Whereby this presentation was primarily geared towards the industry professional, if you as a homeowner are contemplating your own remodeling project and intend to take a proactive role in the transformation of your kitchen or bathroom, reading this will help you will learn how to avoid and perhaps help your designers or kitchen salesmen to avoid, some of the most commonly made mistakes in the industry.

Much of what I am going to share, to many of you, will not be new. Most of these points are pretty obvious however, some may not be. You might think to yourself more than once, "I already know this". If this is the case, just consider this a quick 20 minute refresher course. For those of you who are new to the field of kitchen design, I hope what I have to say might at some point in the future, help you avoid making one of these design errors.

I. Measure three times, order once.
A. Without exception, the most common error I see is a mis-measurement leading to the cabinetry arriving on the jobsite and not fitting into the space for which it was designed. The most prevalent reason this mistake is made is because you are in a hurry. If you do not have the time to measure the job twice, schedule the trip to measure for a time when you are not in such a hurry. If possible, take along another pair of eyes to double check your measurements.
B. The second most common error we see is a misinterpretation of where the finished floor will actually land. Coordinate with your customer, their contractor and if possible, their flooring sub contractor as to where the finished floor will land before you design a project with crown molding and facia that go all the way to the ceiling.
C. Buy a good 6 foot level and learn how to use it. “Stabila” makes the best levels. If your design will span floor to ceiling, it is critical for you to determine the high point of the floor and the low point of the ceiling before you begin your design. The is called your “clear span” or “Working Span” and knowing the dimension of this will save you many headaches if either the floor or the ceiling is substantially out of level.
D. Once you have completed your final design, go back and cross reference the measurements on your final floor plan with your notes from the last time you measured the jobsite.
E. Don’t assume that the finished wall measurement will always measure exactly 1-1/4” less than the stud to stud measurement. With this in mind if it is not possible to do a post-drywall installation measurement, give yourself at least 1-1/2” to 2” extra here especially if your fillers are going to be tight.

II. Confirmations:
Always double or triple check your confirmations.
A. NEVER assume that the confirmation that comes back will be identical to the order you submitted.
B. Again, the most common reason this mistake is made is that you are in a hurry. It will cost you less to take an additional hour to carefully check your confirmation that it will to fix a mistake caught after the installation has begun!

III. Obstructions:
A. Make sure there are no light fixtures or ceiling fans in the path of your opening wall cabinet doors.
B. Verify in advance that your crown molding will not encroach on air conditioning ducts or returns.

IV. Moldings:
A. If at all possible, avoid splices in moldings especially in painted finishes. If you find it absolutely necessary to do this, make sure you provide touch up paint for your installer
B. Installers are not always perfect. Always order one extra length of molding than you anticipate needing.
C. Make sure that there is enough room at the end of a wall cabinet run to end the crown properly against the wall without having to return it on itself on the adjacent wall.

V. Angles:
Because the angles in the homes in which we work are often not exactly 45 degrees, it is sometimes difficult to determine the exact size of the cabinetry we need to specify in order to maximize the cabinetry and minimize the fillers. This is especially true in custom sized projects when we are attempting to make all of the fillers the same width. Make life size cardboard cutouts of the footprints of your standard cabinetry. Make two - 24" X 24", two 21" X 24", two 15" X 24" and two 12" X 24" Use them at the jobsite to calculate where your cabinetry that is intended to meet at an angle will actually sit when installed.

VI. Square Walls or Almost Square Walls?
Use 3-4-5 & 6-8-10 right triangles to calculate the square-ness of a room especially when attempting to squeeze a run of cabinetry between two walls without fillers. It basically works like this… If you measure 4’ down one wall from the inside corner of a 90 degree wall intersection and 3’ down the adjoining wall and the hypotenuse of that triangle is exactly 5’, then the walls are at a perfect 90 degree angle. If the hypotenuse is bigger than 5’ then your walls are greater than a 90 degree angle. If the hypotenuse is less than 5’, then the walls are less than a 90 degree angle. For larger rooms, use a 6 – 8 – 10 triangle. It works the exact same way as the 3 – 4 – 5 triangle described above.

VII. Encourage Installers to tell you about design errors that you have made even if they do not intend to charge you for repairing the mistake. This will help you to NOT make the same mistake again.

VIII. Hardware:
If at all possible, get your customers to choose their hardware in advance. This may save a trip charge and avoid problems such as the drawers hitting the handles in corners with tight fillers.

IX. Appliances

A. Refrigerators
1. Everything except the 700 series Sub Zero doors need clearance to fully open.
2. Pay close attention to how far Plinth Blocks on columns framing your refrigerators protrude into the kitchen as well as their height corresponding to the bottom of the refrigerator doors. I see several installations each year where the design will not allow the refrigerator door to fully open without hitting the columns or plinth blocks.

B. Dishwashers - Verify the specifications on your European dishwashers to confirm whether they are the 4" or 6" toe kick model.

C. Some newer wall ovens require a full 24" depth or more inside the cabinet. Verify this and if the one you are specifying is of the deeper type, often you can simply order the cabinet without a back or plan to cut out the back of the cabinet at the elevation of the oven instead of incurring the costly expense of extending the side(s) to 25 or 26" deep.

X. Plumbing & Electrical:
Prepare in advance and in writing, all technical data on where plumbing and electrical receptacles are supposed to be located. Get them to the plumbers and electricians yourself. Do not depend on your customer or his contractor to make sure the other sub contractors you will be involved with have all the information they need in advance. We work for those who do this and with those who do not. The job always goes smoother when you have made these notifications well in advance!

One of the features on our CliveChristianInstallations.com website is a section where the contractors we are working with can go to verify the placement of plumbing and electrical components in each design.

Also please note that it is imperative to make sure that your installer knows before he begins work, the location of the master water shutoff valve and that access to that valve is unimpeded by barriers such as shrubbery, a below ground location or locked closet doors.

XI. One Very important Final Suggestion:
Based on the premise that a happy installer will be willing to do more for you without additional charge:

One of the worst things you can do is alienate your installer. If you have made a mistake that you have asked him to fix, added additional items to his scope of work or otherwise caused an increase to his labor and time spent installing your project and he invoices you for it, PAY HIM FOR IT.

I have heard from too many installers who have told me that often when they submit an invoice for extras, it is either denied, negotiated to a lesser amount or that they were made to feel guilty for charging their client for fixing mistakes for which they were not at fault. If your installer feels like he will not get paid for the work he does, he is much less likely to be looking out for your best interest on the jobsite.

On the other hand, an installer who knows you are always fair with him, will also be much more inclined to "go the extra mile" and do things for you that you may never even hear about let alone be billed for.

Don't talk down to your installers. Years ago, I worked for one woman who referred to the installers as “her carpenters”. She would take them away from their work area, ask their advice about something, and when she was done with them, turn around, clap her hands and say "back to work". There is nothing that the guys in the field hate more than people in the office who act as though they are better than the guys in the field.

At the end of the day, these could become the most costly errors of all.

Some of Eric’s Qualifications:

• I have owned and operated Father's Woodcraft in South Florida for over two decades. Approx. 40% of our business is retail kitchen and bathroom remodeling sales direct to the homeowner and the remainder is sales to contractors and installation work for people such as yourselves.

• I also run an international installation company catering primarily but not limited to the Clive Christian product line. We have a pool of qualified installers nationwide who are in the position to go anywhere in the world to install a kitchen.

• I personally have been on the tools for over 25 years. I have designed, built and installed cabinets, kitchens, bathrooms, offices, libraries as well as almost anything else you can think of. I have managed multi installer jobs both in high-rises and multi million dollar estates. I also have extensive experience in general construction and in historical preservation.

• In general, our standard range of travel for installation work is the eastern United States and the Caribbean; however we are equipped to go anywhere a job requires.