Cabinets On Top Of Flooring
Installing these items on top of your new flooring will cause pressure and not let the flooring expand and contract to temperature changes.
Cabinets on top of flooring. Installing cabinets on top of a floating floor there are at least two ways to do it so that the floor is free to expand and contract. Install tile under cabinets and floor based appliances with a 2 inset this allows you to move the pattern and grout lines where needed. I even lowered two doors to the new level of the hardwood.
Install plywood in remaining area to exact height of tile floor to finish cabinet install. This method is most common however. It s always recommended to install cabinets before your floors if you are doing floating floors.
The other consideration is that if the flooring is thick like hardwood or ceramic tile it locks the base cabinets in place and they can be very hard to remove if for some reason one needs repair or replacement. One trick i use is to install nylon chair glides on the underside of the base cabinets. Floor covering or finish flooring is the surface that you see and walk on not the sub floor and not an underlayment.
Cabinets on top of laminate flooring actually my avitar picture is a job that i ripped out a floating floor and partical board underlayment to install a solid clear red oak floor. As for furniture it is okay to have furnishings on top of your floor. The floor covering will be cut to size and almost butted against the cabinets.
If you install heavy cabinetry such as kitchen cabinets on top it will inhibit the floor from expanding and contracting and can lead to issues such as buckling and damaged locking systems. In most cases given standard flooring heights you can install the cabinets before the floor covering. If there is movement in the flooring the nylon glides will allow it to do so quite freely.
However water damage to flooring is still a risk to consider. When installing laminate flooring in kitchens and bathrooms you cannot place cabinets or any hardware that is meant to be bolted permanently to the floor on the laminate. This lowers the risk of peaking in the future.
Installing over glue down floors is not a concern. It is always recommended to install cabinets before floating flooring rather than installing cabinets on top of floating floors. Unless there are severe changes in the relative humidity the floor will not move very much and kitchen cabinets can be installed directly on the flooring.
