Flooring under kitchen cabinet?

[Tin Soldier]

Looking to bamboo my open plan kitchen/living area.

 

Should you run flooring up to the plinths in a kitchen, or all the way to the wall, prior to kitchen cabinet being fitted?

 

Can't seem to get a clear steer on this

 

Scott

[Ian]

@Tin Soldier

the advantage of laying your flooring through & under your kitchen units is that it makes getting white goods eg dishwasher in & out much easier as there’s no lip in floor level for them to get stuck behind

[Crofter]

I've always floored past the plinth, just easier as it's one less edge to worry about, and looks neater as you can use the plinth to hide the edge instead of a bead.

[Ferdinand]

Totally up to you.

 

I do the whole floor if the floor will last longer than the fitted kitchen eg if porcelain tiles, and if I have time to do it first.

 

The last one I did I used a floating laminate floor up to the plinths and into appliance spots, but I put a 600 x 600 black porcelain floor tile where the tall fridge would be.

 

F

[Mr Punter]

Always floor throughout.  Mastic seal floor edges to plasterboard before skirting if pos.  It means that if you get a leak, it won't track under the floor and you will notice it quicker.  Also appliances will be easy to move in and out without a lip to get over.

[Tin Soldier]

thumbs p guys, seems like a consensus

[Vijay]

Why not just tile where white goods are going and everywhere else up to plinth legs/feet

[ProDave]

19 minutes ago, Vijay said:

Why not just tile where white goods are going and everywhere else up to plinth legs/feet

That's what I did. Means you can leave choosing and paying for the tiles until nearer completion.

[Nickfromwales]

3 hours ago, Vijay said:

Why not just tile where white goods are going and everywhere else up to plinth legs/feet

Exactamunnnnnndo!

Why throw good money under a kitchen?

[newhome]

4 hours ago, Vijay said:

Why not just tile where white goods are going and everywhere else up to plinth legs/feet

 

Made the mistake of not doing that here and when the integrated dishwasher drowned in its own waste water the legs didn't lower enough to get the damn thing out. I had to take 2 tiles up as I couldn't do anything to lift the granite worktop slightly. I did manage to lift the tiles and lay them again myself but it was a faff. I did at least buy a new dishwasher that adjusts down much lower so when this one dies I should be able to get it out without too much difficulty (in theory lol). 

 

 

[PeterW]

9 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Exactamunnnnnndo!

Why throw good money under a kitchen?

 

Errr because kitchens change ..?? I did a conversion where two rooms got swapped and the stone flooring didn’t go under the kitchen cabinets - fun job getting that to match otherwise it was 40sqm up and in the skip for the sake of about 5sqm. 

[Nickfromwales]

41 minutes ago, PeterW said:

 

Errr because kitchens change ..?? I did a conversion where two rooms got swapped and the stone flooring didn’t go under the kitchen cabinets - fun job getting that to match otherwise it was 40sqm up and in the skip for the sake of about 5sqm. 

Most people who re-model a kitchen would change the flooring as they'd not then compliment each other. Agree it'd be ok on the premise that someone said "thats the floor for life", but id say I've done less than 5 jobs where the floor has stayed. Country cottage maybe the exception, but after that..... nada. 

Cant plonk a new cup on and old saucer, me old china mug

[Onoff]

14 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Most people who re-model a kitchen would change the flooring

 

You do get the odd f***wit who didn't take the opportunity when he had it to lower the kitchen floor and put UFH in... 

[Nickfromwales]

Just now, Onoff said:

 

You do get the odd f***wit who didn't take the opportunity when he had it to lower the kitchen floor and put UFH in... 

Yes, you do get those.....

Hey, you could always cut out the middle section....bit of perimeter insulation......  Job for 2021?    

[Mr Punter]

Maybe it is the case that if you have quality permanent floor finish, lay throughout.

 

I am thinking of removing a unit so the worktop can overhang a bit at the end of a peninsular giving more seating.  Not something that would be possible had we just floored up to the units...

[newhome]

33 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

Maybe it is the case that if you have quality permanent floor finish, lay throughout.

 

I am thinking of removing a unit so the worktop can overhang a bit at the end of a peninsular giving more seating.  Not something that would be possible had we just floored up to the units...

 

I just have a big stack of spare tiles to address any future breakages or reasonably minor changes etc. Kitchen was put in before the tiles were laid TBH (due to having to wait more than 60 days before the anhydrite screed was ready for tiling) so tiling the whole area wasn’t possible at that point. 

Edited April 21, 2018 by newhome

[ProDave]

^^^ Exactly

 

Unless you are VERY lucky you will always have some tiles left over.  On the floor, under the kitchen units behind the kick board is a very good place to store all the spare tiles so they are safe, and you know where they are if you ever need them.

[newhome]

6 minutes ago, ProDave said:

 

 

Unless you are VERY lucky you will always have some tiles left over.  

 

I would say that’s unlucky. I like having the comfort of knowing I have some spare ones for future proofing. Next door have huge porcelain tiles in their house bought from the builder. A couple have now cracked and they are looking at replacing the entire floor as they can’t source the existing ones. 

 

[Crofter]

I've come to the conclusion that it's a false economy to be really tight on materials. When you know you can only afford to waste one or two tiles/boards I find I work much slower and am constantly checking and rechecking everything as one wrong cut will be fatal. When you cost in your time it's cheaper to just buy a few spares!

[Stones]

22 hours ago, Vijay said:

Why not just tile where white goods are going and everywhere else up to plinth legs/feet

 

That's how we had to do it, as partitions etc were to be built around the kitchen units.  On a previous house we did tile the entire floor, but only because the tiler was in the house before the kitchen had been delivered.  

 

Certainly well worth retaining a few boxes of tiles as spares.  I have 4 boxes (4.5m2 worth) which should be more than enough to replace the odd cracked or chipped tile.