New Kitchen: Flooring b4 units or units b4 flooring?

Hi,

I'm installing a new kitchen in my home. The room is completely empty. Cabling, plumbing and drainage are in place.

The floor is good condition timber boarding (60's). Floorcovering will be vinyl (roll) on hardboard.

Q. I have the option to install the floorcovering either before, or after the kitchen units but have had conflicting advice from floorcovering people.

What is normal practice? (if indeed there is a normal practice). My inclination is to take the floorcovering to the walls in all directions, then install the kitchen above.

David.

ps. future access to underfloor services is not an issue.

Reply to
Vortex
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If it is laminate flooring,lay after kitchen installation,any other type should not be a problem either way.

Reply to
Alex

There is no real need to have flooring underneath cabinets that goes all the way back to the wall - as far as the legs is enough. However, underneath appliances it is helpful to have it there to facilitate easier removal for servicing and replacement.

From that perspective you could lay the floor before or after fitting the units.

However, there is a risk of the floor getting dinged during the installation of the cabinets, so I would err on the side of fitting the flooring after that. Appliances can be slid into place using a piece of carpet.

You can argue that vinyl floor is going to get dinged anyway during normal use, but I guess that it would be good to have it looking pristine for as long as possible......

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

I tried it afterwards and it was very difficult because my laminate was the glue type and there was nothing to push against except the feeble plastic kitchen unit legs. Later I was told I should have put battens on the floor to push against. I guess with clickloc laminate it would be a lot easier.

Reply to
BillR

Not in our toilet it wasn't. I knew I was going to be laminating in there so when I was building 2 of the walls I stopped short of the floor with the plasterboard 'cos the last thing I wanted to do was start hitting the boards to bed them in and find I'd smashed the wall.

However, even with wooden battens screwed to the floor I still had Much Fun [tm] putting the boards down because I hadn't drilled pilot holes for the screws in the battens so most of them ended up moving when hit.

I know better now :)

-- cheers,

witchy/binarydinosaurs

Reply to
Witchy

I put the flooring roll down first and allowed the vinyl to roll up the wall a bit, then added units and skirting, so the flooring was effectively providing tanking. A bit overkill especially as the doorway couldn't be tanked but I reasoned that it could do no harm and might be handy if there were a small flood.

I chose to do it that way because it saved me the problem of how to finish the flooring as it butted up to the units. I had memories of student accommodation where a horrible brown gunge had lodged itself in the gap.

I had to be careful when bringing in the units to make sure that they didn't snag.

Anna

-- ~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plasterwork, plaster conservation / ^^ \// Freehand modelling and pargeting |______|

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Reply to
Anna Kettle

I always answer this with a question, which will be there longer, the units of the floor cover. The one that will be there longer goes in first.

Rick

Reply to
Rick Dipper

Fit the flooring first and put the units on top. The flooring doesn't necessarily have to go all the way to the wall as long as it goes under the units by a couple of inches - except where there are removeable items like washing machines and cookers. This makes a far neater job because, if you trim the flooring against the units, there is a danger that it will curl up at the edges, and that grot and wet will get under it.

If you subsequently want to replace the flooring, you can cut it off against the units - and you're no worse off than if it had been fitted up to the units in the first place.

Roger

Reply to
Roger Mills

And you could've bought two or three extra metres of flooring just to cut it off because it's under the units. It's the units that will normally stay in place a lot longer than any flooring, so fitting it properly to just under the kick board plinth will make it look as though it is all the way under the units. The only sections of flooring that will go as far in as you need it to go, will be the bits under floor standing appliances like the washing machine and dishwasher etc.

Reply to
BigWallop

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