Put kitchen cabinets on new floor or lay floor around them? Help, advice, information, answers and tips on all types of flooring from laminate and carpet to timber and vinyl

[cerbsurf]

Hi, Im planning to put an engineered oak, floating floor in our Kitchen. Im currently in the process of installing new base units as well and am at the point where im not sure weather to lay the floor and put the cabinets on top or put the cabinets in and then lay the floor around them?

Im thinking do the floor after in case we ever want to replace it?

It's going onto a concrete floor.

[kekec]

check the projects - how to lay laminate floor (same princip applies to laying eng.wood) - DPM membrane, correct underlay etc. Mind you wood and kitchen are difficult combination, as a)you'll need to glue floating floor to prevent water damage b)go for good quality flooring product to avoid above which will cost more than just any eng.wood i.e. £20/m2 from B&Q.

To answer your ? - I would lay floor first, in fact should be layed first as any spilled liquid can penetrate where floor meets kitchen units. Personally I would go for laminate (glued and one that can be layed in kitchens and batrooms.) Plus if you want to change layout any time later, if floor is under units, that can be done if just to the units, you'll need to lay more and that can be difficult to do..

[jwr]

I am days away from undertaking a scimilar project and after much head scratching , im going to lay the entire floor and cabinets will sit on top . Prevents any spillage and if your spending good money on a hard wood floor then its worth doing it properly . As mentioned in previous post , if you do want to change the kitchen at a later stage it will be near impossible to fill the gaps with new floorboards and get a good colour match . My moto , which isnt everyones , is do it nice or do it twice . Best of luck

[jezebelle]

I have the same dilema as well.

Some have recommended to save money, put new flooring around the kitchen units. Reason being - why waste money on expensive flooring when it will be hidden under the units?

The other reason is we already have good ceramic flooring in the kitchen, so laying down expensive, engineered flooring around the units is adequate.
If the flooring is layed just under the skirting board, any spillage will be cleaned off easily.

Any experts out there - need your advice and reasons!

[jezebelle]

I have had a suggestion : to put thick plywood (the same depth of the wood flooring) hindden under the appliances and kitchen units. This would make it easier to move freestanding appliances when needed.