Install Flooring Before Cabinets

Cabinets and appliances without flooring underneath are much harder to move.

Install flooring before cabinets.

If you are installing click lock vinyl plank flooring you should not install under cabinets. Install plywood in remaining area to exact height of tile floor to finish cabinet install. The flooring contractor will not have to work around existing cabinetry so the work can go that much faster. Install tile under cabinets and floor based appliances with a 2 inset this allows you to move the pattern and grout lines where needed.

Finally install the cabinets on both strips and attach the toekicks. If you foresee yourself craving layout change we advise you cover your kitchen in wall to wall flooring first. Now install the new flooring but keep it about a inch from the first filler strip. In most cases given standard flooring heights you will install the cabinets before the floor covering.

No wasted tile and appliances can me moved for repairs without problems. The flooring will be able to expand and contract beneath the toekick without revealing a gap. With a floating floor you install after and cabinets should be raised by adding plywood underneath them before the cabinets are installed. This assumes that the floating floor has a significant height.

Installing the floors before the cabinets has some advantages. Floor covering or finish flooring is the surface that you see and walk on not the subfloor under the underlayment or underlayment between subfloor and finished layer. The finish can be applied after the cabinet installation lessening concerns about marring the floors during the remodel. Typically cabinets come before flooring.