Symmetry
The renovation design called for symmetry between the load-bearing beam and a newly created faux beam. Thus, the midpoints of the range hood, island center pendant and sink would all be collinear, creating a line of symmetry between the two beams. (Yes, I tutor geometry.) A combination of events caused the plan to go awry. First, the measurements on the blueprint did not match with the actual after-demolition dimensions. In fact, they were about 10" off. Then, when the cabinets were built, the cabinetmaker took some liberty with the plans and changed the width of one cabinet, causing the sink cabinet to get shifted. To his credit, he really was working from the overall island dimensions off the blueprint, plus a back-of-the-napkin sketch with some changes in detail. Finally, the "invisible" centerline was not necessarily used as the reference line for locating all things.
So, this confluence of miscommunication resulted in this alignment:
Mind you, the sink was perfectly aligned with the cabinet beneath it. The countertop had been delivered in one week and in fine condition by a local, independent counter company. We had originally planned to get the countertop from a local big box store, but it would have taken 3 weeks just to get the guys out to measure the space. The local guy was less expensive, too, in the end.
Anyhow, like a spoiled child, I put my foot down on this one. I wanted the symmetry. We decided replacing the countertop and cabinets was a waste of resources, though, contractually speaking, we would have been within our rights to have the contractor change them out. In the end, we opted to put in a wider sink. The sink would no longer be aligned with its base cabinet, but the faucet would sit directly on the line of symmetry. We love our bigger sink, by the way, so it ended up a happy fault.
One item of note: the countertop was delivered with all holes cuts out and polished. That included holes for the faucet (aligned with center of sink) and air switch for the garbage disposal (aligned with right edge of sink). The countertop guys created a tent around the island and went to work. They cut out and polished a larger sink hole and a new faucet hole. The sink cutout is not as perfect as the factory machined hole, but it's pretty darn good. Also, the original air switch hole was plugged in since it was now located underneath the faucet side handle, making it inaccessible. We opted to use the "first sink" faucet hole for the air switch. It's on the left side of the faucet, perhaps a bit awkward for the right-handed homeowners, but we use it so infrequently, we figured it would be just fine. And, come to think of it, the garbage disposal switch in our original kitchen was a wall switch to the left of the sink which required us to take a step to activate. Our new island sink arrangement is a huge improvement.
So, this confluence of miscommunication resulted in this alignment:
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| Symmetry problems: sink is not alignment with the range and center pendant. |
Anyhow, like a spoiled child, I put my foot down on this one. I wanted the symmetry. We decided replacing the countertop and cabinets was a waste of resources, though, contractually speaking, we would have been within our rights to have the contractor change them out. In the end, we opted to put in a wider sink. The sink would no longer be aligned with its base cabinet, but the faucet would sit directly on the line of symmetry. We love our bigger sink, by the way, so it ended up a happy fault.
 |
| Symmetry regained: from this perspective the range/range hood, center pendant and faucet are in alignment. |
One item of note: the countertop was delivered with all holes cuts out and polished. That included holes for the faucet (aligned with center of sink) and air switch for the garbage disposal (aligned with right edge of sink). The countertop guys created a tent around the island and went to work. They cut out and polished a larger sink hole and a new faucet hole. The sink cutout is not as perfect as the factory machined hole, but it's pretty darn good. Also, the original air switch hole was plugged in since it was now located underneath the faucet side handle, making it inaccessible. We opted to use the "first sink" faucet hole for the air switch. It's on the left side of the faucet, perhaps a bit awkward for the right-handed homeowners, but we use it so infrequently, we figured it would be just fine. And, come to think of it, the garbage disposal switch in our original kitchen was a wall switch to the left of the sink which required us to take a step to activate. Our new island sink arrangement is a huge improvement.
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