I have been in the construction business for many years now and we have
always set the cabinets first.

We like the finish floor to be just about the last thing install as a
way of protecting it from construction mishaps.


I did the cabinets first too but wonder if it was better the other around
considering all the time taken to trim all the floor tile pieces around the
cabinets and island. Didn't have to fill in all the tiles under the
cabinets, just under the edges so there wouldn't be much tile wasted but
would save a lot of time.

If you do the cabinets first, don't you need to know how thick the flooring
is going to and shim up the base cabinets accordantly? Otherwise, you could
possibly end up with the finished floor 1" higher than the subfloor and the
dishwasher won't fit under the cabinet or the slide in range too high? Just
a question.