Laminate flooring is so easy to install which means that more and more homeowners are starting to attempt the installations themselves. For the price that tradesmen are charging for their labor now, it really shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Plus, the more jobs you attempt around the house means more tools you can buy for yourself. You need to be properly tooled to get the jobs done right.
Laminate flooring should not be installed under fixed cabinets. Floating cabinets such as kitchen islands can sit on top of laminate flooring. Structurally, it is not the proper way to install fixed cabinets. It’s not okay to install them over a floating floor.
Laminate floors are floating and placing something like kitchen cabinets on top of them is not the way to install them. The laminate will shift every so often which can cause you issues with the cabinets and countertops, not too mention the tile on the wall above them.
All these materials are either connected or installed on top of each other. Having something that floats and can move on its own underneath everything is bound to cause you problems one day. The rest of this article will talk about different aspects of this situation.
Should Flooring be Installed Under Kitchen Cabinets?
As we have just learned, you shouldn’t install a floating floor like laminate under kitchen cabinets. There are however, other types of flooring such as linoleum, hardwood and tile that you might install in a kitchen. Are these floorings okay to have under kitchen cabinets?
In my experience, it best to only have subfloor under fixed kitchen cabinets. There are some exceptions though, so let’s touch on those right now.
- Linoleum is a product that gets glued to the subfloor. Linoleum doesn’t move after being installed. Linoleum is very thin and in my opinion is okay to have under kitchen cabinets. If you can avoid it, then you should however, sometimes it’s just easier to leave linoleum down especially when remodelling.
- Hardwood unlike laminate is nailed to the subfloor. Hardwood is also a premium product that is very expensive which means it will most likely be left in place for many more years than laminate would be.
- Because hardwood is nailed down, I would say it’s okay to install cabinets on top of it however again, try to avoid this scenario if you can.
- Tiles of any material such as ceramic or marble should not have cabinets installed on top of them. Tiles are prone to cracking and heaving which can cause you issues with your cabinets if this were to happen.
- If you install tile with grout lines, you could potentially end up with more movement than tiles like marble where you butt each tile up to the next. So, if you wanted to do this with marble tiles, it’s not as much of a problem as it would be ceramic.
Again though, just to make sure I got my point across. It is preferable if kitchen cabinets are installed directly on top of subfloor unless it is an island cabinet.
Can You Put Laminate Flooring in the Kitchen?
Yes, you can install laminate flooring in a kitchen. As a matter of fact, laminate is becoming increasingly popular as the materials evolve making this choice the right one for a kitchen.
Vinyl plank flooring can be found more often in kitchens lately because of its durability and resistance to water. This makes this type of laminate the perfect choice for a kitchen installation.
You will find in new homes with an open floor concept that it only makes sense to have the laminate flowing from the kitchen to the living room. This makes these open floor concept homes look even larger when the same flooring covers a larger area, instead of breaking it up.
Does Laminate Flooring Go Under Appliances?
You can install laminate under almost all appliances aside from an undercounter dishwasher. The reason for this is counters and dishwashers are manufactured at specific heights, so they fit together correctly.
If you install a thick laminate, your dishwasher might not fit in its space very well or at all. These spaces are a tight fit to begin with, so you don’t want to take any room away if possible.
As far as other appliances go such as fridges and stoves, you shouldn’t have any problems if you install laminate under them.
Washers and dryers should also be okay provided they are free standing units and not fitting into premade cabinets as you will run into the same issue as a dishwasher.
Do Hardwood Floors Go Under Kitchen Cabinets?
As previously mentioned in this article, it’s okay to install hardwood under kitchen cabinets because hardwood is nailed into place and does not require room to expand or contract in the same sense as a laminate flooring does.
Yes, there will be slight expansion and contraction with hardwood however, remember that the flooring is nailed into place so any cabinets on top will not be restricting the floor from movement.
Can You Put a Refrigerator on Top of Vinyl Plank Flooring?
Vinyl plank flooring is highly durable and will resist scratching easily. It’s an extremely strong product, and I wouldn’t hesitate to put a fridge on top of it.
Another bonus is water will not damage vinyl plank flooring like it will a pressed laminate flooring. Water will pool on top waiting for you to wipe it up.
Vinyl plank is an excellent option in places where there is high humidity as well. Basements are seeing more and more vinyl plank flooring as there is typically more humidity and moisture in that part of your house than others.
If there is ever a leak from your refrigerator or your water heater bottoms out in the basement, you can rest assured that your flooring will be unharmed.
Conclusion
Just to wrap this article up, I want to quickly go over the fact that laminate shouldn’t be installed underneath where cabinets are to be installed – especially when the cabinets are restricting the flooring from any expansion and contraction. When this happens, you’ll end up with gaps showing in the laminate. If the whole floor was able to move together the gaps are less likely to appear.
Whatever you do, if you decide to install laminate under cabinets, don’t screw the base cabinets into the laminate. If you do this, you are guaranteed to end up with gaps elsewhere in your flooring.
My builder did this with a base cabinet gable panel. They used a small bracket and screwed it to the gable end and the flooring. It caused two gaps in the laminate flooring in less than a year.
I had to pull out a wine fridge to find out what they had done. It was an easy fix, though. I took off the bracket and attached it to the back of the cabinet gable and then to the wall where the base plate would be. There was no baseboard behind the wine cooler, so it worked well.
Thanks for reading and good luck with your laminate flooring installation.
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