Kitchen Flooring

Both are done, and the choice has consequences. Running the floor through first is simpler to install and makes a future layout change easier, but it raises the cabinets and therefore the counter height by the floor thickness. Installing around the cabinet footprint saves material and keeps heights as drawn, but it commits you to the current layout. It is worth deciding deliberately rather than by whichever trade arrives first.

By checking it for flatness, movement, fastening, and moisture. Tile in particular is unforgiving of deflection and will telegraph a bouncing subfloor into cracked grout, and click-together floors need flatness within tolerance or the joints work loose. Older homes often need leveling compound or an added layer, and that is better found before material is ordered.

Luxury vinyl plank, porcelain and ceramic tile, and engineered wood are the common choices, and they trade off differently. Tile is the most water tolerant and the hardest underfoot. Vinyl plank is forgiving of spills and of a slightly imperfect subfloor. Engineered wood matches adjoining rooms best but is the least tolerant of standing water, which matters directly in front of a dishwasher.

This is worth checking before installation, not after. Adding floor height under the cabinet run without accounting for it can leave a dishwasher trapped under the counter, so it cannot be pulled for service or replacement without cutting the floor. The clearance is verified against the appliance's specified height while the layout is still adjustable.

Where the new floor meets an existing one at a different height or material, a transition piece, a reducer, or a flush detail carries the change. The doorway is the usual location because it is where a break reads as intentional. Stair noses, heat registers, and any threshold to a garage or side door are worth walking before the floor is ordered.

After demolition and any subfloor repair, and its position relative to cabinets depends on the under-or-around decision above. Whichever order applies, the finished floor is protected through cabinet, counter, and backsplash work, because those stages involve heavy boxes, stone, and wet materials moving across it.