Are you saying the builder/framer failed to follow the plan and built the house to significantly different dimensions?

We need more background. That is a huge miss that I would have them fix now on their dime. If they aren't building to plans at this stage I am afraid of what other nightmares are coming your way on this build.

Your builder is obligated to construct your home substantially as per the approved plans and specifications. An error of a couple of inches would comply with that requirement, but an error of one to two feet wouldn't, in my opinion. Your builder needs to make it right for you. If the problem has resulted from an error in the plans, then you need to go back to your design professional to make it right.

I’m confused....2 ft is significant. Is the kitchen the only room affected (did they make the storage closet in the garage 2 feet wider than it should have been or something?)

Either way, I would not want to lose pantry storage space. You also don’t have a lot of extra room in the garage, either. Especially If you have a bunch of bikes, toys, lawn mower, snowblower, garden stuff, etc to store.

We are building it ourselves so we hired out. My dad is my contractor. I think it happened when the foundation was poured so unless I tear the house down and start over I don’t think there is anyway to fix it. I’m just trying to find the best solution with what I have right now. I appreciate any input you can give me.

Please explain. That sounds like builder error and he/she needs to fix it to match the plans.

we are building it ourselves with the help of my dad who is a retired builder. We are contracting out the things we can’t do ourselves. I think it happened when the foundation was poured so unless we tear down and completely start over I don’t think it can be fixed. I’m trying to find the best solution for what I ended up with. The storage behind the pantry can be used as a pantry instead of storage. I appreciate any input you can give me.

So are all the rooms on the front of the house 2 ft shorter?

Have cabinets been ordered? Countertops?

I would be inclined to shorten the island (sink wont be centered anymore) and leave the general layout the same. The space between the fridge and range might also need to be shortened, depending on how much room you have between the end of the countertop and the doorway to master/mud/laundry. If the kitchen island size is priority for you, then you can play around with the layout and pantry.

You could take some space from the pantry and redesign that area, but you might want to move the ktichen layout around at the same time, which may not be easy with gas/electrical/plumbing in place.

If you keep the pantry as is, I would do a pocket door.....that could be an annoying door with the fridge right there

Post an AS BUILT measured plan. 2’ is *SIGNIFICANTLY* wrong, and highly impactful to many many downstream elements. Not just your kitchen design. That affects your roof framing and trusses, your plumbing locations and layout possibilities for everything in the house. Is someone on this build carrying the proper insurance here? You can end up having a wrongly built house and a workman’s comp lawsuit too.

This is bad enough to fire a builder. You can’t fire yourself. You need to figure out if it’s worse to fix or to leave. Which means you need the AS BUILT. The kitchen isn’t the only thing to need fixing from something like this. This requires major design input from a professional.

Hi OP- I'm sorry this happened- how frustrating. I'm not a layout guru but I think you have plenty of storage with a 2 car garage. Can you combine the pantry and storage area to create a fabulous butler's pantry, or are you trying to get more prep or circulation space in the kitchen?

@GreenDesigns, I'm familiar with errors and omissions insurance on the design side, but I'm not sure it exists on the construction side. If it did, the premiums for an owner-builder job would likely cost as much as a house itself. The OP's dilemma provides a case in point.

When I was in college a few years ago (wink-wink nudge-nudge) I worked for a cabinet manufacturer where I designed kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I went out to a new home to measure it for cabinets. After looking for several minutes I could not find the powder room. I had to ask the builder and he told me there was none; the foundation guy messed up and his error ended up eliminating the powder room. Perhaps the foundation guy is still in business?

The red wall is 11’ the blue wall is 13’. Plumbing and electrical have not been installed yet.

Yikes. Ok. Working with family can be interesting. Some questions for you...

• Are you also able to cut into bedroom #4?
• Are you wanting to cut 2' from the pantry? If so, that makes the pantry very shallow, which is "fine", BUT that makes the pantry items difficult to reach that aren't directly in front of the door. A 22" deep pantry with 16"-20" pantry shelves is problematic and not functional with your current door set up.
• Are you willing to lose the garage storage and move the pantry to that area and rework bedroom #4's closet situation OR cut the pantry width a couple feet and leave bedroom #4's closet as is to truly have the pantry only take up the garage Storage space?

Just some things to think about and some options that might work depending on what you're willing to sacrifice.

Such a bummer of a situation! Good luck!

I would ditch the pantry completely and extend the kitchen into the pantry area and make the perimeter an L shape.

Also get rid of the microwave above the stove. That's hazardous and dangerous. Put in a real exhaust hood and move the microwave to a shelf under the cabinets.

The design professionals can give you better suggestions for layout than I can offer. My only thought is that if you end up with a walk-in pantry, a pocket door might be more convenient than one that opens into what appears to be a relatively tight space. Best wishes!

The rest of the house was not impacted besides losing a little bit of the laundry room and my lockers are a bit smaller. That is not a big dea to me. As far as the roof goes my dad, brother and husband did all the framing and roofing so all of that is fine. Im just trying to figure out the best way to add a little more space to my kitchen as an island is very important to me.

I’m willing to lose the pantry and use the garage storage as the pantry instead. I’m just not sure how it would look design wise.

I would bump the cabinets into bedroom 4 the 2 feet. I think this would be nicer anyway. Then take over the whole storage space in the garage and end up with an even nicer pantry!

Is this too simple of a solution concept?

Here's a layout that works better than what you had anyway. Before to unload groceries you had to walk through your work zone from the garage to get to the pantry/fridge.

Plus you had the microwave above the stove. Put a good range hood above, not a microwave. I didn't show the microwave but you have lots of options now.

Note I created a pantry on the end nearest where you enter the kitchen from the garage. You can build it as a closet or use cabinets to make one.

Make all your lower cabinets drawers for lots of storage and make the drawers as much as possible 30" -36" wide. Note I only added uppers along the stove wall and that's because you'll find with drawers you don't need as many uppers.Also with all the drawers and the larger kitchen you may not miss the larger pantry.

Mark an angled island is never a smart solution.

Thank you everyone! You’ve given me lots of great ideas!

^^greatest response, haha!

I like that cp's version puts the refrigerator near the dining area. In the original layout, anyone coming from the dining area to get a drink or condiment out of the fridge had to pass through the cooking work zone.

Thank you everyone! You’ve given me lots of great ideas!

@Mark. I guess it just wasn't your time....

You could also put the fridge on the corner of the L (in space from bedroom 4). I like no sink/DW in the island.

In cpartist layout you could put a pantry cabinet on the side of the stove that is towards the living room. Or you can break the corner and create an entry to the storage area there to re-purpose it as a pantry. I like the last option better as that removes a corner which is inefficient storage space anyways.

Here I moved the pantry and tried to adjust approx 2 ft for the loss in kitchen space there towards the dining room.

Did your living area shrink too?

Lyfia the reason I put the pantry next to the fridge in my version was two-fold.

1. It's right next to the entry from the mudroom/garage. In both your versions, they'd be crossing through the work zone to get to the pantry to put stuff away.

2. It's next to the fridge. When we start to cook, we normally take food out of the fridge and/or pantry to bring it to the sink. This way the OP doesn't have to cross the kitchen to go from fridge to pantry to get all their supplies.

Lyfia, no I didn’t lose any sq footage in the living room just the kitchen and mud room laundry area.

Is 11' the revised dimension or is it the original dimension? When I add up all the kitchen dimensions, I get 11'-9". If the new dimension is 9'-9", then CPartist's layout will be cramped on the 9'-9" wall. Jmoore, you could do something like this:

I moved the walls up 2' here, just to represent approximately the as-built kitchen wall. I would actually consider moving the entry from the garage where you have the storage closet.

It was originally supposed to be 14 feet long but somewhere between the design plans and foundation it got messed up. Right now it’s 11’ 2”. I‘ll include a photo of the original house plan. I had it modified slightly to make the kitchen wider and had it flipped. The designer did make the kitchen wider but cut the length. The foundation further cut the length. I should have paid more attention to the final plan but I trusted it was done how I asked. Love and learn I guess.

Mark, I think that’s what happened with us. The foundation was not poured correctly.

cpartist I moved it because I thought the OP didn't have that space anymore. But it sounds like it is available.

Ok, so it's not as small as I thought. Cpartist's layout should work and give you a more functional space (lemonade out of lemons). Heed her advice about ditching the microhood. Hope the rest of your build goes well.