Install Hardwood Floor Under Cabinets

Install plywood in remaining area to exact height of tile floor to finish cabinet install.

Install hardwood floor under cabinets.

In most cases given standard flooring heights you will install the cabinets before the floor covering. To start you ll need to expose as much of the kitchen floor as possible by moving the appliances to another room. Often without planning these appliances can get locked in when the hardwood guy is done installing the floor. You would not want your dishwasher to be trapped underneath the floor and.

It may be tempting to just work around your stove or refrigerator since the floor under these never sees the light of day anyway but doing so can cause problems down the road when you cannot move the appliance over the hardwood lip install an appliance with different dimensions. Floor covering or finish flooring is the surface that you see and walk on not the subfloor under the underlayment or underlayment between subfloor and finished layer. First it s important that the cabinets are the standard 36 inches above the floor and it s important that the appliances are at this same height so that there aren t issues later if when you want to change the appliances e g. Typically cabinets come before flooring.

If there s something in your path when you re laying wood flooring including a cabinet you have to move it if you want to get the flooring underneath. Possible damage to the cabinets during the installation is a possibility. Some people put plywood in the place of the flooring to give an estimate of how much extra space will be needed between the top of the cabinets and the appliance. When planning the project together the benefits of installing your hardwood flooring first outweigh the benefits of installing cabinets before hardwood.

Mark the layout of the cabinets and all floor based appliances. Why it s better to install the hardwood floors before the cabinets. This piece should be at least 2 inches wide and about inch thicker than the total thickness of the flooring including any vapor barrier or cushion. How to install wood floors under cabinets.

Remove the cabinets and screw a plywood filler piece to the subfloor about inch inside the line where it will be under the cabinets. This is more common with solid 3 4 inch floors opposed to thinner hardwoods. Damage to hardwood flooring can be prevented by covering up your wood flooring with protection.