Floors first, then cabinetry, then finish. If you want to use plywood under your cabinets that's fine. We put flooring in the entire room to make things easier for us -- less cutting around obstacles -- other people like to save some money by using plywood instead of flooring.

if you used factory finished and you had a leak you could replace the affected boards without redoing the whold area. With site finished in case of a leak you would have to resand the whole area. If its only the kitchen then maybe not a big deal but if the kitchens connects to dr or lr then you have a much bigger repair. If you love site finished then use it but there is always a pro and con.

We are building a house that has mostly wood floors, including in the kitchen. We intend to finish them before anything else is allowed in. The chances of permanently staining the floors with a spilled cup of coffee or tea, a dripping oil can, cleaners, or who knows what else are just too great.

We intend to extend the floors wall to wall. It may save some to leave out the areas under cabinets, but if a remodel is planned down the road, it may severely limit the options if matching wood cannot be found.

As for leaks: we now live in a 1926 house that has fir flooring everywhere. Even though fir is soft and not generally recommended for flooring, the leaks we have had have not left much damage - but we did catch them fairly quickly.

The one area that is more damaged is the area in front of the sink - we installed a hidden drainboard in one of the cupboards to accommodate handwashed dishes and the "path" between the sink and it has some water damage from decades of use, even though we put down cover before we handwash.

Wildebloem,

Good luck with your plan to finish the flooring before anything else...you're gonna' need it.

I didn't get that either. Generally the floor finishing is the last piece of the puzzle as any problems, dents, stains can be eliminated. If you do it first then any dropped tool, scratches etc can't be repaired.

I am most concerned about permanent, deep stains. I do not intend to stain the floor, just use a clear finish, and I am told it is easier to repair a finish than it is to try to remove deep stains from the wood. If I were to use a darker stain, I would not be quite as concerned about damaging an unfinished floor, but it makes sense to me that a light floor would need protection as soon as possible.

I suggest you talk to your floor sander now, as your plan may sound good to you, but goes against normal sequence.

Certainly I have spoken with the person who will sand my floors. He fully agrees with me. And this is what he does for a (very good, I should add) living.

Frankly, I am a little perplexed by the comments. Obviously, there is more than one way to approach installing and finishing flooring. Depending on the circumstances, I should hope an installer would chose the best option for the situation, rather than insisting there is one way only to accomplish a goal. In my case, protecting the light floor from permanent stains is of primary importance. As for potential subsequent damage: I hire only people certified by the state who copy me their insurance. If they cannot show proper liability insurance, they do not get the job. I also check for problems they have had in the past. Again, those who are listed with the state as having had problems with clients do not get hired. Any damage done by installation of anything after the flooring is finished will be rectified by the person who or the company that does the damage before final payment is made. Accidents and mistakes do happen of course, but with everyone clear in advance about liability, we have yet to have a problem correcting mishaps. And of course anyone can walk away if unhappy with our conditions. So far though, no one has complained or walked away. And so far, we have had only good experiences with the problems that did occur. Knock on wood for sure.

Hmm.

You purportedly came here "just trying to see what people who have installed Hardwood in the kitchen think about this." Several people told you exactly what we "think about this". When these comments disagreed with what your installer was planning, you got defensive and nattered on and on and ON about liability, and insurance and who to blame when things go wrong, blah blah blah.

Sounds to ME like you were looking for confirmation that the process was correct, and don't like what you are hearing.

iDrive I hope that post wasn't directed toward me I was the original poster and I was just looking for opinions on what other people may have done. I didn't tatter on on and on about anything this is only the second post I've made here. I think you may be mixing me up with wildebloem.

Yup, you are right, my apologies!

I have found that the best way to get a kitchen floor sanded is to sand it before cabinets and islands get in the way of making the continuous, long passes that make for a well-finished , leveled floor. I installed and finished this mahogany floor in '04; I sanded and applied two coats of finish, then I installed the cabinets; the very last step was the final finish coat. We protected the floors in the interim. Imagine that! A carpenter who took necessary steps to ensure the best possible job. Go figure.
{{gwi:1521738}}

You can try to install cabinets on unsanded floors, or install cabinets on subfloor and add the flooring last, (which I would do for prefinished flooring of any kind), but for site-finished solid wood, it's by far the best job to do the floor as I recommend. May I mention the floor finsher's propensity for speed, and that speed coming into contact with your cabinet corners? And it is not even possible to adequately sand and finish around cabinet legs, breakfronts, juts and eddys.
Casey

idrive65: the original poster said that "any input would be great". Mine was nothing more than input, another way to approach this process, another way to "think about this", as you put it. I disagree re. concerns about the potential for scratches, etc. that cannot be repaired, and I explained how I intend to deal with that, if that occurs. It is, in fact, law that contractors have liability insurance in our state - and for good reason when I listen to the problems that can and do occur.

sombreuil_mongrel: great idea and duh, it never occurred to me to do the floor in stages. We are building our own house and going very slowly (started in January 2009), making some changes as we go. So at times, there are weeks between stages. Having the floors protected during the process is a main concern, and adding the final coat last is a great idea. Your mahogany floor is gorgeous, by the way. I have bought quarter-sawn mahogany flooring for a study and cannot wait to see it in place. I bought lumber to have the the kitchen cabinets made in the same wood, but am having trouble picking a floor to go with them. Your plain cabinets really make the mahogany stand out. I think I will look for maple or something similarly calm for the floors.

I still say best of luck in your (Wildebloem) plan to have it all done up ahead of time and then protected from damage. I have to tell you that if I was a sub walking into your finished floor jobsite and you confronted me with your line of "responsibilities and consequences"...I'd be handing you your deposit back and heading for the door. There is no way I'd agree to be liable for damages to something that is covered up by the floor protection product of choice that is then tread across and then work performed upon by trades other than my own.

I have seen way too many finished floors damaged by subcontractors, even though those floors were "protected" in some way from damage.

glennsfc: you misunderstand. I do not "confront" anyone with a "line of 'responsibilities and consequences'...". On the contrary: the state requires the contractor to hand ME consumer protection notices and notices of procedure in case of a dispute to protect both the homeowner and the contractor. If you refused to do that, you could not legally work in this state. I just follow instructions, so to speak. I check liability and workers compensation are up to date, you bet. It would be foolish not to do so. Accidents do happen, even to the best.

As for protecting the floor: the expectation is no different from having to protect a floor in a remodel. A contractor would be liable for damages to an existing floor there just the same.

We always sand and finish with 2 coats then have the contractor install the cabinets trim etc. your somewhat protected under the cabinets then and we are not going to sand against your brand new cabinets. We do warn everyone to be more careful of the flooring but still have the opportunity to touch up slight blemishes caused during construction and leave you with a floor to be proud of.

Note: rolling a refrigerator on most wood flooring will leave compression marks, prefinished or custom. Re coating alone will not fix it. Always have them use 1/8th inch thick press board or the like to set & move the refrigerator on.

We just had our kitchen redone and switched from linoleum to hardwoods. Our contractor did everything before ending with the floor. We have plywood under the cabinets. It came out beautifully and we didn't have to worry about our floors being dinged or scratched while the kitchen was being finished. Good luck!

Having flooring go in before everything else is finished happens all the time in l;arge projects when the scheduling gets out of whack. Just use a good floor protection film and you should be fine -- just make sure the hardwood floor is fully cured. Below is the floor protection film we use

Here is a link that might be useful: floor protection film

"Just use a good floor protection film and you should be fine..."

That film is about nothing for protection.

Drop a hammer and it will do nothing.

Corrugated cardboard with 1/4 inch plywood or Masonite provides protection.