How To Install Wood Flooring After Cabinets

Put all the base cabinets in place then mark a line on the subfloor corresponding to the front edge of the toekick.

How to install wood flooring after cabinets. First it s important that the cabinets are the standard 36 inches above the floor and it s important that the appliances are at this same height so that there aren t issues later if when you want to change the appliances e g. Those are all good reasons to lay a kitchen floor after the cabinets are in. I would also consider what you would do in the event you had a leak and needed to replace flooring you d have to either remove your cabinets or cut around your cabinets. My worry about doing that would be if your floor isn t 100 level and flat the cabinets will still need to be shimmed and it will show.

But if you have to install the flooring first here s a method that will avoid some of the problems i just described. How to install hardwood floors around kitchen cabinets. Traditionally hardwood flooring is more commonly installed prior to the cabinets and sanded and finished as one of the last steps but with the increasing popularity of prefinished hardwood flooring the risks of damage during installation becomes greater. I would install flooring after cabinets.

The most difficult part of forming this type of installation is being able to cut close to the toe kick of the base cabinets without damaging the cabin. Why it s better to install the hardwood floors before the cabinets. To keep the floor flush consider installing a different cheaper type of flooring underneath cabinets and appliances or even plywood risers.