He built and installed a kitchen cabinet where a bath cabinet goes. Do-over. Insist. That door jamb detail sucks.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC . What do you mean by kitchen cabinet vs bath cabinet? Do those just refer to different sizes boxes? I have never heard of a bath cabinet.

The door jamb will be repaired after the cabinet install. They didn't want to do it before hand and have it get banged up during install. It is such a tight space!

Bath vanity cabinets, historically, were 21" deep rather than 24" ( and 30-33 high) although now that everybody is supersizing everything vanities are often 24" deep and 36" high.

These are custom. The depth is clearly called out on the drawing as far as I can tell. If you were going to do 24" deep cabinets you could have put in stock cabinets.

As far as I am concerned this is a redo.

This project has appeared to consist of one mistake after another. You must be extremely stressed.

A bath vanity is routine at a 21 inch depth.

A kitchen is routine at 24 inch with tops.

Show the full bath plan you signed off on. I can't even figure out how you will open those drawers, have a casing on the doorway.

Yo had a cad drawing, show it. You signed off on a custom job,that reflected that drawing? Why would you PAY assuming you did not get what was signed and ordered??

It is not a bathroom it is a laundry/ kitchenette There awas no need for custom if you are going to keep these then I would want a big discount

Absolutely fix. We had the same situation with our kitchen pantry cabinet--our cabinetmaker accidentally built it to 24" depth instead of 21" depth and it landed just where yours is. We were gracious about it but insisted it be corrected (doubly problematic in our space since the back door into the kitchen is in-swing and even with a hinge stop, almost hits the 21" deep cabinet!) I have never regretted that. Fortunately the cabinetmaker fixed it with no pushback at all since it was clearly marked 21" in the plan, but in your case if you have to, I wouldn't hesitate to withhold payment until the correct cabinets are installed. You aren't going to be able to trim the door properly with the 24"d cabinet, either.

Thank you all for your input. Luckily there is a fill piece between the wall and the drawers so they will be able to open and function no matter what and lucky the door swings out. I believe this is mostly an aesthetic issue of trim starting on the counter. If anyone sees additional function or structure issues that I'm missing, please tell me.

This project has appeared to consist of one mistake after another. You must be extremely stressed.

@palimpsest you are so incredibly correct. There is a door mistake and a bathroom sink issue I have to deal with too. I just ran this cabinet problem past five people in my life who all said, "Live with it! You have enough stress in your life." To which I melted into a puddle on the floor trying to hold back tears.

There have been some horrible health issues in my family in the last few months that are quietly eating away at me and robbing my sleep and sanity. My friends and family are right. I have to pick and choose my battles. I think for emotional reasons I just need to take a pass on correcting the cabinet situation even though I am in the right and the cabinet maker is in the wrong.

There awas no need for custom if you are going to keep these then I would want a big discount

@Patricia Colwell Consulting There are many challenges in this kitchen for which custom has been the right choice, I just didn't go into them here.

Get him to remake them correctly. Blum has glides for 21" too.

I understand you're having personal issues too, but in a year or two, how will you feel everytime you come into your laundry area?

If you do keep them, then I would do so only if he gives you at least a 25% discount. He made the mistake.

I would ask them to fix it. It should not be a battle if the drawings say 21”. Unless you’re already at war with the builder, I would assume good intention and give them the chance to make it right. There’s no downside in having a conversation.

Ok, I just thought of a functional reason why having 24" depth base cabinets and so close to the door jamb sucks: Our cabinet pulls have a 1 11/16 inch projection and our knobs 1 1/2" projection. They are going to stick out well beyond a 1/2" counter and into the doorway. I can imagine getting nailed on them when I walk in and out of the room and they will hit up against you if you when you are standing at the counter.

They were expensive custom order solid brass pulls that are not returnable. I'm not going to ditch them to switch them out for shallower pulls. Plus, one of the reasons we got such deep pulls is so people with arthritic hands would have an easier time opening and closing drawers.

IT is stressful for you to live with his mistake. Make him fix it and you will be relieved that you are getting what you requested and what you paid for and that you don't ;have to live with something that doesn't work.

It sounds like some of your life is not in your control to fix, but this is within your control to do so.

It sounds like some of your life is not in your control to fix, but this is within your control to do so.

I have never once had a good experience with asking a contractor to rectify their mistakes. I have instead had people walk off the job and leave me hanging or threaten to do so until it becomes extremely ugly. People lie to my face. People refuse. I have never felt that the ball is in my court in the slightest when dealing with a contractor and it has never felt in my control. Perhaps this time will be different. I'm going to make the architect deal with the general contractor instead of me dealing with the millworker. At least there is a substantial amount of money owed on this so I do have some control.

There was a GC. There was an architect, there was a custom mill worker.

Who installed ? The GC or the mill worker himself?

You have ALL THE CONTROL. The control is money.

What I want to know is WHERE was the GC and the plan and all install drawings on delivery to the building? That is part and parcel a GC Job.

Nobody can make a door mat of you without your permission. Do over..and do not pay until the last thing is done to your plan and satisfaction.

In the words of my mother when payment was due on a botched job in my parents' home, "I will be happy to pay you when the job is done right."

When I order a 21" lower, should I anticipate that it will be 21" deep from the wall OR will the cabinet be 21" deep plus some blocking behind it that could add extra depth from the wall to the front edge of the cabinet? (See my last picture above.)

I don't want to duke it out, have him come back with 21" deep cabinets that then protrude an extra .5 - 1" because of blocking between the cabinet and wall.

Ask them first. Ask them why the blocking is there, and will it be necessary for the new cabinets.

We don't know why the blocking is there---- nor do we know how "off" your walls are, how out of plane..

You say to the GC and custom shop........"I want a cabinet /inclusive of top with one inch overhang , that does NOT encroach on my door molding at all. They are not responsible for your choice of hardware.

PERSONALLY ? I think the design was poor overall. When a door is really narrow and space is tight......you "step back" with that cabinet or drawers to 18 inches depth, full extension soft close. or a door. You live within what is available in space you own.

This is a laundry off a guest space, with a kitchenette. Not a 100k kitchen or primary bath.

Show the entire floor plan and the cad you signed of on. Full view in a jpeg that can be blown UP.

It's a laundry in a guest space, but it's also conversion of an apartment in a coop building in Manhattan, a project that encompasses the entire former (studio?, Jr. 1BR?) unit, working with tight and weird little spaces, so it could easily be a $100,000+ project.

I don't think this is "only a" anything.

She "only" has the space she has for THIS space. Show this space.

The tight and weird space elsewhere are not a part of this thread as I can see.

The only way to get ALL you want in Manhattan is to be the Shah of Iran.......or not be in Manhattan : )

That's the brutal truth.

@palimpsest You are right on the money once again.

I just saw the trim pieces they put in. There is a 1/4” gap between it and the wall. Does something like that get caulked and painted over?

Correct, the wals are not plumb, but neither are any kitchens i have done. They are all in homes 85-170 years old. But the workers always managed to scribe really well.

What would normally be done to reduce this gap?

Here are pics from my kitchen down the hall where the walls are just as out of whack and a different cabinet makers made these with no gaps between the wall and uppers.

Here is another gap. I am a mear perfectionist in my own field of work. It makes it very hard for me to jusge what is or is not acceptable. I cannot expect perfect of others, but dont know what is ok or shlocky work.

No, they can't be responsible for the cabinet pulls we picked out. However, if they made the cabinets to spec, the depth of the cabinet handles would not be an issue. Now that the front of the cabinet is almost flush with the jamb, it is a big problem.

I can see how 18” could have made more sense. It didnt cross my mind and nobody raised it - architect, millworker, GC.

We don't know why the blocking is there, you will have to ask- wall out of square or plumb is the likely answer. If so plan on it remaining or remove sheetrock to make up the difference.

Typically the labeled cabinet depth is the box, IE 24" cabinets are nearly 25" to the face of the door, the 21" cabinet will be nearly 22" to the face of the door

Yes, you can caulk those gaps where there is trim--they're typically the result of walls being out of square. To get it closer, you would scribe the trim more closely to the wall, but that takes much more time and for a 1/4" gap, caulk seems like an okay solution.

That last photo looks like it's of a door, though--that's trickier if so. Is any trim going above that? (Looks angled?) If not that may be one to just live with. If so, they might be able to mask some of that with the trim. Does that door open properly?

Since you are having them custom built, they can literally make them any size. There is no need to stick to 3" increments. It doesn't have to be 18" or 21". If you want the final depth to be 21", and they need the shims behind because of out-of-square walls (or whatever the reason, you haven't told us why they are there), then they can make the cabinet shallower than 21" by that amount. The end result will be the front of the cabinet is 21" from the wall, at the point those shims are installed. I assume that they didn't have shims the same size on the other end of the cabinet. If you want the front of the door to be 21" from the back wall, then they can take that into account and make the cabinet shallower by the depth of the door plus the gap between the door and cabinet.

The point is, you said these are custom, so have them built custom.

"I can see how 18” could have made more sense. It didn't cross my mind and nobody raised it - architect, millworker, GC."

Welllllll ...yet another classic example of why interior designers are just that, and why GC's and mill workers are not. I despise choked up entries to anywhere.

Not really faulting the architect here, as unless you go to the new build level of pay ( kaching ), with every detail spec'd ? That is something an arch would assume you'd work out with mill worker and GC.

Why did you use a different cabinet source, when you were happy with a kitchen outcome?

Particularly in an aged building with settled walls and floors. Also, can't tell, but you may have filler in that kitchen, SCRIBED to a wall.

When a door is really narrow and space is tight......you "step back" with that cabinet or drawers to 18 inches depth, full extension soft close. or a door. You live within what is available in space you own.

In a city apartment in Boston, I had base cabinets on one side, abutting a doorway, that were only 12 inches deep, in other words, stock upper cabinets installed on a plinth. Not ideal, but better than either impinging on a doorway or not having cabinets on that wall.

Also, can't tell, but you may have filler in that kitchen, SCRIBED to a wall.

Yes. Unless a gap is really tiny, it should have a scribed filler piece, not caulk.

The space looks so crowded and the finishing touch will be the ornate chandelier that my husband loves and has wanted to hang forever. He loves crowded antique filled spaces so I told him this room will be called his clusterf***! All I am doing at this point is trying to laugh and be grateful for having my own washer dryer instead of using the basement laundry room that smells like Gain.

We hired an interior designer. I didnt know she had a degree in architecture until we began working together. She is not very good at either.

I didnt hire the good cabinet people back because they are from Pennsylvania and although they said they work in NYC, they were completely overwhelmed by it - the driving, the parking, the elevators. The last thing they made for me was a built in bookcase that they forgot had to fit in the elevator. It took an extra 2 months to get them back here with an elevator friendly version. It was such drama and whining whenever they came or canceled, I didnt have the bandwidth to deal with more of that. So this is what I got instead! Ha!

At this point, with a lot going on ? I'd hang the light, give him wash duty : ) and don't go back in there until the cabinet is resolved, installed and the room finished. Even then......maybe he keeps wash duty.....

And takes sooooooo much longer, and you really need a place to go while work is done.

@Kendrah - How much spade do you have from the back of the drawer box to the wall?

Typically drawer slides are 21" and require about 22" interior depth. However, as your drawer box is backless, it might be possible to cut down the cabinets without rebuilding the cabinet boxes and still use 21" drawer slides. Especially since the cabinets need to be proud of the wall for some reason.

This is a fairly easy fix that will keep the deeper drawer box (I wouldn't be so quick to sacrifice 3" of drawer depth), still move the cabinets back 2 - 3 inches, and not require rebuilding the entire cabinet box. While not a perfect solution, it is a compromise that is quick and relatively cheap for the cabinetmaker, therefore one the cabinetmaker is more likely to accept.

Plenty of dressers exist on the market at a total depth of 20 inches, with slide/soft close drawers drawers. Do the drawers in any dresser really hold all that much? No.....one of the reasons folks favor a walk in closet.

The room became over think. and probably over spend. The easiest? Doors and shelves behind. Doubt anyone is spending the entire day in a laundry /kitchenette. Especially as the rest of the apartment is undoubtedly lovely : )

I didn't read the entire thread, so forgive me if this is a repeat answer.

Usually if you have custom cabinets made, the cabinetmaker does not work off the designer's drawings, but instead comes to measure on site and then creates a set of shop drawings prior to construction. Do the shop drawings specify 21" deep or 25 1/8" deep? If the former and you approved the former, then it's on them to redo. But if you signed off on the deeper cabinet, not sure you have recourse.