Also no stonework around the fireplace or island. Same question applies here - tile before or after stonework on interior walls with stone work?

What about baseboards - best to install before or after tile floor?

(Maybe they are behind on getting tile or the cabinets are earlier than expected and they just want to get them done irregardless of what they agreed to previously... But I do think that cabinets on top make for cleaner lines and not having to make lots of cuts that may not always be as smooth and straight and contiguous as a wood toe kick or cabinet side on top of tile)

You need cabinets are flash with wall , so I would go first with cabinets.

Flooring? Yes, wall to wall. Baseboards after.

@Celery. Visualization, Rendering images - I'm confused - how does tile first prevent cabinets from being installed flush with wall? Flooring is on the horizontal plane and would raise them by 1/2" or so... but I don't see how that would prevent a cabinet from being flush with a vertical wall... What am I missing?

Are you talking about tile in the kitchen or bathroom?

@ HU-528228756 Good catch! Sorry I was talking about wall cabinets. Missed that you asked about floor ones. Yes floor is first, then cabinets on top. It is usual practice.

Installing floors may be usual but since cabinets usually out live flooring in a house we put down concrete panels normally used as backing for tile in shower walls under the cabinets the same thickness as flooring. Now if we decide to change floor we don't have to mess with the cabinets as the flooring just butts up to our underlayment.

I doubt you want to pay for the extra tile and labor to completely cover the wall area you'll be covering with cabinets. They can tile up just enough, so the mounted cabinets cover the tile. But then the cabinets will need shims at the upper mounting points to be plumb.

And if you tiled the whole wall first before putting up cabinets, then the hanging of the cabinets would be complicated by having to drill screw holes through the tile everywhere you needed them to hang the cabinets.

Tiled floors always first with the cabinets following. Others will be type dependent.

The point of baseboards is to bridge the gap from flooring to wall-so it comes last. As far as flooring vs cabinets...the chances of a home owner wanting to swap flooring is greater than swapping cabinets. This is easiest/cleanest installation/least hassle, if the cabinetry goes in first and flooring goes up to but not under the cabinetry. I suggest you hire a general contractor.

This is for rectangular 'wood-like' ceramic FLOOR TILE that will be installed throughout the house including kitchen and bathrooms (not on walls)

Sounds like a mixed response but with a consensus towards installing wall to wall floor tile first, THEN cabinets etc.

Things that can can be installed AFTER floor tile (or not) include:

1. Lower Cabinets

2. Stone wall treatments such as on the fireplace and outside wall of bar/island

3. Appliances

4. Baseboards

5. Mud room built-in bench, etc.

QUESTION: For those preferring to install lower cabinets FIRST, what about appliances? Specifically, if you have a narrow wine fridge like 15 inches or so - can you floor tile inside narrow restricted spaces? Or do you live w/ the edge drop when pushing the appliance back in the opening in the cabinet?

Floor first

Ceramic Tile always first. You do not want your appliances floored in". Floating is about the only floor you do not install cabinets on top of.

Not a pro. In our build, they put in cabinets first, then tile and hardwoods, then toekick plates under the cabinets. The fireplace stonework was shimmed up with space for the wood floor under it. Going to see how well they were able to stain it in place against that stone work in a few days. :) They put flooring in the area under where the range, fridge and wine cooler will go.

Just had a custom home completed, and walked thru many in different stages of build from the same custom builder. My home is all wood plank tile, no carpets. It was laid before cabinetry and baseboards so its under all of the cabinetry, it looks perfect, no gaps . Im not sure why there would be. Went thru other homes that the tile was put down to where it looked like the layout for the cabinets would be, but underneath wasnt completely tiled. The tilers do take into account where the appliances slide in and tile those areas. I cant imagine a new home built with appliances tiled in. I never saw tile butted up to any cabinets. In my opinion, its normal to not have tile completely under your cabinets, but i think that its perferable to have flooring run under your vanities and kitchen cabinets in case you need or want to replace with something of a different size. An example would be replacing a vanity for a smaller one or one with legs, or at some point redesigning an island, you wouldnt have to match (almost impossible) or replace the flooring. If you have a choice and its in the budget, tile the entire floor (IMO). We didnt request a full floor lay, I think that it came down to when the materials were delivered, and keeping the subcontractors on schedule. Good luck w your build.

ETA If you have any questions or concerns about your build, have a meeting with your builder or whomever is managing your build. Dont waste your time here when they can answer questions about your particular concerns. All anybody can throw out here are their own experiences and opinions.

All my bathroom vanities are floating, so there was no question that the tile would be laid first and cover the whole floor area!

Our contractor always said they built their houses with full tile everywhere. That was further agreed in writing as part of a tile selection change/upgade. In fact they were the ones that pushed the full tile everywhere at the time - not us. And we agreed and we paid for that.

Now they are contradicting themselves by saying they are planning to put in cabinets and baseboards first and tile later and that it is "usual" and "customary"

The truth is their tile sub is behind or they aren't able to get them onsite in a timely fashion and want to keep the project moving (and the payments coming in) by jumping to other subs ahead of flooring.

We don't mind getting it done sooner. But we want it done right and we want what we paid for.

If its written within the specs and contract for your home, You can point to it and insist that it be done that way. Youre right, something along the way got delayed and your GC is trying to keep the build moving. If youre ok with a delay, Id fight for what was contracted. We built during the worst of the pandemic but never had a problem with the builder doing the right thing even if it meant delays. Has your builder been responsive to other issues?