As I understand it, the contractor wants to put the new wood floor under the cabinets, and the plywood is there temporarily. Assuming that is true, I don't have a problem with that.

If on the other hand, the contractor wants to skip placing flooring under the cabinets all together, then I would not allow that. I would want the floor to go under the cabinets, and would insist on it. Even if it takes 3 weeks.

Dear Smiley - the second assumption is correct. Is your expertise in flooring? or any legitimate reasons to back up your statement that I can share with my husband (who just wants this nightmare remodel to be over). Thanks.

Need some FLOORING pros to comment!!! I'm sorry I don't have any expertise other than old fashioned experience. Hang in there, a pro will hopefully comment soon!

By the way, you need to move this question(or start a new one) in Design Dilemma, it's currently in Other, and you won't get as big a response in Other.

As a flooring sales person, I might have some input ... but I've never installed so forgive me if I don't touch on all parts of the problem.

IF this is a floating floor (like an engineered plank or laminate) it can not go under cabinetry. The fact that you said it is a handscraped hickory, I shall assume this is solid hardwood that must be nailed/glued/stapled in place. That being said a flooring installer does have the choice (depending on the owners informed decision making) to either run this wall-to-wall OR simply go around everthing.

Please be aware that the flooring you receive, if you order another batch, will most likely NOT match the planks that you have. This means, no matter what s/he does RIGHT NOW s/he will have to shuffle in (maybe half and half) the new order/batch with the old. If it is a really bad match, s/he may have to pull up pieces that are already laid to get a complimentary match.

Another pointer - if he runs it under the cabinetry the way you would like, you may never have the ability to "use" the floor under the cabinets in a future (read: 25 years down the road) renovation because of multiple factors. The main factor will be discolouration seen between wood hidden from UV light for 25 years vs. a long-exposed wood floor open to the elements for 25 years (that may have been refreshed/resanded many times by then = different finishes and different heights).

The bottom line will be cost; the Bonus = added expense both for materials AND LABOUR. The other plus of waiting for the flooring to come in = no kitchen for 3 weeks (or more if you include install, stain, site finish + time waiting for contractor to come back from another job to finish yours). You could be looking at X-mas without a kitchen (yes, we've seen these things drag on because the contractor has other jobs that he must be on time for).

If you choose to run the floor under the cabinets (which is your right as the owner/contractor) you "choose" to have some or ALL of these fall into your lap. That sounds harsh, which it can be if everything that can go wrong does go wrong (Murphy's Law is alive and well in the building industry), but it is also the sad, lonely truth of the matter.

Knowing all of these pit falls (the only benefit is knowing that there is flooring hidden from view under your fixed cabinetry - that will not move for 20-25 years) and all of these added expenses and knowing that every time your contractor has to "move" something back into place he puts it on your bill, you can then make the informed decision that I made mention of at the beginning of the post.

The choice is yours - but choose wisely. Your sanity and bank balance may be at stake.

For me, my big concern would be that the flooring under the cabinets and appliances are at the same level as the finished flooring in the open areas so it's fairly simple to switch out a broken dishwasher (for example). And of course, it needs to be flat and sturdy. After all, you're not ever going to see it and the open areas will change color from the sun and wear.

I agree with your contractor. If he can make sure the floor is level, let him put whatever he wants under the cabinets.

Hello ddelan - (We do a lot of kitchen floors as part of our whole room projects.) My thoughts -- we generally prefer to put solid hardwood wall to wall in our kitchens.

But you can get a perfectly good result (not second-class) by using plywood of the same thickness to substitute for finished flooring in areas where the floor will never show. It's our policy, though, that your primary flooring, should run under your refrigerator and free-standing range... and under the cabinetry edges, so flooring-to-plywood joint does not show.

We do this less often, because it really does not save that much material, and requires careful planning. But I'd not hesitate to do it if it helps out in your circumstance. Best Wishes! Mark

@Cancork Floor - in your reply you mention they may have to "pull up pieces". I asked about "pulling up pieces" from an area just laid which will be in area not effected with cabinetry or immediate time deadlines. Contractor said it could not be done because it was nailed in place. I am confused! It just seems that the contractors' fix is half a__ss (pardon the remark).

Hickory is the best choice you could have made due to the huge variation of color that is characteristic of the species. You can mix up the old with the new and the result will be fabulous! Definitely under the appliances and plywood is fine under cabinets. This means your kitchen can be installed before the new hardwood arrives. Postpone the toe kick portion of the cabinet install so the hickory appears to be under the cabs and toe kicks on top.

@ddelan...
I'm afraid there's no "correct" approach (IMHO)... it's a coin toss.

The pro's to plywood under the cabinets is that the flooring can be installed AFTER the other work is completed... however this may be a "con" if the wood floor installers are a bunch of cretins with no depth perception, resulting in more damage to the cabinets than it was worth.
Obviously a quality "prefinished" floor would cut the "cretin involvement" substantially, as opposed to installing THEN finish in place.

The "pro" to hardwood UNDER the cabinets is obviously, the freedom to move or REMOVE them at a later date without having to "patch" areas in, although obviously the untouched areas would not have had the luxury of daily use... so there may be a slight difference.
The "con" to hardwood flooring in 1st... is the possibility of having the cousins of the aforementioned vision impaired cretins, performing the cabinet installation... and damaging the floors...

The problem is: EVERYBODY will tell you... "we're professionals... we'll be careful", and that's probably the case.
But take a second to "google": Murphy's Law if you're not familiar with it.

On the subject of UNDER appliances... I typically recommend using plywood, simply because dishwashers, icemakers (refrigerator), etc. always have the chance of developing a leak... (Murphy again) and the damage is less problematic if the flooring was simply run into the space far enough to cover with the appliance cover plate at the bottom.
A serious dishwasher leak can result in the flooring buckling to the extent an appliance is difficult to remove in order to repair or replace it. Who wants to remove a countertop in order to make a simple "fix".

Be thankful you had the forethought to "buy extra" in anticipation of adding on. We were having a steady stream of people wanting us to "duplicate" flooring they had purchased (from/by others) several years ago, and became obsolete or discontinued.
Finally got tired of chasing the mass-producers cast offs out of an effort to offer sympathetic customer service to folks who had chosen to do business elsewhere on the front end.

Thank you everyone for your input. I don't know if my underlining question has been answered. That is: can areas of flooring just installed be taken up and reused in another section? Thanks again.

Of course they can lift and reuse, old nail holes are patched and then touched up or refinished to match if needed. Unless of course as Select Hardwood said above they were Cretin or Neanderthals and the wood floor was glued down. Highly doubtful though.

Guess I'm still in the dark as to what your question is...

ddelan: I mentioned the "pulling up" only in regard to "mixing" an old batch of flooring in with a brand new (read: different coloured/effect) floor recently purchased. If your new order is a PERFECT MATCH (nigh on impossible) then there is no need to "shuffle in" the old with the new. If there are differences between the old and the new, the two floors will need to have product shuffled in to make it look "natural".

This would be the only case where "pulling up" a laid floor to add in another batch would be required. The owner would have to SPECIFY this MUST BE DONE or else the flooring professional will normally not take the time to do it - because their quote did not include this possiblility.

That was the only thing I was thinking about - matching up the two different batches.