I think I had a post with this title! But the content was different.

Yeah, it'll look bad. I'm sorry. But you could ease the edge (if it's squarish) all around the front and side where it meets and it might end up OK. But that's a maybe.

Can't the carpenter rout out the spots where it rests on the cabinets so it's flush? Or would it then look deeper than the neighboring counter?

it would be one of those things that would drive me crazy. I would make the trip and have it planed down. I think the effort over the long term is well worth it.

1/4" off when you are talking kitchens is a big deal. for all you are putting into this, I think this is a small price to pay for making it 100% right.

Oh darn! It might sound like not a big deal to the carpenter - but it's not his/her kitchen!! I think you should try to do whatever you can to even it out - it would bug me too!

You need to think long and hard about this. If you think this will bug you forever, then get it done now while you still can. I really don't think it will look bad since the tops are different materials, but it will be noticable and you may not be happy with it. I think if it was me, I'd make the drive.

fori, I asked the carpenter about routing out the bottom. I don't think I'd mind if the bottom came down lower. He said he can't do it.

Karen, I think you're probably right about this bothering me. All the men around me think I'm being silly, but I know myself, and I don't want to be bugged by something that I can fix now for some extra effort.

Now that I think about it, though, is the hutch the same color? Does it look different enough to pass as "unfitted"? Because then it would LOOK fine, but still be annoying to work on.

And shouldn't the KD do the drive?

Nope, it's the same color, just like in the kitchen in the first photo.

The KD said that I told her 1 1/2 inches, and I'm totally inclined to believe her because she's not the kind of person to lie to cover up her mistake and also because it's very easy for me to believe I messed up the conversion from metric to inches.

Hmm. Same backsplash? Raise the marble?

Nope. Do the drive. Or see if they'll pick it up at the bus station. (No, really--we used to ship packages on Greyhound all the time because it was so cheap.)

I think it's a different piece- made to look like a separate piece of furniture--so I don't think it would look at all bad to be a little different. I would never expect to slide a hutch up against cabinets and have the heights match exactly. And sometimes having the differing heights makes it better than a seam that meets and gathers crud. But it's your kitchen and now's the time to have it made like you want.

Raise the stone part of the counter. Use anything that works and that your "Guys" will use. I happen to have 1/8" steel strips lying around, painted with antirust paint. I'd cover them with thinset and Kerdi to get the right thickness around 1/4"; or I'd buy a bit of the thinnest Hardibacker (1/4") and sand it down if it was a tad too thick; or I'd buy a wood product; anything under the stone!

All the other solutions mentioned above are good too. Lowering it by Routering, etc. Also, You can lower it by sanding down the tops of the cabinets that it rests on. Why has that not been considered?

I Really don't think you need to drive hours to have it sanded down by some distant expert. That introduces other risks too. And, it's a lot of cost. And time sanding. And time driving.

Stick to your guns. This is not right. Don't let them treat you as if the homeowner was a ditz who fiddled with meaningless details. Regardless of your friend missing this 3 cm -vs- 1.5 inch height difference, it does not speak highly of his or her competencies today. Now on top of all this You have to be the one to come up with solutions, too !! There are many many ways to fix this right now and I suspect your "guys" are all laughing up their sleeve as they watch you squirm. I've seen this kind of behavior before.

HTH
David

rhome, I agree with what you're saying about not expecting a separate piece to match up. I guess I'm worried that the hutch doesn't look like a separate piece because it's the same color. I just don't want it to look like a mistake ... Do you really think a seam at the same height will gather gunk? I was worried about the little bump between gathering gunk.

David, thanks for your suggestions. I am still looking into raising the marble a little but I can't raise it a full 1/4 inch because it will interfere with the window.

I asked the carpenter about cutting off the tops of the cabinets 1/4 inch, but he doesn't want to do it. I think he's afraid of damaging them.

I think I gave you the wrong impression about the guys working for me and the kitchen designer. They're all wonderful and helpful. The men I was referring to included my DH, who is baffled by why I'm so concerned about 1/4 inch. But he wants me to be happy so he's leaving it up to me to decide what to do.

The expense to plane the wood top down would be the cost of gas and $200 for the labor. I don't mind paying that, because I'm sure it was my mistake.

Greyhound would be great except that Crown Point and I both live in small NH towns with no bus service. =)

I think the different counter makes it look like a different piece, otherwise it wouldn't 'make sense.' Crud gathers in low places, not 'bumps.' ;-) And maybe because there is a seam, it would still gather, but be less noticeable? Maybe the bump would actually kind of shade/protect the seam from gathering the stuff?

Butcherblock is traditionally at least 1.5" oftentimes greater than that. Stone is traditionally at most 1.25" often less than that(2cm.) So in a traditional setting, it would be common to see a thicker wood top abutting a stone top. With your CP inset cabs skewing to the traditional, I don't think it would look odd at all- especially with the corbels making it more hutch like.

Disclaimer: I have cherry butcherblock abutting soapstone with a height difference. I think having them the same height would be too modern of a look for my kitchen. JMHO.

laxsupermom, that's a great point. I was just downstairs looking at my wood top and thinking how nice and chunky it looks and what a shame it would be to have to shave it down. I think what's bothering me is that I've pictured it looking one way all along (like in the photo), and it's hard for me to adjust to envisioning differently. I have the feeling that if I saw the differing heights in someone's kitchen it might not strike me as odd at all?

Arg ...

(off to look for laxsupermom's kitchen in the FKB ...)

My thoughts --
1.)$200 is small price to pay if it is something that will really bug you.
2.) On the other hand it could make the hutch stand out more like an old fashion piece of furniture.
Since you mentioned Crown Point, did you run it by the designer and get his/her input as to looks?

erika, my kitchen isn't in the FKB because we've stalled at the high 80something percent done spot and I promised myself I wouldn't post pics until at least 92%done. We haven't even ordered the backsplash yet. I want carrara marble subways and am a little scared because I keep reading that carrara has recently been coming out of the quarries a little muddy instead of crisp white. So there's backsplash, toekicks, outlets, paint, message center wall and wine&liquor storage(DH will build, I just gave him the drawings.) You'll probably beat us to the finish line.

Perhaps you should do a small ogee on the front and sides and it will look absolutely intentional! Lax is right--chunky butcherblock, as long as you weren't planning on working ON the crack.

Maybe she'll take a picture for you.

Oh wow, I'm an idiot.

fori, you just made me remember that I had specified a dupont edge for my marble. I really wanted a dupont edge for the marble on my island, and it totally slipped my mind that the same edge on my perimeter would be abutting the wood top. *smacks self on the forehead*

I need to go make myself a cup of tea and figure out what I should do now ...

eandhl, sorry I missed your post. The Crown Point designer said she understands if I'm bothered by the height difference. She didn't think it would look terrible, could even appear intentional, but she said I should fix it if it's going to bother me.

Is the edge going along the side where it hits the wood, too? That would accentuate and so minimize the difference, just like doing it to the wood instead. Maybe. Kinda. Perhaps?

I think it might work just fine. In your example photo, they don't look lined up all that perfectly; the depths of the materials are different as well. Different edge profiles along with the corbels would really make it A Hutch instead of a buncha cabinetry styled to be sorta hutchlike.

I would slide my square-edged butcherblock-topped cabinet up against my fancy-edged Corian to show how it'd look, but the pink speckled plastic would scar your brain and turn you against mixed edges. And it's really heavy.

O, and I've changed my mind from my first inclination of it'll look bad. I should probably be ignored completely at this point.

erika, if you want to send me an e-mail at wgates@stny.rr.com, I can e-mail you a pic of the butcherblock/soapstone juncture.

Are they willing to fix it after you live with it for a few weeks? If they are I think it might be worth it as during the process you are in a scrutinizing stage. When it is finished things look different and not as upsetting.

you can also sand down the hutch legs. I think you said the wood is only on one piece of furniture, a hutch.

fori, you're too funny ... thanks for the giggle!

hmm, do you mean finishing the edge where the 2 surfaces meet? I think that would just leave a little bead along the seam which for sure would collect gunk.

eandhl, I thought about seeing how it would look and then taking the wood top out later if I don't like it. But the marble people said the wood top needs to be in place for the templating and install, which makes sense. Once the marble is in, I'm afraid that taking the wood top back out could damage it or the marble or both. My setup is just like in the photo above, there's a wall to the right of the hutch. No wiggle room.

david, there are no legs to sand down unfortunately.

laxsupermom, emailed you. =)

Thanks everyone for being so helpful and patient with my silliness.

Erika,
You are not being silly! The things that are currently driving me crazy in my kitchen are so little, but were details that I let the carpenters talk me out of. From getting to know you through your posts on GW, I am confident that 1/4 inch would drive you crazy over time. I know it would me. The drive to Crown Point may be long, but in the end it will be worth it to have your kitchen as you have envisioned it. Plus, you'll get to see where your cabinets were made.

Are you saying sand down the entire wood top? I'm not sure I would do that. It really to me would be less about how it looks and more about whether I had planned on an uninterrupted stretch of counter space. But if you are putting wet dishes on the stone and doing something else on the wood, it might not matter. I also like the idea of changing the smaller stretch of stone height more than the whole wood thing.

fori, bingo! My thoughts exactly ... the 1/4 inch seems like a near miss right? Unlike something like this which looks fab:

{{gwi:1562062}}

I can't change the profile of the wood top because that would mean having to refinish it. I thought about raising the wood top up, so that there would be a more distinct difference, but I have no idea how to do that without something showing between the top of the cabinets and wood top ...

Mary! You know me too well, LOL. TKO! I really don't mind the drive, it would be a nice break from the sawdust and noise. It's just the top is so pretty, and I want to make sure of what I'm doing before I decide to let them shave some thickness off it. And now I need to decide what to do about the mismatched edges (dupont next to squared off). Wanna decide for me? =)

Hi frankie, the folks at Crown Point said they can hand-plane the bottom of the wood top to reduce the thickness by 1/4 inch. I don't care about the interruption in counter space, I'm more concerned that it looks like a mistake.

The marble is 10 feet long, so it's actually the larger piece.

I don't know what I think would look better, but if you decide you do want them the same height, you should have it changed. Crown Point cabinetry isn't inexpensive, so it'd be a shame to have their beautiful work done only to end up settling for something. If you decide to plane it, couldn't you have a local cabinetmaker do it for you? Or would that pose warranty problems? Even if you do decide to drive to CP, it wouldn't be so bad. You could make it a mini vacation -- have lunch in a cafe or window shop at some antique stores!

Davidro made me think of this: could you have someone saw 1/4" off the bottom of the plywood all around? Chances are the cabinets are on leveling legs. The only part that will show will be the kickplate, and that's easy to deal with.

Let us know how it goes!

Hi Erika.

My humble opinion:

Collect your favorite CD's. Maybe promise your girlfriends a nice dinner on the road and make it a road trip?

Make the drive. Full disclosure: With two babies at home, I'd welcome a car trip with my music (not Raffi) blaring.

Match the edges.

Your kitchen is going to be amazing.

Good luck.

Okay, if I understand this correctly, your countertop has a different edge and even if you bring the wood top down 1/4" you're still not going to have a smooth surfance between the two? Also, you're going to have corbels on your hutch? I would agree with seeing if they will let you live with it a couple of weeks as I think it will look good and give that piece cabinet more of a hutch look. I think your countertop being a 1-1/4 and your wood top being 1-1/2 would just accentuate that your hutch is a "separate" piece of furniture (plus I love a pretty wood slab and would hate to it planed down).

I am very biased toward the unfitted kitchen look so take this in mind when reading above. I was going to do our one run of cabinets with an antique baker's cabinet ending the run on which the top was lower than the countertop--that was until I went to an estate auction a couple of weeks ago and purchased a gorgous large pie safe (LOL!) and had to rework my kitchen plans (again).

So it's already finished wood? What species? You could stick some stained-to-match (or painted to match the cabinets) square moulding under it, tucked under for a stacked look to make it higher. If higher was a good way to go.

Farmhousebound has a point. It might just look good. Perhaps we're making a big deal out of nothing.

See, this is why I'm having MY mismatched counters 5" lower. It has NOTHING to do with a window I don't want to move. It's all about the edges!

My neighbor recently had her kitchen redone. She had granite counters installed. The problem with the counters was that her counters followed an L shape and the short side of the L had different height cabinets than the long side of the L. This happened because she had a cooktop and under counter oven installed and the KD did not allow enough room in the oven cabinet for the proper clearance under the oven and the proper clearance between the cooktop and the oven. Prior to counter top install, but after templating, the oven was installed, but a filler strip was added to the top and bottom of the cabinet holding the cooktop and the oven. This raised the counter top 1.5 inches. The company installing the counters was not aware of this until they came to install the countertops. Lo and behold, they dry fitted the counters and noticed the height difference. The solution was to add filler to the other side. It isn't noticeable unless she points it out. The filler matches her cabinets and the counters are level. She is only 5'3" and states that she actually like the slightly higher counters as it makes it easier for her do do everyday tasks. She loves the kitchen and a situation similar to yours, except with the same material of countertop, resolved.
Longs way to make a point, I know, but could you place filler strip under the cabinet with the lower counter to raise it level? Do door need to match the cabinets on either side? I notice in one of the posted photos that the doors aren't level and the toe kicks aren't either......

Look to the left of Redrange's red range. Different style kitchen, but there's a wood-stone joint that might help decide.

Here is a link that might be useful: fkb

Thanks everyone for all your input. I decided to sleep on it before making a decision.

Fori, thanks for posting that link for me. I don't know what Redrange's height difference is, but it looks fine.

My carpenter put my top on today, and after seeing how great the thick wood looks, I've decided not to plane it down. I'm going to think of it as a separate piece and the backsplash will be different too. Also, I really didn't want to give up the Dupont edge for the marble. Going to keep my fingers crossed that it turns out looking nice...

Your kitchen is going to be sooooo beautiful! I'm glad you decided not to plane down that beautiful wood top. Watching your kitchen come together is very inspiring and fun!

I think that is bold enough to be different. That's not regular ol' butcherblock and gives it a very furniturey look.

All this fuss for nothing! Anyway, judging by the coffee maker, you've already moved in (or ON).

Hi Erika, check out p. 151 of Feb Architectural Digest. Photo shows a wood counter that is slightly higher than adjacent counters-- it looks great.

morton, I stopped by Barnes & Noble tonight, but they only had the March issue. =\

Hi Erika,
Yeah! I found the photo online. Would have looked yestereday but I was in transit and browsing GW on my phone . . .

Here is a link that might be useful: Architectural Digest photo

I haven't read this thread entirely so maybe I'm missing something....but to me the 2 countertops in your inspiration photos look like they are slight different heights, maybe it's an optical illusion, but I think it looks great. I think that having the 2 different counters butting exactly into one another would look too sleek and modern and totally opposite to your desired effect. The lower cabinet lines are matching up and I think it would have looked more strange if you had adjusted the base cabinets in any way (i.e. sanding the hutch down.) There is already a visual break between the hutch and sink counter with the different counters and corbels and the slight change in height helps set the 2 areas apart. The corbels would have made it difficult to work in that space anyway so the height change doesn't hurt functionally. And the height difference works so that when you're wiping down the hutch toward the sink you'll be going down hill. I think this is going to end up being a happy accident.

Your cabinets are beautiful. I love your hutch. I can't wait to see your finished (or 90%) kitchen.

morton, thanks a million for posting that ... I feel sooo much better now!

zelmar, thank you!