No cabinet manufacturer warranty covers any labor. Ever. The install labor warranty is a totally separate warranty, and is usually for one year only. Are you sure that these aren't locally made site built cabinets? The warranty reads like the manufacturer is also the installer, which is never the case unless it's a local maker. 5 years on the hardware is pretty chintzy. Darn chintzy. They must not use very good hardware at all. Here's a copy of the warranty for my mid-grade semi-custom line, Kemper. You can see it's warranted for as long as the original purchaser owns their home, hardware included. _______________________________________ Effective August 1, 2001, Kemper Cabinetry warrants the original consumer purchaser for as long as they own their home that the Kemper Cabinetry products will be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use. This warranty is only applicable to products used in residential applications within the United States and is not transferable to subsequent owners. Should defects in material or workmanship exist during the applicable warranty period in any Kemper Cabinetry product, Kemper Cabinetry will elect at its discretion to either repair or replace the defective material or component, free of charge. This warranty covers only parts and materials of the products supplied by Kemper Cabinetry. Not covered under this warranty are counter tops, appliances, plumbing fixtures, etc. or the costs, including labor, to remove and reinstall materials and related components such as fittings, appliances, etc. This warranty shall become void if the cabinets are in any way modified, improperly installed or damaged prior to or during the installation. Furthermore, this warranty will not apply to cabinets damaged by misuse, neglect, abuse, acts of God, exposure to moisture, exposure to extreme temperatures or the effects of normal wear and tear. Natural woods may vary in color, characteristics and exhibit subtle changes as they age. For example, white painted face frames may eventually have visible cracking around the joint area and cabinet colors may darken or lighten over time. Sunlight, smoke, household cleaners and other environmental conditions may also affect the color match over time. These variations are considered to be the nature of the material in relation to their environmental exposure and are not covered under this warranty. Kemper Cabinetry reserves the right to alter design, specifications and material without obligation to make similar changes to products previously manufactured. The repair(s) or replacements(s) are contingent upon the current product offerings of styles and construction options within the Kemper Cabinetry products at the time of the warranty claim. If a warranty claim is filed after a Kemper Cabinetry product becomes obsolete; Kemper Cabinetry reserves the right to honor the warranty in one of the following fashions: To replace the affected component with a new component of the same style. To replace the affected component and any other component(s) in the residential application to achieve a uniform appearance with a similar and comparable product style of the originally purchased style. If components are replaced, Kemper Cabinetry cannot guarantee that the finish of these replacements will exactly match the finish and appearance of the components in the residential application. This is due to the changes that occur during the woods' natural aging process, affecting its color and grain. THIS WARRANTY IS THE EXCLUSIVE WARRANTY OF KEMPER CABINETRY AND IS IN LIEU OF AND KEMPER CABINETRY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may have other rights, which vary from state to state. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations or exclusions may not apply to you. __________________ In addition, if you order a painted finish, you are required to sign the specs for paint. ________ Congratulations on your selection of Kemper cabinetry in Black, Cloud, Coconut, Dover, Pearl, Storm, or White painted finish. Because of its unique characteristics, this finish is quite different from other cabinetry finishes you may be familiar with. Your satisfaction is important to Kemper, and we want you to fully understand the characteristics that make painted finishes so distinctive. It is important to realize that the beauty of wood cabinetry comes from the natural qualities of wood itself. Kemper utilizes only select solid hardwoods and hardwood veneers. The beauty of these genuine woods lies in the variation of the grain. The textures of those natural grain patterns often remain visible with paint finish and should be accepted as inherent characteristics when selecting painted cabinetry. On wood products, normal movement is typical due to changes in climatic conditions; this will cause hairline cracks at stile and rail and panel joints. This hairline cracking is a normal characteristic of painted finishes and will not be considered a reason for product replacement. When ordering painted maple 5-piece styles, the door’s center panel will be constructed of MDF material. Over time, there may be a slight color shift in the paint finish due to the continued exposure to natural and artificial light sources. We mention these characteristics because neither Kemper nor your Kemper dealer can be responsible for these conditions and variations. Accordingly, we ask that the following agreement be signed for Paint Finish orders. I have read the foregoing and find the characteristic variations of wood with painted finish are desirable. As such, I agree not to hold Kemper and/or the Kemper dealer listed below responsible in the event that these characteristics are later found by me to be less desirable than I had expected. ______________

I had the same need because my pool project was very complicated and I received different "expert" opinions from each pool contractor. You are absolutely right that many PBs often recommend what they are used to doing. That is best for them but probably not what is best for you. I was fortunate to find a true expert but it took me a lot of time searching on line to find one who i thought really was the expert for me.. If you search on epoolscapes, you will see what i mean. Mike is located over 400 miles away from me but was able to do everything I needed with pictures, measurements and papers that I emailed to him. At first I thought his fees were high but it turned out to be worth far more than i paid and I wound up with a much better end result. The pool contractor I used was kept on his toes because I was enabled to be an expert consumer. If I ever move to a different house and am going to do another pool, i would use him for even more than I did this time.

Since I can't find a manufacturer's name on it (I don't want to try and lift it ot look under the base), I went and took a couple of close-ups of it for you. Perhaps someone here will recognize it and be able to tell you where you can get one. Since the last pic, I've moved it from the family room into our living room, to the right of the fireplace in there. It makes for a nice cozy reading area with great views out three different windows now. Lynn

@Rai Kai … I did learn so much!! Thanks for your contributions! @Beckysharp haha. I will be doing more research with the lawyer. I think overall my realtor was good—but I am not sure if overall we were the right fit. We will see if we stick with her. I know she put a lot of work and time into it --- so I do feel bad about us not going through with it. I will be doing more research and googling, and reading and using all my resources! Promise! @PitrateFoxy – I’ll probably be doing some research on a lawyer to have “on call” when we are at that point. You all were so right about all the other things – and I’m sure a few extra hundred bux (what like 500? ) will put me more at ease as I don’t like surprises unless they flowers, chocolate, or kisses :D @bellburgmaggie – isn’t that the truth. Alos.. Houzz app isn’t going anywhere! I love your story about finidng the right place! Man.. 3.5x your investment!! AWESOME!!! Were you ever concerned about over improving? That’s my biggest fear, especially if we buy very low… You know I always imagined buying the house with the crappy wall paper, shag carpet and pink or green tile in the bathrooms a horrible kitchen and then putting in my DREAM kitchen (or as im learning from houzzers, my 99% dream kitchen!). I think that’s something I was struggling with buying new. Even though I got to make a few selections… it wasn’t tailored to me really. So asking my husband in 3 years to redo the layout of the kitchen wasn’t going to fly :D Location location location is so hard for us. We are transplants – with family in the area, but are having a hard time finding the “right” home town. Everywhere we look is “safe” but I really want that neighborhood feel. I moved to Texas because I love saying yes sir, no ma’am, and I want to raise my kids like that. Sweet tea on the porch and waving to your neighbors. I want to make meals for new moms, or help out my grandparents when they need it. I may not have the Texas accent, and as the saying goes “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could!” @jannicone – I’m not deleting Houzz!! Just Realtor, Trulia and Zillow :D It may only last a week, but I need some distance! But I will use it as a resorce to keep an eye on the market and see what really happens during “selling” season. Happy to be sorta liked! @Denita , I should know better. I’m a firm believer that EVERYTHING is negotiable and if you aren’t willing to make any changes (they may not have lost me if they let me go to the design center and let me have 2 extra days – would have cost them nothing) I’m not inclined to play ball. Especially in an industry where negotiation is nearly expected. Looks like I have some more homework and research to do! I may need to find a new realtor. Not that she wasn’t good. I felt like she was doing a good job – but I’ll never know if she asked the builder for things. She did make us feel like her only clients, and she was very attentive and listened to my concerns. But I did get a slight feeling that she was “building” up the home a little more than she should have. We signed a contract for 6 months with her. She led with “if at any time you are done with me, I’ll just rip it up.” Who knows if that will come back to bite me in the butt. But, also thought we were going to end up with the first house and it would all be over. Again, lack of experience on my part. I've done some research on how you should select a buyers agent... and I did kind of do it all wrong.