kitchen floor tile ... under the base cabinets or not?

[Mike Lewis]

Hello dudes ... I'm in the midst of doing a kitchen reno. My initial plan was to tile the floor after the base cabinents were installed. Less area to tile so less expensive. But I've seen shows on TV where they tile the whole floor first and then install the base cabinents .. so now I'm wondering if I'm doing the right thing. The only advantage I see of tiling under the base cabinents is if you want to make changes in the future .. you can move stuff around and not have to redo the whole floor. I've never seen someone move base cabinents around unless they were redoing the whole kitchen anyway.:)

I'm looking for opnions out there ... should I tile under the base cabinets or not .. and tell me why?

Mike

[Mikey S.]

I went through the same decision process with my kitchen, though my floor was Pergo laminate, not tile. Both methods seemed viable, but I ended up NOT flooring under them, simply to save the money on flooring that would never have been seen. The tile won't be vulnerable to damage while you set the cabinets that way either. This was 2 years ago, no regrets. With tile cutting to fit the cabinets might be a bit more of a chore than it was with the laminate flooring, but on the flip side you will be setting the cabinets on a nice flat, level subfloor rather than a (possibly) uneven tiled floor which might require more effort to shim them solid and level. . Make sure you plan ahead for the dishwasher and stove, don't forget the added height of the tile which will go under those.

[Ken]

If it were my floor, I would simply buy a couple extra boxes of tile and store them in the cabinet rather than tile under the cabinets. That way if in the future you do remove the cabinets and replace them, you have the same tile for patching any exposed area. You also have replacement tiles for exposed areas that might be damaged during normal use.

Another reason for doing it this way is that the cabinets will probably be secured to the floor somewhere, and in doing so it would require drilling a hole into any tile under the cabinets. Should the drilled holes later be exposed, having tiles might be a necessity in spite of having tiled the entire floor previously. Having extra tiles is always a smart investment when tiling a floor.

[Craven Morehead]

I believe appliance designers expect the entire room to be on the same level. This could be important as you think about the height of the opening for the dishwasher, e.g. cabinet bases (and therefore counter tops) are lower being on the subfloor but dishwasher (and it's cubicle) are on tile or whatever. That reduces the distance between the finished floor and the underside of the counter top. Could be a problem. Likewise the oven / stove / range.

[Mike Lewis]

I thought about the stove and fridge .. but not the dishwasher ... easy enough to tile these two areas to make them at the same level as the floor.

Mike

[jim]

[scott21230]

When I do my kitchen floof I am going to do the area under appliances, but not under the cabinets. If I were replacing the cabinets, I would redo the floor under it though, but not if I were using tiles.

[tev9999]

I went through this earlier this year. I did not tile under the cabinets - combination of not wasting tile and easier repair if one gets cracked.

I figured my finished floor would be about 3/4" above the existing floor - thinset + hardibacker + thinset + tile. I had my cabinet installer put 3/4" plywood blocks on the bottom corners of the cabinets to raise them up. I tiled into the stove, dishwasher and refrigerator areas so everything is the same height. Tile goes up to the front of the cabinets. The toe kick covers the cut edge. Since the cabinets are raised, there is no problem sliding the dishwasher under the counter.

[cm]

What purpose would this serve???? Sounds like a lot of work for nothing to me.

cm

[Norminn]

I would tile the entire floor. Level, option of future change without redoing the floor. Caulk around perimeter so the inevitable plumbing leak doesn't seep under the tile.

Of course, if you ever decide to or have to remove tile, it would be quite a project.

We have had leaks in kitchen from fridge ice maker, dishwasher, sink drain and busted hose on washer in ajoining util. room -- if we had had wood under cabinets, I think it would have been a disaster. Would have been a disaster if we had not been home.

[Paul Franklin]

The house I just moved from had tile that was run under the cabinets. I would have loved to rip out the (Ugly IMO) tile but dealing with pulling all the base cabinets to get at least one row of tile out led me to live with it.

I like the idea of raising the cabinets even with the finished floor to avoid issues with the appliances, and socking away enough extra tile to deal with moving cabinets etc. in the future. It is the cheapest, lowest amount of work, and allows for total flexibility to replace floor or cabinets in the future without touching the other.

Paul

[Ed]

We rarely tile under the cabinets when doing kitchens unless specifically asked by the contractor or owner. However, you do tile where "Set-In" appliances go, ie frig, dishwasher and stove. We run the tile up to 1/4" of the cabinets and then the trim carpenter adds the base trim and you get a nice finished look.

As to "Why"????? Why spend the bucks on tiling where the sun don't shine (as per say). And the only reason to tile where the "Set-In" appliances go is to make it easy to pull them in and out for a multitude of reason one would have to eventually do. Another reason is that cabinet makers (or at least our local ones) make the cabinets so the dishwasher and stove fit flush at a height where the cabinets are resting directly on the substrate while the stove and dishwasher are sitting on the tile. Yes, the cabinet maker can make them any way you want but the default is usually having the cabinets set directly on the substrate with tile set into the stove/dishwasher slot.

[JP]

Tile just under the front of cabs,use cut offs to shim the backs ,set cabs & then tile where stove,dishwasher & freg. go this saves tile.

Mike Lewis wrote: