Removing Laminate Flooring Under Cabinets

Screw a strip of the same thickness to the floor next to.

Removing laminate flooring under cabinets.

In most cases given standard flooring heights you will install the cabinets before the floor covering. Floor covering or finish flooring is the surface that you see and walk on not the subfloor under the underlayment or underlayment between subfloor and finished layer. Builders have an ongoing debate about whether it s better to install a hardwood floor before or after you put in the cabinets. Remove the cabinets and screw a plywood filler piece to the subfloor about inch inside the line where it will be under the cabinets.

Some mdf cabinets have a plastic coating and removing a plastic coating from kitchen cabinets is usually easier than removing a wood laminate. Installing laminate flooring under cabinets is a very common question for homeowners. For installations that go over existing flooring in kitchens where cabinets are already installed i leave a 1 4 gap for expansion and trim out around the cabinets with matching quarter round from the flooring supplier. Typically cabinets come before flooring.

This piece should be at least 2 inches wide and about inch thicker than the total thickness of the flooring including any vapor barrier or cushion. Or you can cut the laminate flooring at the cabinet edge and but the new stuff up to it. Stacy asks i want to remove my existing flooring but the cabinets are built on top of it. When installing laminate flooring in kitchens and bathrooms you cannot place cabinets or any hardware that is meant to be bolted permanently to the floor on the laminate.

I have been installing laminate flooring since the product first became popular. Just be aware if you go this route that if you replace the cabinets someday you ll have to redo the kitchen flooring as well if the cabinets aren t exactly the same footprint. However this process can be difficult labor intensive and time consuming. How to cut old flooring at the cabinets.

The best way to do it is to use a heat gun to soften the adhesive and pull the laminate off in sections starting with the edging. How can i cut the flooring flush with the edge of the cabinet kickboard a specialty toe kick saw is available that can cut flush with a cabinet under the toe space or you may be able to adapt a grinder to do the job. It s possible to replace kitchen tiles on the floor or wall without removing cabinets even if they re built on top of old tiles. However both are doable with patience and a steady supply of heat.