Tile Floor Before Or After Kitchen Cabinets

Installing the tile after the cabinets can be beneficial for the tile contractor to ensure they are the last trade on the jobsite before turnover to the owner.

Tile floor before or after kitchen cabinets.

Sheet vinyl was installed after the cabinets were in. Just make sure the durock or tile backer is down first. Then install cabinets then the tiles can go down. Sometimes the decision of whether to install the cabinets or the floors first depends on other factors.

Just wait till the tiler sends you the bill. Put all the base cabinets in place then mark a line on the subfloor corresponding to the front edge of the toekick. Tiling after the kitchen potentially more work for the tiler cutting etc but shouldn t cost you anymore. This method is safer for the cabinets less chance of damage or scratches on the cabinets from moving tile around.

Seriously it will look crap if you don t have the tiles running under the cabinet. Personally i prefer to have the tile installed before the cabinets when possible. Many people like to put in floors first to avoid having to cut the material around cabinets and appliances. There are some that want the tiles down first which is okay but if the floor is out then you end up with gaps and most of the time the builder gc does not plan to put shoe mold around.

Those are all good reasons to lay a kitchen floor after the cabinets are in. Because they are more durable and could be repaired if the cabinet guy dinged them. If due to design circumstances for example an odd appliance height or construction anomaly your total flooring height will need to be elevated and finished higher than normal two inches or more consider installing flooring before putting in the kitchen cabinets and appliances. Laminate floors should be installed after the cabinetry because the material needs to be able to expand and contract depending on humidity levels.

What s more some worry that by installing cabinets first it will be harder to switch them out in the future as you ll be stuck with the same cabinet footprint you had before. There s a good reason to do this. Tiling before the kitchen more tiles more. This means the risk of damage to the tile floor by other trades is significantly reduced or eliminated.

If you think tiles are expensive. Tile and hardwood floors went in first. Because it was easy to damage and impossible to repair. This is the main draw for those who start with floors.