I would fight for it if it is going to make you mad whnever you see it. You want what you want.

I would fight. It would totally annoy me . You are not crazy, you are detail oriented which drives others crazy. I think most of us here on GW are detail oriented.

My blood boils because you showed an actual photo. If it ” couldn’t” be done than explain the option BEFORE doing the work.

So, for this point alone I would see what can be done to rectify the situation.

And, this a space you will go through multiple times in a day, not some space tucked back in a corner.

If your insurance is to restore status quo ante, then ante it is, and Chubb should ante up. Unless they have a different idea of which ”ante” is covered. Was there a mudroom when you first got the insurance? Did it look similar to the first and second photos?

I have to say, seeing your before picture that they are building back what you had, just up to code.

I agree with Eld - if they couldn't match the photo it should have been discussed before they started. It sounds like someone was hoping for rebuild fatigue on your part.

you can still be up to code with a steel beam instead, it just costs more

Not a construction expert here, but it seems like they built out the frames around the windows deeper (the "2x6"..."code" comment presumably). It doesn't seem like your original had quite the ledge depth that your inspiration had though. Can they just build out the lower part to have a shelf (maybe another few inches out from current framing) that spans the length? That would give you the plant ledge and the continual ledge line from wall to wall under the windows.

I also don’t see how this is different than before. Yes it’s 2/6 framing but the whole wall is that and I assume the windows are ordered for a 2/6 wall. So when complete the room is 2” smaller but visually it’s identical. Nothing prevents your sill from unifying all the windows.

How wide is the new window sill? It doesn't look as wide as in your photo. You can always ask Chubb and they don't have to say yes to a steel beam. Are you prepared to pay for the steel beam and the redo of that wall to get the window sill?

We've just built a house after a fire and the insurance company assigned the contractor. They have plans for every single corner of the house BUT they build off their phones and not the plans in the house and trades never question anything. The things that we have had to have fixed after the fact are ridiculous.

you can still be up to code with a steel beam instead, it just costs more.

Agree, but the point ( which I did not make very well) is that it looks like you had two sets of two windows with a wider separation and molding between the two sets instead of the four evenly spaced windows with the same width of molding between each. The newly framed wall also looks like two sets of two, which is what you had.

It's probably for structural reasons. Stuff like this was notoriously under-structured in older houses. It could still be a deep window sill but under two banks of windows, instead of one. I am very picky and honestly this is not a hill I would die on, if it's for a structural reason, and the alternative is more complicated. It's really not going to look all that much different except that it doesn't look identical to the picture. Your mudroom isn't going to be identical to the picture anyway.

And Chubb isn't going to go for it. A steel beam is not restoring the status quo.

Are they going to build out a long window sill once the windows are set in place? They should be doing that in order to have the space look like it did prior to the fire. I would ask about adding a deeper sill than what's in your photo below.

It would be simple for the contractor to do make this area deeper than it is in the photo. It's the same amount of labor - the cost of materials to make this sill deeper won't cost much (plus, you can offer to pay for the extra materials).

Thanks for the inputs.

Yes, Dani, it was always going to be built out to add depth and still will be.

Yes, of course it was not to today's code. We had actually discussed that. For example the contractor told me the expanse of glass would be a bit less because the corners needed to be built up more and I was fine with that.

The issue is that I had one continuous windowsill, and now I will not (this is per the contractor). Yes there was a space before but not a protruberance. That was one particular feature I wanted in this project from Day One (and the only reason for the photo is to illustrate that feature, not because I wanted it to be identical). Code is irrelevant because there are other ways to build it to code. BTDT.

DH can go either way on this but did ask me if it is worth the delay it will cause...

PS the insurance company assigned the contractor

Chubb did not, but it is a very weird menage a trois between the three of us. Kind of like a kid playing Mom against Dad

It could still be a continuous sill, because it's going to be a deep shelf. It will just be interrupted more by the mullion post between the windows than the one in the picture.

The post looks deep right now but some of that depth is going to be taken up by the window

Salient:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rxqk3Lcvrw

Wow, nice job on that rendering. Thank you! I'd still rather it did not protrude at all (like before and like my shelf inspo pic), but that does not look so bad. The contractor did verbally describe this but it really helps to see it.

I guess I can put a grouping of pots on either side. Considering they will all die under my care, I should probably just shut up.

No matter how hard I try, I still forget to water that one important space of time!???

I have been carrying around a basil plant and a Boston fern with me since the fire, both healthy. Two succulent arrangements have been holding down the fort at the house while we migrate, and they are none the worse for wear.

Meanwhile I have killed several cilantro plants and parsley plants. I know cilantro is just very tough to grow. Even my excellent gardeners could only get them to grow for about 5 minutes. Parsley, however, has been very hardy wherever I have it outside. That and mint, plant them once and you are done.

So I don't know why the parsley plants I buy in the winter inevitably die. I still buy the plants because usually they are the same price as a bunch and, well, hope springs eternal.

OT..If you plant parsley seeds in the ground...should be hardy. I grow it here in Colorado, in the ground...comes back every year....

agreed, Nicole:

Parsley, however, has been very hardy wherever I have it outside. That and mint, plant them once and you are done.

It just never works as a houseplant for me!

Please keep killing the cilantro.

#soap

Would you consider having them build out the wall below the windows so that you have a deeper shelf? The space below could be finished as shallow cabinets (touch releases to be truly hidden), cubbies for shoes and such -- true mudroom style, or bookshelves, blanket and pillow cubbies -- whatever you can imagine. That could give you a deeper shelf so the protrusion of the post is less in relative terms - but I don't know if that fits the scale of the room and your space needs within it.

As far as the insurance company, you didn't have a steel beam and you didn't even have the deeper window sill - just a plan. You aren't crazy, but it isn't entirely clear cut and a matter of general policy. There might be language in your policy that would tend to veer one way or the other, but in general, the obligation is to return it to what it was. You are making a lot of changes - both what was in progress and further modifications due to the fire, if I understand it all correctly. The best thing is probably to talk to them and try to work it out -- being more staunch about it might cause them to be less accommodating. But I understand your frustration, and I would want to get as much of what my plan was as possible. I'm still unhappy with the folks who did my kitchen install because they rushed through and missed a detail that was important to me and I've had to make do instead.

I dunno. I'd probably make the ask. They could say no, and you could acquiesce. But they might say yes. After a hurricane, they came out with a level and determined the lanai cage was a few degrees off. It looked fine, the inspector said it was fine. Chubb replaced it. This was a few hurricanes ago, and there's been a shift in the insurance industry, but why not give Chubb the opportunity to decline, instead of the contractor who probably thought he knew "detailed" until he met mtn. ;)

ETA I'd reach out directly to Chubb, end-run around contractor.

Get what you want. I regret not standing firm with contractor. Reminded of it, everything I notice the details.

Here's the argument, tho...

You didn't have a steel beam and you didn't even have the deeper window sill - just a plan. I am not asking them to pay for a deeper window sill. I would gladly pay for that, but the fact is my contractor isn't even charging for that particular element, it is just not material (no pun intended).

So the issue here is not "hey Chubb, i wanna deeper sill" --- it is "hey Chubb, this thing sticks outta my wall and it never did before. I know it is because you need to meet new code, but you can meet new code by putting in a steel beam instead. Since you have to return things to the status quo ante, AND upgrade to code, the only way to achieve both is with a beam."

You aren't crazy, but it isn't entirely clear cut

I think the crazy part is caring about it. I don't think my logic is crazy at all (but crazies never do, do they?)

Lastly, there is another weird wrinkle here. In a way, it doesn't matter that the first contractors, who caused the fire, had not yet put in the deeper window sill. Here's why. At the time of the fire, the contractors were ~90% done. But we had paid them in full. After the fire, they could hardly go back and finish. So I am not sure but I think our insurance covers our loss, which was the full 100% we paid them and then, by that logic it matters not just what they did but what they were supposed to do. I'm not positive about that but I think so. For example, they had not finished laying the flooring. No one has said to us, "no floor since it was not done before the fire." I am not entirely sure what the logic is or the relevant verbiage in the policy, because it hasn't mattered. But it is kind of interesting.

PS The room is small and adding cabinets would prevent me from putting my bench in where I want it, which is really my fave part of the room and my design is chosen to highlight it.

I was trying to describe what palimpsest has drawn - just a little deeper on the stool/sill.

Has the contractor provided you with the exact dimensions of how the final window wall will be built?

FWIW I get it. If this was the design I wanted (and was suppose to get pre fire), I would want it done this way. So I would argue with them for awhile, then pay for the steel beam myself if their final answer was still no, because it would drive me crazy every. time. I. saw.

Dani, no that element will be VIF because we want to make it as wide as possible but still fit the bench on the wall that is perpendicular.

DD2 this morning. "So instead of doing plants all the way across, do two groupings, almost like windowboxes. I think two groups of 3 dead plants will looks as nice as dead plants the whole length."

because it would drive me crazy every. time. I. saw.

I may be able to fix this with self-talk. I'd have to come up with something to say to myself when I see it. Like "I am a reasonable person, I am a reasonable person." 🤣

I think the biggest thing is the delay. I actually think I have a good shot at getting Chubb to pay and if not, I know the ballpark number and it would not be the end of the world. But a new beam would mean spending a week or so arguing, then getting new drawings, submitting them to the town, getting it fabricated, getting it installed, and then inspected again. And of course the real issues are never the actual time spent on each element, but the delays to get on each specialty's calendar, complicated by path dependencies.

Add to that, we have renters coming the first week of July (booked before the fire). Never in a million years did I think that would be a risk, but I cannot have a boarded up entry when they arrive. The two other entries have big flights of stairs, great fun for luggage. Not sure what I'd do if it were not done for their arrival. I told Chubb about them and they have agreed they would cover a refund for renters, but that creates a lot of ill will.

Just thoughts. Try the "Serenity Prayer:. Also, "Is this the hill you want to die on?"

Groups of three on each side will look nice.

It may not be what you pictured, but will look nice and you may even like it better.

It seems this is a detail you planned for and really wanted so I would push for it even if it caused a few months’ delay because I think it will always erk you if it is not what you had in mind.

My opinion -- we fixate on these things while they're happening because we're all design/detail obsessed. But in this case, I think it will look totally fine and not be a big deal at all, and once done it won't even be an issue. If it were me, I would not fight this especially given the delays it will cause. I really think once it's done, you'll say 'yeah it's totally fine and looks just as good'.

In other words, listen to DD2!

Really if everything else was done except for the mudroom in an AirBnB like that, I would stay in it anyway, rather than not being able to find another one like it at short notice. Maybe you could let them know Now, and offer a discount. But I have stayed in hotel rooms with scaffolding outside the windows or whatever to get a cheaper room because I wasn't going to be staying there during the daytime

I wasn't talking about full on cabinets -- more shallow cubbies -- bookshelf depth (9-12"), but I get that it's not a large room and you can only do so much. Not sure I'd want that solution -- just thinking out loud to offer possibilities not mentioned.

I do think Pal's drawing in white looks better than raw wood. Finished, painted, etc., it is going to look even nicer. The one thing I think you need to ask yourself is if this detail really changes the finished product to the point you cannot be happy with it or if you are fixating on it because it is the current object of culminating frustrations. We can talk about what Chubb should do, what we would do, but none of us stood in your shoes before and none of us can say whether getting done and moving on is more or better than getting it done to perfection (or if it will be perfect with a beam -- will that change something else?) or how you will feel when it is all done. I think if you are asking how crazy you are, you may be feeling your concern is out of proportion with the issue - maybe it is an object of frustration. It is a mudroom.

However, if this is always going to make you unhappy and you will see the change as the fire causing you to lose a major feature and then carry that onto being unhappy with the whole thing, you know what you need to do. That's really a question of you knowing you. I doubt anyone here would know or care differently other than wanting you to be happy and feeling like you've been through plenty (which cuts both ways, BTW: you deserve it to be perfect/you deserve to be done and move on).

the current object of culminating frustrations

I think if you are asking how crazy you are, you may be feeling your concern is out of proportion with the issue

💯

I’m guessing you weren’t planning to touch that wall in your original renovation so you wouldn’t have had drawings for it. What would it take to have your architect or designer create a detail for that wall and run it by a structural engineer? Does your contractor have someone he works with?

I don't think your request is unreasonable but maybe it’s above the pay grade of your contractor. If you want to use a steel or glulam beam on that wall it should be doable with the help of a structural engineer. People build garages with glulam beams every day so isn't impossible to open up that span.

Now I’m thinking about the window design. In order to keep that window sill uninterrupted you might want to mull the winows together. Otherwise you would still need a post in between. If the winows aren’t on site can you have the facory mull them or pehaps they can be mulled in the field?

Totally understandable. I hit a similar point with appliance issues after 5+ months.

Now I’m thinking about the window design. In order to keep that window sill uninterrupted you might want to mull the winows together. Otherwise you would still need a post in between. If the winows aren’t on site can you have the facory mull them or pehaps they can be mulled in the field?

There was always a space between the windows, what bothered me is when they created a protuberance. I've decided I don't want a delay. I m going to focus my efforts on what goes on the sill.

That sounds like a good plan. Hope you will be very happy with the way it comes together.

Maybe I wasn’t clear. I suggested the mull in order to eliminate the protuberance caused by the framing. But it sounds like you made a good decision to move forward. When it’s finished and everything is in place, it will be lovely.