is going to have to have a discussion with the framer or the concrete floor guy, no? and what does your superintendent say about this? Didn't anyone shoot some elevations on the pour?

Super is making it right along with the floor guy. And did anyone shoot elevations? Who knows?

Are there any cracks in the foundation - i.e, this can't be settling already on poorly prepared soil or poorly poured foundation can it?. If they can confirm that it is only the floor that is out of elevation rather than what is underneath it. Does that make sense?

There were definitely no problem cracks in the foundation. We made sure to check that.

I'm thinking since the foundation/slab (not sure which you have) is in place, the hardwood flooring is now laid, this may be something that you may have to live with?

If this were a tract house, I probably would have lived with it, but this is a high end custom house. No way I was going to live with it even if it meant extreme means.

I think the flooring guy knew he messed up because he didn't fight us at all about redoing it.

I am so glad the problem turned out to be smaller than you thought at first- and what a relief to not have to argue about getting it fixed.

That's a huge relief to you, I'm sure!

I hope it didn't sound as if I was implying you should have to live with it if it weren't fixable. I was thinking from your comment that the slab/foundation were off plumb, therefore the entire house would have to be torn out to correct. Glad to hear that is not the case!

Oh I'm so glad that the problem is easily fixable ( but still a pain in the you know where). But those things still are a pain aren't they. When we gutted our house leaving not much more than 4 walls and even moving one of those, it was these things that gave me many a sleepless night. And yep, we even had a sloping floor, the result of an improperly placed beam when the house was built.

Hope all will go well from now on.

So good to hear cp. I actually prayed for you this morning, that all would be made right, without any arguments. Prayer answered. :)

cpartist, I'm coming late to this thread but am sorry to read about all the issues you're having. At least, that's a relief to hear the floor elevation issues are fixable. Fingers crossed you get all these issues worked out.

From the photos, the space already looks beautiful.

I am so glad the problem turned out to be smaller than you thought at first- and what a relief to not have to argue about getting it fixed.

I'm still not 100% convinced it will work completely but as long as it mostly "goes away" I'm ok with it. Our inspector checked the walls and floors today and all are square and true so it's just this one poured concrete floor.

I hope it didn't sound as if I was implying you should have to live with it if it weren't fixable.

Of course I didn't. :) I understood you, just like you understood me in your broken nose thread. ;)

I was thinking from your comment that the slab/foundation were off plumb, therefore the entire house would have to be torn out to correct. Glad to hear that is not the case!

I thought of that, but most of what I saw looked right and thankfully that was confirmed to me today by our inspector.

Oh I'm so glad that the problem is easily fixable ( but still a pain in the you know where).

Yep, definitely. LOL

But those things still are a pain aren't they. When we gutted our house leaving not much more than 4 walls and even moving one of those, it was these things that gave me many a sleepless night. And yep, we even had a sloping floor, the result of an improperly placed beam when the house was built.

I've lived in 2 old houses, an 1898 house and a 1927 house and neither sloped as much as this. I can understand it in an old house. Not a new build! :)

Hope all will go well from now on.

Thank you! (I'm not counting on it. LOL)

So good to hear cp. I actually prayed for you this morning, that all would be made right, without any arguments. Prayer answered. :)

Thank you so much Beth. It's so appreciated.

Thank you pipdog.

My home inspector in New Orleans was a structural engineer by training. He always measured houses using a water leveling system. He said that anything within 4" was acceptable. But, most of these homes were over 100 years old, on sandy, unstable soil and on pier and post foundations.

It was just bad luck that this dip occurred in an area where there was an element that highlighted the dip. I just hope the floor leveling application does the trick. Be sure to walk across the fix bare footed before you accept the work. That's when you will detect the dip.

Good luck on the repair. I hope it doesn't put you too far behind the schedule.

It was just bad luck that this dip occurred in an area where there was an element that highlighted the dip. I just hope the floor leveling application does the trick. Be sure to walk across the fix bare footed before you accept the work. That's when you will detect the dip.

I will definitely walk across the floor barefoot. I agree I want to be able to feel it.

Good luck on the repair. I hope it doesn't put you too far behind the schedule.

Thank you. I'm reminding them daily that we need our CO before 12/1.

ooo, beautiful! I love the stain color on your dark cabinets and mantel! stay strong! the end is in sight!! I can't wait to see the reveal!

Oh my gosh, what a hassle! I can't imagine dealing with all of that. I think it would be stressful enough to build a new house (too may decisions for me) but to have so many things go wrong is so alarming.

A few years back, our NDN had their partial 2nd floor torn off and a full 2nd floor put on. The husband is in the business and he did his homework, but somehow they still managed to hire a crap GC (with good references and all). The whole thing took about a year and a half, with all 5 of them (3 kids under 12) living on the first floor of the house. They had lots of problems, like a poorly wrapped roof which leaked in a storm, resulting in rain running down INTO their smoking/sparking chandelier and flooding their first floor; I have never seen so many emergency vehicles on my block before. At 2am, they had to run out of the house and find a place to stay. Ugh. Also, the GC ran out of (their) money so for weeks nothing was being done at all. The husband ended up GCing the rest of it himself, which worked out, but they lost money and it was a horrible experience. That said, they LOVE the house. It's pretty awesome. But what a process.

I'm sorry so much is going wrong for you. I'm sure in the end it will be beautiful, but you shouldn't have to go through this much angst to get there.

Well it took 3 months to finally get our floors leveled. They had to completely re-level the slab but it is now perfectly level.

However to make it worse, the flooring manufacturer rep first told us that more of the floor we had throughout the house and needed for the kitchen/dining and living room would be available November 10th. Then it was December 10th, and then January 29th. Only then did we find out it wasn't on the boat. I finally spoke to the COO of the manufacturer and their in-house sales executive. They promised me it was finally on the boat, gave me an actual container number, an actual delivery date, and let me know they had 630 boxes of my color flooring on the container.

It's now slated to get into the US port on February 27th, to the warehouse after clearing customs on March 5th and it will immediately be shipped to me second day air.

In the meantime, the flooring manufacturer sent us temporary flooring which is the same type but a different color. In fact it's a white washed oak. Doesn't work for me. What this allowed us to do is to install what we had left in the kitchen so that we can get the cabinets in. That is glued down. The temporary floor was floated and will be removed when the new flooring arrives and donated to Habitat for Humanity.

Yesterday they started reinstalling our cabinets. However it was discovered that the cooktop cabinet was made about 2" too wide. Thankfully our cabinet installer is also a master woodworker and he's going to cut down the cabinet shell so we can get templating done on Monday. The drawers will be delivered in 1-2 weeks after.

Additionally the divider cabinet between the kitchen/dining room and living room on the opposite side of the one shown in the picture, had a bad scrape on it that the installer tried to fix. He was not happy with it so sent it back to the cabinet maker to redo it. I never even saw it but was actually happy that he wanted it perfect.

I love how much space I have between the island and perimeter cabinets. In the picture they're putting the upper cabinets on top of DH's coffee cabinet. To the left of DH's coffee cabinet will be an integrated fridge.

So happy for you!!! Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. I’ve been off GW for quite a while doing whole house rehab so I’ve got lots of reading to catch up on your build. Ive just caught glimpses here and there. I especially want to read your thread in Building a House forum. I hope the rest of the build goes more smoothly!

Love the airiness of the space and the cabinets look beautiful!

March 5th (or rather after) surely can't come soon enough for you... I'm trying to imagine what you said to the COO to get the temporary floating flooring! Must've been quite the conversation!

And re-leveling the slab... what a job!

I am happy things are finally starting to come together, and you are hopefully seeing an end in sight.

Do you plan to give us a sneak peak of your counter tops when they are in? I ask because I just don't know if I can wait until the reveal!

^^ What she said!

I must say 2Many that the one thing I'm most nervous about is the countertops. Our fabricator has an excellent reputation, but then again so do our cabinet makers and look how many things were wrong with the cabinets. I'm just so fearful because EVERYTHING has gone wrong with this build. I'm convinced there's a poltergeist in our house or something.

Yes I will be there for templating, but even still.

Get out the sage when the place is done and smudge smudge smudge.. :-). I remember when all this started and it does seem like it's going on just a while. Woohoo on the level slab. When all is said and done I sure it will be Poltergeist free and beautiful.

PS you want really really good cabinet makers Etc when things go wrong. They act more professional and actually do the job of fixing the problems

cp, I trust you will make sure the templating is to a "T". This, I do not doubt. As oldbat2be has mentioned in another post, you have an eye for details. Let them know you are an artist, look at them with a very serious expression, and I'm sure they'll quake in their boots, talk about you after you've left in a negative way, but they will make it as you say!

I don't believe in poltergeists... OTOH, it could be you've got gremlins ; )

Esp after everything I've gone through with our reno, all my fingers are crossed for you! No way you have a poltergeist in your house, as I'm certain he's taken up permanent residence in ours! ;)

Slow but steady...

PS you want really really good cabinet makers Etc when things go wrong. They act more professional and actually do the job of fixing the problems

They have been phenomenal!

I'm going to get someone in to smudge the place. I tried it myself about a month ago and must have been doing something wrong so will let a professional do it.

The countertops are a nerve wracking part of a kitchen, that being said they will turn out gorgeous and everything will go smoothly for you, I know it!

From the Queen of Under Construction to another with a lengthy remodel:

Great news and fantastic progress. It sounds like your people are just like you'd want them to be. Not cutting corners in hope you won't notice!

Don't you just roll your eyes at those whining about SIX WEEKS under construction, or TWO MONTHS of living like THIS!!

I continue to pray for them that this is the most difficult period in their lives, that they CHOSE to endure.

I really look forward to your end result. You really do have a sharp eye for nice detail! This flooring better be "all that." Or you have my permission to just kill 'em. Or take it all to the COO's office and have it unloaded in his foyer. And sit on it, waving your arms screaming at everyone getting off the elevator, "YOU SAID IT WOULD BE PERFECT!!!!!" "PERFECT, you said!!!!"

The cabinets are beautiful! Can’t wait to see everything. Just curious, how much space do you have between the island and perimeter cabinets? I’m a little nervous we have too much.

Amazing just as we all knew it would be. Can't wait to see the icing on the cake :)

amazing, and as always am very impressed by your attention to every detail..it pays off big time

looking forward to see the progress

Wow, love those cabinets and can’t wait for the final curtain. I sincerely hope you are less stressed and this build will unfold as you expect.

I don't believe in poltergeists... OTOH, it could be you've got gremlins ; )

Whatever it is, it's not good.

The countertops are a nerve wracking part of a kitchen, that being said they will turn out gorgeous and everything will go smoothly for you, I know it!

Please send good vibes because there is no more of my quartzite. Thankfully I have 3 slabs so I'm hoping it's going to be ok.

I really look forward to your end result. You really do have a sharp eye for nice detail! This flooring better be "all that." Or you have my permission to just kill 'em. Or take it all to the COO's office and have it unloaded in his foyer. And sit on it, waving your arms screaming at everyone getting off the elevator, "YOU SAID IT WOULD BE PERFECT!!!!!" "PERFECT, you said!!!!"

Hahaha. Maybe what I'll have to do is get all the GW people to descend on the manufacturer's offices in PA. We'll have a sit in. LOL.

The cabinets are beautiful! Can’t wait to see everything. Just curious, how much space do you have between the island and perimeter cabinets? I’m a little nervous we have too much.

Thank you.

I have 50.25" between cabinets on the cooktop wall right now. Once the counters are in, that will leave me with 47.25".

The distance between the island the the counter run by the prep sink wall is 44.5" which means I'll wind up with 41.5".

I want to thank everyone for allowing me to vent here. I'm so stressed over all of this and will be until my final floor is installed.

Just know that all will be well. As you know I’ve been following your design and build from the get go. I am one who believes that the universe recognizes those who deserve it. You have always been kind and helpful to others needing support and guidance around here which, to me, means all will work out.

Plus, I’m dying to see those countertops in situ, and after the year I’ve had I have to believe the universe will reward me as well :D.

Thank you Annette! :D