LVT flooring and kitchen cabinets

We're in the middle of a kitchen refurb, LVT flooring arrived this week and kitchen cabinets coming next week.

My partner and I are in disagreement about having the kitchen cabinets sitting on top of the flooring, I'm against the idea as it explicitly states the LVT is a floating floor that will expand/shrink so having the kitchen cabinets on top is a bad idea (This is stated in the installation instructions)

My partner wants the flooring throughout because she hates the idea of having bare concrete behind the plinth, she's worried that dust/dirt will be hidden underneath.

I'm trying to find a solution that keeps everyone happy, I was debating using some cheap boards under the kitchen cabinets that can't be seen, with holes cut out for the legs so they sit on the concrete base.

Ask your parnter how often she will take off the plinths and clean behind them.

Normally you tile wall to wall, but LVT upto the base unit legs, then flooring, then plinths.

Andy

I would follow the flooring manufacturer's instructions. Most floating LVT systems aren't designed to have heavy cabinets sitting on top because they need room to expand and contract. We left the floor out under the cabinets and only ran it up to where the plinth covers it, so you can't see the subfloor anyway. If you are worried about dust, giving the concrete a quick seal or coat of paint before the cabinets go in can help, and it's still better than risking issues with the flooring later. The board idea could work too, but I'd check with the flooring manufacturer first to make sure it won't affect the warranty.

LVT to the cabinets, not underneath. They need to be able to expand and contract.....plenty of info out there about this...

Never used it but I always imagined that cabinets on the LVT would not stop the expansion. Sort of the powers of thermal expansion are more powerful that the weight of the cabinet and it will "slide" underneath so long as it does not touch the wall.