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What are the criteria that define the different 'grades' of cabinets? When comparing bids for cabinets, what structural or quality aspects would you consider the most important to quantify, aside from convenience or luxury items like full extension drawers, etc? Thanks.

As a designer, we see cabinets fitting into three groups; stock, semi-custom and custom. The distension between these three groups is more about customization, availability and style/finish options than quality. It is true that custom cabinetry will typically have more hand work performed on the cabinets than stock cabinetry. However, quality standards are similar throughout the three groups.  I have included a link to the Kitchen Cabinet Manufactures Association (KCMA). They perform several performance tests on manufactured cabinets to check for durability and reliability. The link to the test procedures is http://www.kcma.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Visitors.Performance . I think a visit to their site will help answer your question.

We have a hotel with a shower floor 6" above the bathroom floor. The shower lip is 9 1/2" above the bathroom floor (3 1/2" above the shower floor). Is there a code indicating a maximum allowable change in level from the bathroom floor to the shower floor? Is there a maximum allowable shower lip height?

This is a question that should be answered by your local building inspector since your hotel falls under commercial building codes rather than residential codes. I will say that you are right to question the difference in heights of the bathroom floor and the shower floor. A difference of 3 ½“ can catch a person off-guard as they step into or out of the bath. This difference can be even more dangerous if the person is not holding onto a railing or grab bar. Since the NKBA deals with residential kitchens and baths we suggest you contact a professional who is active in the commercial market in your area.

cabinet height when using a 6" high vessel basin and how far above the basin should your wall mount faucet be installed

You question has a lot of variables. Is the bath to be used by several people with different heights such as a hall bath? Will the lavatory be located in a master bath? Based on the user, I would suggest the top of the vessel be about 6” below the primary users elbow height. Let’s use 39” as a height of the elbow for a person about 5’ 3” tall. The top of the vessel lavatory would be 6” below that at 33”. If the vessel is 6” high the countertop would be 27” above the floor. If I was designing the space for my client, I would ask them to find a lavatory height that they found comfortable to use. Then by measuring 6” below the rim height, I would have the counter height for the client’s vessel lav.

As far as the wall mounted faucet; this is a good question for the NKBA dealer in their showroom. Wall mounted faucets vary in depth and the trajectory of the water leaving the faucet. It is possible that water will splash out of the bowl if the faucet and bowl do not match. The height of the vessel lav is also a factor as the water drops into the bowl. Another issue is a bowl with less depth used in conjunction with a deep wall mounted faucet. The faucet will get in your way as you try to splash water on your face. Once you select the bowl, ask the dealer for the best faucet.

Is there a NKBA guideline concerning the mounting of an island to the floor.

No. The only issues than NKBA addresses concerning islands would be landing areas and work isles and passageways around islands. When planning islands make sure the appropriate utilities can be installed. Water and gas if needed can be a problem if the kitchen is on a concrete slab. Your island, if mounted to the floor, must have electrical receptacles. You will need task lighting over the island if you will use it for meal preparation or eating. And don’t forget, proper ventilation if the island contains a cooking appliance. As far a physically mounting the island, be sure to consider extra leverage placed on the island by countertops that extend out over the base cabinets. The island must be firmly mounted to the floor to avoid movement that would damage electrical and plumbing connections.

How much space is needed around entry door to bathroom so that person can step aside to close the door?

The average person should fit into a 2’ x 2’ space. However this is not a code because it is assumed that you could step into the space the door occupies as you close the door behind you. The International Residential Code does require a door to open without interfering with any fixtures. Additionally, you are required to have at least 21” in front of all of the bathroom fixtures plus 24” in front of a shower. Once the bath is planned with code minimums there is typically room to stand while opening or closing a bathroom door unless you are using a wheelchair or walker.

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