Hi,

I'm installing a new kitchen in my home. The room is completely empty.
Cabling, plumbing and drainage are in place.

The floor is good condition timber boarding (60's). Floorcovering will be
vinyl (roll) on hardboard.

Q. I have the option to install the floorcovering either before, or after
the kitchen units but have had conflicting advice from floorcovering people.

What is normal practice? (if indeed there is a normal practice). My
inclination is to take the floorcovering to the walls in all directions,
then install the kitchen above.

David.


ps. future access to underfloor services is not an issue.

If it is laminate flooring,lay after kitchen installation,any other type
should not be a problem either way.

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 08:55:20 +0100, "Vortex"
wrote:

Hi,

I'm installing a new kitchen in my home. The room is completely empty.
Cabling, plumbing and drainage are in place.

The floor is good condition timber boarding (60's). Floorcovering will be
vinyl (roll) on hardboard.

Q. I have the option to install the floorcovering either before, or after
the kitchen units but have had conflicting advice from floorcovering people.

What is normal practice? (if indeed there is a normal practice). My
inclination is to take the floorcovering to the walls in all directions,
then install the kitchen above.

David.


ps. future access to underfloor services is not an issue.



There is no real need to have flooring underneath cabinets that goes
all the way back to the wall - as far as the legs is enough.
However, underneath appliances it is helpful to have it there to
facilitate easier removal for servicing and replacement.

From that perspective you could lay the floor before or after fitting
the units.

However, there is a risk of the floor getting dinged during the
installation of the cabinets, so I would err on the side of fitting
the flooring after that. Appliances can be slid into place using a
piece of carpet.

You can argue that vinyl floor is going to get dinged anyway during
normal use, but I guess that it would be good to have it looking
pristine for as long as possible......



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Vortex wrote:
Hi,

I'm installing a new kitchen in my home. The room is completely
empty. Cabling, plumbing and drainage are in place.

The floor is good condition timber boarding (60's). Floorcovering
will be vinyl (roll) on hardboard.

Q. I have the option to install the floorcovering either before,
or after the kitchen units but have had conflicting advice from
floorcovering people.

What is normal practice? (if indeed there is a normal practice). My
inclination is to take the floorcovering to the walls in all
directions, then install the kitchen above.
I tried it afterwards and it was very difficult because my laminate was the
glue type and there was nothing to push against except the feeble plastic
kitchen unit legs.
Later I was told I should have put battens on the floor to push against.
I guess with clickloc laminate it would be a lot easier.

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 18:05:46 +0100, "BillR"
wrote:

Vortex wrote:
Hi,

I'm installing a new kitchen in my home. The room is completely
empty. Cabling, plumbing and drainage are in place.

The floor is good condition timber boarding (60's). Floorcovering
will be vinyl (roll) on hardboard.

Q. I have the option to install the floorcovering either before,
or after the kitchen units but have had conflicting advice from
floorcovering people.

What is normal practice? (if indeed there is a normal practice). My
inclination is to take the floorcovering to the walls in all
directions, then install the kitchen above.
I tried it afterwards and it was very difficult because my laminate was the
glue type and there was nothing to push against except the feeble plastic
kitchen unit legs.
Later I was told I should have put battens on the floor to push against.
I guess with clickloc laminate it would be a lot easier.

Not in our toilet it wasn't. I knew I was going to be laminating in
there so when I was building 2 of the walls I stopped short of the
floor with the plasterboard 'cos the last thing I wanted to do was
start hitting the boards to bed them in and find I'd smashed the wall.

However, even with wooden battens screwed to the floor I still had
Much Fun [tm] putting the boards down because I hadn't drilled pilot
holes for the screws in the battens so most of them ended up moving
when hit.

I know better now
--
cheers,

witchy/binarydinosaurs

The floor is good condition timber boarding (60's). Floorcovering
will be vinyl (roll) on hardboard.

Q. I have the option to install the floorcovering either before,
or after the kitchen units but have had conflicting advice from
floorcovering people.

I put the flooring roll down first and allowed the vinyl to roll up
the wall a bit, then added units and skirting, so the flooring was
effectively providing tanking. A bit overkill especially as the
doorway couldn't be tanked but I reasoned that it could do no harm and
might be handy if there were a small flood.

I chose to do it that way because it saved me the problem of how to
finish the flooring as it butted up to the units. I had memories of
student accommodation where a horrible brown gunge had lodged itself
in the gap.

I had to be careful when bringing in the units to make sure that they
didn't snag.

Anna
--
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plasterwork, plaster conservation
/ ^^ \// Freehand modelling and pargeting
|______| www.kettlenet.co.uk 07976 649862

I always answer this with a question, which will be there longer, the units of the floor cover. The one that will be there longer goes in first.

Rick

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 08:55:20 +0100, "Vortex" wrote:
Hi,

I'm installing a new kitchen in my home. The room is completely empty.
Cabling, plumbing and drainage are in place.

The floor is good condition timber boarding (60's). Floorcovering will be
vinyl (roll) on hardboard.

Q. I have the option to install the floorcovering either before, or after
the kitchen units but have had conflicting advice from floorcovering people.

What is normal practice? (if indeed there is a normal practice). My
inclination is to take the floorcovering to the walls in all directions,
then install the kitchen above.

David.


ps. future access to underfloor services is not an issue.

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 08:55:20 +0100, "Vortex"
wrote:
Hi,

I'm installing a new kitchen in my home. The room is completely empty.
Cabling, plumbing and drainage are in place.

The floor is good condition timber boarding (60's). Floorcovering will
be
vinyl (roll) on hardboard.

Q. I have the option to install the floorcovering either before, or
after
the kitchen units but have had conflicting advice from floorcovering
people.

What is normal practice? (if indeed there is a normal practice). My
inclination is to take the floorcovering to the walls in all directions,
then install the kitchen above.

David.


ps. future access to underfloor services is not an issue.


Fit the flooring first and put the units on top. The flooring doesn't
necessarily have to go all the way to the wall as long as it goes under the
units by a couple of inches - except where there are removeable items like
washing machines and cookers. This makes a far neater job because, if you
trim the flooring against the units, there is a danger that it will curl up
at the edges, and that grot and wet will get under it.

If you subsequently want to replace the flooring, you can cut it off against
the units - and you're no worse off than if it had been fitted up to the
units in the first place.

Roger

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 08:55:20 +0100, "Vortex"
wrote:
Hi,

I'm installing a new kitchen in my home. The room is completely
empty.
Cabling, plumbing and drainage are in place.

The floor is good condition timber boarding (60's). Floorcovering
will
be
vinyl (roll) on hardboard.

Q. I have the option to install the floorcovering either before, or
after
the kitchen units but have had conflicting advice from floorcovering
people.

What is normal practice? (if indeed there is a normal practice). My
inclination is to take the floorcovering to the walls in all
directions,
then install the kitchen above.

David.


ps. future access to underfloor services is not an issue.


Fit the flooring first and put the units on top. The flooring doesn't
necessarily have to go all the way to the wall as long as it goes under
the
units by a couple of inches - except where there are removeable items like
washing machines and cookers. This makes a far neater job because, if you
trim the flooring against the units, there is a danger that it will curl
up
at the edges, and that grot and wet will get under it.

If you subsequently want to replace the flooring, you can cut it off
against
the units - and you're no worse off than if it had been fitted up to the
units in the first place.

Roger



And you could've bought two or three extra metres of flooring just to cut it
off because it's under the units. It's the units that will normally stay in
place a lot longer than any flooring, so fitting it properly to just under
the kick board plinth will make it look as though it is all the way under
the units. The only sections of flooring that will go as far in as you need
it to go, will be the bits under floor standing appliances like the washing
machine and dishwasher etc.