Start with what's behind the wall
Cabinetry, appliance clearances, ventilation, plumbing, electrical capacity, and any structural changes have to be planned together, since fixing one in isolation usually just moves the problem.
Put it in writing first
- Existing condition and probable cause
- Protection plan for the rest of the home
- Materials and how they'll be installed
- Permits, inspections, and cleanup
- What's excluded, the warranty terms, and how change orders get handled
Fayetteville context
Almost none of the soil and drainage picture reaches an interior kitchen, and it is more honest to say so than to manufacture a link. What actually governs a Fayetteville kitchen project is the age and category of the house. Military-era and postwar housing here was built compact and efficient, with small compartmented kitchens and load-bearing interior walls in exactly the places people now want opened -- so the layout change is a structural question before it is a cabinet question. Historic neighborhoods add plaster, older wiring and supply piping that frequently has to be addressed once walls are open, which is why the allowance for what is found matters as much as the finish budget. Crawl space construction under most of this housing is the one place the outside world enters, since relocating a sink or an island means working down there -- and that is where any existing moisture problem will be discovered.