cabinets ontop of laminate flooring?

johnny331

I'm getting advice on both sides...

I'm putting laminate "wood" flooring in my kitchen. I'm confused if I should install my kitchen cabinets ontop of the floor, or do I floor right upto the cabinets.

I figured since it was a floating floor, it needed to expand/contract and shouldn't be pinned down by the cabinets?

send_it_all

Dont put them on top of the floor.

tribe_fan

I put the cabinet's in first, then trimmed around them for the following reasons:

1) While it may seem easier to put the floor down first, in the long run it is more likely you will replace the floor before the cabinet's. I think this would be true for any type of floor.

2) Putting the cabinet's on top limits what you can do to to anchor the them, and still allow the floor to float, and expand and contract.

scorrpio

You should take plywood of same thickness as your laminate, and nail/screw it to subfloor where the cabinets will be. Otherwise you might have a very unpleasant oops when it is time to put in that tall tub dishwasher.

send_it_all

Not a bad idea, but most laminate flooring is less than 3 eighths (cant use punctuation right now for some reason) of an inch thick. I have never seen a dishwasher that was too tall for this.

johnny331

good info, it's reinforced what I thought in the first place.

I'll leave my expansion gap and floor around the cabinets. Thanks.

AtlanticWBConst.

I'm coming into this thread late, but: DO NOT PLACE ANY stationary cabinets on top of laminate flooring...period/ever. Most laminate maufacturers even state this in their installation instructions and most of them also state it as a factor that can affect their produect's warranty conditions.

The floor needs to be able to expand and contract.

As with all kitchen flooring material, you should install a same thickness sub floor material under the cabinets that will match the thickness of your finished laminate flooring thickness (or other finished kitchen flooring material).

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AtlanticWBConst.

Exactly.... Most laminate flooring manufactures also sell quarter-round type trim that matches their flooring selections. The trim can be installed at the base (Toe-kick,etc..) of the cabinets. It covers that expansion gap.
TIP: Use clear silicone at all exposed edges of the flooring, in order to properly protect the material from water and moisture penetration. (Again - most laminate flooring manfactures stipulate this silicone use, with kitchen and bathroom installations - as a necessary point, regarding their warranty requirements).
BTW-The first time we thought about using the same material quarter-round stock, it sounded like it would not look good. We tried it anyways and were very much surpised at how good the finished product looked as a whole. (FWIW: The home owner was also very, very happy with the look of the matching quarter-round material)

Good luck!

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