Q: I’m planning a kitchen remodel with new cabinets and nailed-down hardwood floors. About 30% of the floor space will be covered by cabinet bases. I can save on materials by putting in the cabinets first and then the floor up to the toe kicks. But the labor cost of fitting around cabinets might be higher. What’s your recommendation?
Thanks for your help. Your web site is great, by the way, and I’ll probably go with iFloor.
Arthur
A: The order of installation highly depends on your intents. If this cabinetry will not be moving I would highly suggest putting in the cabinets then installing the floor. Unless you are doing some very customer border work and installation, this should save you money as most floor installers charge labor based on the square footage of installation. You may need to pick up a few cartons of extra flooring to cover all of the additional cuts, but in the end this will be much less flooring than if you were to put the floor under the cabinets.
If for some reason you intended to have the cabinetry changed or moved without changing the floor as well, you would want to have the nail down floor installed over the entire area, but this will be a bit more work and is really not necessary. Additionally, depending on the species of wood to be installed, you would see a difference in the hue of the flooring that was once under cabinets should a change occur.
You could do a bit of border work along the outside edges of your cabinets under the toe kicks depending on the product you are installing. This will give a custom look to your kitchen remodel, but it will take a small amount of additional planning and install work, though in the end the cost difference should not be very big. Essentially think of picture frame like borders under the kicks to end the flooring off around all of your cabinetry. This is a very basic border style, but its simple and looks great.
