We are replacing the flooring on the first floor and my question is in the kitchen. Is there a way to do this without removing the cabinets on the lower level? Or is it best practice to pull them out, lay the new floor down, then put the cabinets back on top of the new floor. I have been looking and don't see many options to butt the new floor up to the base of the cabinet.
Flooring – New flooring in kitchen
flooringkitchens
Related Solutions
There are inexpensive child safety latches that can be placed out of sight in the interior of your cabinet. They are also easy to install and only leave a few small screw holes when removed. Some may use adhesive instead of screws, but they might be less dependable.
Such a latch consists of a bendable plastic rod with a blunt hook on one side, and is situated on the inside of the drawer or cabinet. The hook catches on part of the drawer or door and prevents opening unless the rod is bent downward simultaneously to disengage the hook.
These latches successfully prevent cats as well as children from opening cabinets more than one or two inches.
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For pictures and advice: Picture / Video / Pictures of installation
Some alternatives are discussed here.
If it's not visible, just got for a manufactured board, e.g. plywood, OSB, etc. For 3cm, you may be looking at two pieces stacked on top of each other. If it's on concrete, install a moisture barrier first. To secure the boards, I'd avoid the temptation to use a Ramset and permanently drive the names into the cement, since the next time the flooring is redone, you can take the opportunity to do it right and pull everything up and go wall to wall. Instead, secure it with a few cut nails. Again, this all assumes that none of this is visible.
(source: jmnails.com)
Best Answer
Here is my take on this. If your cabinets are a standard size and they aren't on legs there is no reason you should remove them for a flooring upgrade. Even if the cabinets were replaced they should be able to adjust the toe-kick to where it currently is to overlap the new floor.
Notes:
It is a MUST to move cabinets if they are on legs. You cannot have a seam of old flooring visible.
You need to get the new flooring under the fridge. It is too heavy and if you leave old flooring under it and need to move it the lip will probably damage new floor.
I would suggest putting it under stove for same reason. Unless your stove has a completely flat top - most don't and have ridges, the addition 3/8" will probably be completely unnoticable as the heights already didn't align. I personally like my stove slightly higher so things I am doing on counter don't just slide onto (hot) stove. From a technical standpoint you can install flooring until legs of stove but like fridge you may have issues with the lip if stove needs to be moved.
There is no reason to have flooring under dishwasher. They are light and have adjustable legs. You really want your dishwasher sitting as high of the floor as possible too. The dishwasher is only removed for major repair and extra height just makes that harder (or it could possibly prevent it from fitting to counter).
If an island is permanent we never floor under it (as we would just damage flooring securing island) if it is floating, we floor it.
For the most part I wouldn't even think of removing cabinets. I like doing things in a long-term way and people can make a point that flooring should be continuous but after demoing and remodeling 20-30 kitchens I have basically put in new cabinets and never once had to worry about flooring unless I was removing a peninsula or something like that. It is just not worth the money, the effort, and the potential damage to the cabinets. Now if you are trying to get new lowers, now is the time.