When installing a laminate floor, what goes in first, the floor or the cabinet toe kick plate?
Who is right?
Answers:
the floor goes on first then the cabinets...if the cabinets are already in then the floor first, the toe kick is too hide the seem of the floor...the flooring guy doesn't seem to know what hes doing
experience...we own a roofing and remodeling company
Other answers:
I'd say the floor
I'd say the floor
The floor goes 1st, then the kick plate will cover the end of the floor
floor
We installed our kick plate first, then the flooring. Then the quarteround.
You can have the toe kick in and trim to it, or put in the floor and trim the toe kick to fit.
Spock logic says the floor should always go down first, then any trim, including kick plates.
I vote for the floor the kick plate then the molding
the flooring guys wins this one ,hands down
If you were installing a wood floor, you would install it first, but with a laminate you install it last, then your molding. I've installed both. They're fun to do!
For proper instalation there should be nothing in the room. Install the floor then the cabinets.........then have the floor guy ad the trim work after the cabs are in.
The floor guy is right because, the laminated flooring needs room to expand around the perimeter, approx. 1/4". If you put the toekicks in last you will be on top of the floor. The floor is supposed to "float" thus "a floating floor." The quarter-round trim will cover this 1/4" gap around the edge.
I think it depends on whether it is a new home and what kind of floor...in a new home, the floor gets laid, then the cabinets (my husband is a cabinetmaker) in an old home, it'd be silly to tear out the cabinets and lay a new floor so that's where the floor goes up to the toe kick and you put down a shoe molding (quarter-round) to cover the gap left...
If it were a wood floor in a remodel, I personally think it should go under the cabinets and such where if you add 3/4" wood flooring your toekick height is reduced by that 3/4" and your cabinet height gets reduced by that 3/4" too and may look funny...(but linoleum, because it's so thin doesn't affect the cabinetmaker in leveling the cabinets in a new home or remodel so I don't think it'd matter there...)
You need to hire a different flooring guy. A laminate floor must be installed with a minimum quarter-inch gap around the entire perimeter. The gap is then covered with some sort of molding (usually quarter-round) The problem with that is most people leave a gap that is inconsistant and end up having to use the biggest quarter-round they can find to cover the gap, which looks like hell. From my experience, the best look you can get is to have no moldings (including kickplates) before installing the laminate. Then use 1/2" x 4" baseboard molding and kickplates (without quarter-round) to cover the gap. You will have much cleaner lines and without the telltale quarter-round, people won't even know it's a laminate floor. Of course, if your flooring guy really insists on using quarter-round, he is saying that he can't do a good enough job making a consistent 1/4" gap and doesn't know any other solution.
It's a matter of trim detail. The cabinet guy wants the floor to run under the toe kick. The flooring guy wants to butt up to it. I'm a contractor, specializing in residential Kitchen projects. I usually run the floor under the toe, but I give my customers the option.It's your house. What looks best to you?