Cabinet Changes

The Richland-Northwood office has emailed Talon Homes, Inc. a list of items that they consider changes to their original quote. The items and my reaction are shown in this blog post.

Northwood-Richland stated that they "reduced" the kitchen cabinet uppers by 3". They did in fact build the uppers to 33" instead of the 36" called for in the approved drawings. This was an unauthorized change and caused considerable rework for Talon. Northwood raised the cabinets and used a larger crown molding.

This 06/01/2010 email from the owner to Northwood-Richland confirms plans for the kitchen cabinets at 36", as well as other facets of Northwood's work, including the desk, and the built-ins around the fireplace.

Northwood-Richland claims that they added a roll-out tray in cabinet #15. There is a roll-out tray in this cabinet, but there's no way to determine from the original drawings provided whether the tray was included initially, or not.

Northwood-Richland did build cabinets in the mud room that were not part of the original plan.

Northwood-Richland states that they "added a bank of 3 drawers" to the utility room  lower cabinets.  They replaced a swing-out cabinet door with three drawers.

Northwood-Richland states that they installed a hanging rod between cabinets. They did,  in the space left by the removal of the 60" of cabinets over the washer and dryer

Northward-Richland states that they "enlarged" the corner upper and made the wall uppers deeper.  The cabinets as shown here appear to be the same as those shown in the drawing below, except that the cabinets over the washer and dryer have been removed, as stated above.

Northwood-Richland stated that they "added two drawers to the vanity" in the master bath. They in fact changed the configuration on the left and right ends of the vanity from one standard drawer and two oversized drawers (3 drawers) to four standard drawers.

Northwood-Richland states that they added medicine cabinets to the master (shown here) and "main" (actually downstairs) bath (shown below). They did.

Downstairs bath showing medicine cabinet.

Northwood-Richland states that they made "multiple design changes" to the downstairs kitchenette/wetbar design. This photo shows the original drawing posted by Northwood on the framed kitchenette wall. The change requested was to combine the two narrow cabinets on either side of the microwave shelf into one larger cabinet (see below). This is the only design change requested.

This is the drawing of the redesigned kitchenette cabinets.

The new drawing showing the redesigned kitchenette cabinets was not posted on the kitchenette, resulting in the soffits built to accommodate the cabinets being incorrect.

The finished cabinets did not align correctly with the soffits, which caused Talon Homes, Inc. considerable rework.

This photo shows the reworked soffits over the kitchenette cabinets.

Northwood-Richland states that they made "design changes" to the built-ins around the fireplace, and built a floating mantle for the FP.  This is the original drawing for the built-ins.

The design change called for reducing the height of the built-ins  from 84" to 48" around the FP, as shown in this Northwood drawing.

Northwood-Richland offered to build the FP mantle in lieu of Talon building it.

Northwood-Richland built the mantle, drilled numerous holes attempting  to locate studs , then hung the mantle  in the wrong place. When they moved it, they damaged the wall, causing Talon additional work to plaster and paint the wall over the mantle (see below).

Northwood-Richland states that they provided particle board tops and "self edge." They don't specify where, but one assumes it was for the bathroom vanities. Someone had to top the vanities. As for the self edge, it was to have been Formica, but Northwood took it upon themselves to do it. JJ Gonzales was there when we discovered they'd done this, and we decided to leave it rather than have them remove it and have JJ do the Formica edge.

Northwood-Richland's email states that they provided a wood desk. They did. It was called for in the original drawings. The only change was that they were asked to provide a wood top (see below), which we opted for instead of quartz.