Kitch floor or units which comes first
- Thread starter alanp1ck
- Start date
The answer to this depends on whether you are my Father in Law or not. He tiles behind his kitchen cupboards and lays the flooring under them. That’s because his wife (my Mother in Law) insists on cleaning behind them and under them. None of his cupboards are fixed, so he can pull them out. He’s even experimented with false bottoms and wheels.
However, in the real world most folk don’t lay expensive floor underneath their kitchen cupboards.
However, in the real world most folk don’t lay expensive floor underneath their kitchen cupboards.
alan - we always floor first then install the units. Doing it like this means you have a level surface for the cupboard carcasing, no unsightly cuts of the flooring around the carcasing (there will be gaps - yuk). Some here will correctly suggest that if you have a flood a floor laid up to the cupboards can be easily replaced and one running under the cupboads to the walls won't. However, a major flood is likely also to damage the cupboards and be an insurance job ... let them pay for a whole new floor and if that means taking the cupboards out then they'll pay for that to happen. If you do go for the 'up to the cupboard' method slip ply which is the same thickness as the flooring under the cupboards to create a level floor.
Even if it was an expensive floor we still go to the walls. Finally, it also makes for an easier installation ... fewer cuts.
Even if it was an expensive floor we still go to the walls. Finally, it also makes for an easier installation ... fewer cuts.
Symptoms, I know where you're coming from but...
even without a flood we have seen kitchen floors go horribly wrong when the wood floor was fitted wall to wall first and then unites placed on top of it.
Even though normal expansion gaps were left all around, the weight of some units worked as a restriction on the natural seasonal movement - making the floor cup at the most awkward places.
even without a flood we have seen kitchen floors go horribly wrong when the wood floor was fitted wall to wall first and then unites placed on top of it.
Even though normal expansion gaps were left all around, the weight of some units worked as a restriction on the natural seasonal movement - making the floor cup at the most awkward places.
always TILE the whole floor first.
WYL - We've never had the sort of problems you describe regarding cupboard cascases restricting movement even on some of the stuff we installed years ago where we continue to to hold the Freeholds (and so are responsible for repair/maintenance). Mind it begs the general question about the wisdom of installing laminate (as opposed to engineered or solid {we've also never had any probs with solid in kitchens} flooring).
I'm sure you never had problems, because IMHO you know what you are doing
The cases we've seen the above mentioned problems in were installed by - dare I say - cowboys.
The cases we've seen the above mentioned problems in were installed by - dare I say - cowboys.
i see alot of failed floors, and i would say never go under the kitchen cubards.
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