I don't know how helpful this is just to share what we did. I don't know what is typical or best for what you have, but my GC threw down shoe molding (the quarter round stuff) which the floor people coated along with the floors (just done last week, after cabinets, counters, etc.). If they are worth their salt, they can do the floors without affecting your cabinets. My cabinets were untouched by their work; however, they did shred the bottom of the plastic coating of my DW and got some of the coating on the bottom of the range (which the guy cleaned up today with WD40).

I can't imagine having the floors finished before all the work that has happened since the cabinets went in, but others may have good reasons to do them ahead of cabinets.

Hang in there! You will get through this... sounds like it's going to be great!

Thanks jsweenc. It's so reassuring when you hear things worked out for someone else. Was the shoe molding your GC put down permanent or just to protect the bottom of the cabs during finishing? I forgot about the appliances. I would be so upset if something happened to my new Subzero fridge. That was the one item I had to persuade DH to purchase. I hope its worth the extra bucks.

Sounds like your project is winding down. Have you posted any pics yet? I would love to see them.

motherof3, we are in the same situation as you in regards of the floor refinishing sequence. My logic told me that the floors would be done much earlier like before cabinet installation but thats not how my floor man wants to do it either.My floors have been covered w/ a green sticky plasticky flim for the entire reno. Some of these workers are very ROUGH in the way they go about their work. The floors will be done at the very end and he insists they have tools to get to the closest edge w/o harming cabinets, I have to imagine they use the same care in not damaging the new cabinets since they choose to do their work last. We have an adjoining family room that has the same wood floors which will also be refinished. In that room we have typical trim which he said they will work around. The ONLY thing he asked to be removed is a couple spots that have quarter round molding like where sliders and french door are.

Good luck in your progress. There are times when it is daunting but my project is all coming together, so I feel we are over the BIG humps. I am at the end of week #4. Next week my countertops go in, final plumbing and electrical, and week# 6 will be the floor finale!

The shoe molding is permanent. GC said some floor people like to have it nailed down before and some after finishing. I guess the ones who like it down before are ones you can trust to be extra careful with your cabinets. I never really noticed in other kitchens whether they had that or not, so you might want to look specifically for that in FKB and ask some of those specifically. It's one of those things my GC automatically puts down unless I specify otherwise, and in my case with my uneven floors and walls and ceiling it was necessary.

I bet if you say something about your fridge to them when they are giving an estimate, they will be sure to take care of it. Something like 'I know someone who had her brand new stove marked up during the process, and I'm so nervous about something happening to my refrigerator [demure giggle]. I know you will be careful but I couldn't help mentioning it.' (I'm no good at those giggles but you get what I mean.)

We have painting left, next week, and then moving furniture back in to be 100%. I have pics floating around on various threads for one reason or another, but here is the link. Most current pics are in this album and the During one. Thanks for asking!

Here is a link that might be useful: My almost-finished kitchen

Even for a waterbased, catalyzed finish like Bona Traffic which dries in 2-3 hours, the cure time is 7 days. You do not want workers doing anything in your new space until the floor is fully cured. So really the only way to do the floor first would be to have it done, wait a week (I would go more like 10 days in the summer) and then do the cabinet install.

Ours were sanded and finished BEFORE all the cabs went in. They did the stain, then two coats of clear. They were then covered up with that masonite stuff for about 6 weeks until everything else was finished. At the very end of the reno, they came back and did one final coat of clear.

Our floors were done the same way as shanghaimom's: two coats before the cabinets were installed and one coat after construction was finished. We moved everything into the cupboards and the fridge and range were moved into place before the last coat of Bona was applied. The floor was carefully covered with one layer of padded paper and one layer of thin plywood and we actually didn't have any scratches from construction or from moving the appliances.

One big advantage of doing things this way is that you don't have a huge amount of floor dust all over your new cabinets and everything else at the end of the project.

Thank you for all the replies! I went away for the weekend and didn't get a chance to check GW until today. I guess there is no set rule on the order of resfinishing floors. The most important thing is that the workers are careful and take special precautions. I need to find out if my GC uses that special vacuum that will minimize floor dust.

Thank you,
motherof3

jsweenc - Your kitchen look great. It must be exciting to be almost done. Thanks for the fridge tip....I can be demure when needed!