install the floor in the all room, then the cabinets above...
-If DW leak in the subfloor is not good.
-If some reason you will change the kitchen u don't have to match holes or find the same floor.

You don't mention what kind of floor. I am putting in a laminate floor. The first floor I had picked out was from the home center that is doing my kitchen and the KD said they always do floor first. BUT! I started to second guess that floor, didn't like the quality. So I went to a flooring place and was told to NEVER put laminate under the cabinets! It is a floating floor and will buckle as it contracts with heat/cold. Needless to day I am having the flooring place do my floor! I think the only floor I would put under my cabinets would be hardwood...HTH

Put the floor in first and then the base cabinets on top of the new floor.

I put the cabinets in first, then the flooring then the appliances then the island. However, we did that because the flooring and installation was expensive and we felt there was no reason to put the travertine under the cabinets. Depending on the flooring and or cabinet style you can if you want.

One thing that everyone kept messing up on was compensating on the measurements for the lack of flooring. For instance, I wanted my electrical outlets to be as close to the countertops as code would allow. My countertops would be 36" from the floor AFTER IT WAS INSTALLED not the slab the electrician was standing on at that moment.

Did that make any sense? My electrician was a little grouchy when he had to re-do all of the outlets!

I am putting in a hand-made terra cotta tile floor, and my KD says that because the floor will be quite uneven (and yes, I read the thread about how awful terra cotta floors are!) that we wouldn't put the tile under the cabinets, or the cabinets would be all uneven.

I hope that is right. I always thought you did floor first, cabinets next. But I see his point. We would certainly have gaps under the cabs if we did the floor first.

He's been doing this for a very long time. I guess I have to just trust him to know what he is doing.

I'm doing my floor first simply because I don't want to lose that 3/4" in countertop height. And when I tore out the old stuff out it was originally covering the entire floor. I am just staying true to the house. ;)

Our cabinet maker said cabinets first and then floor. We are putting in a travertine floor and they will grout up to the cabinets.

What about a cork floor? Wouldn't the cabs and appliances "sink" into it? Mysterymachine... what did you do?

I felt that the floor should go in first, but our builder and floor person said no - cabinets then flooring (hardwood). Looks like it's about 50/50 so I would assume either way is acceptable.

If you put the floor in first, you would not need shoemold around the cabinets, but if you put the cabinets in first, would't you need to have that? Or would you wait to put the shoekick...whachacallit... you know what I mean... under the cabinets after the floor goes in? My MIL insisted that the floor go in first, and the contractors argued with her, but she did not want to lose a 3/4" of height on her cabinets nor did she want shoemold. My contractors didn't even ask me, and they automatically put in the site-finished hardwood way before the cabinets came in.

And to clarify, by shoemold, I mean quarter-round molding, and by whachacallit, I mean the thin, 4" high piece of trim that goes under the cabinet. I just woke up... words are not coming easily.

LOL annettacm, toe kick I believe is the word you meant by "whachacallit". I kind of wish we had put our floor in first to get the little bit of extra height, but we did it the way it was before, cabinets in first. And like jeannie kitchen, we have uneven floors (natural slate) so I guess that wouldn't have worked anyway. My main problem is that before our remodel, the range didn't have flooring under it and now it does. So now my glass top electric range isn't flush with my counters because it has the slate under it and the cabinets don't. I know the feet can be adjusted to lower it but we haven't done that yet and I don't expect DH ever will, based on the fact that I have an ORB sink flange to match my faucet that's still in it's box UNDER my sink (faucets been in almost a year) while the old SS flange that came with my disposal still glares at me from the black sink every day. And wow was that a run on sentence or what?

Floor first. We just replaced our ceramic tile floor with wood. The tile was wall-to-wall and so is the wood. Any uneven-ness can be compensated for by the cabinet installer, with proper shims.

I have a cork floor an we were told to put the cabinets in first. Because cork flooring is soft, installing the floor first may result in uneven cabinets.

Nicole

I've been hearing floor last as well, and I believe one good reason would be the possibility of ruining the flooring while putting in the cabinets.

I am really glad I did my flooring last. Once I had my cabinets and countertops in, I went did a total reversal on my flooring choice. My Silestone countertop appeared much much brilliant and a different shade when installed, even though it did match the small tile sample I had. I was able to make a much better choice in flooring seeing how everything looked in the room first - including the lighting.