Removing Laminate Flooring Under Cabinets

You ll want to add shoe molding to the toe kicks to cover the laminate edge.

Removing laminate flooring under cabinets.

Just be aware if you go this route that if you replace the cabinets someday you ll have to redo the kitchen flooring as well if the cabinets aren t exactly the same footprint. Stacy asks i want to remove my existing flooring but the cabinets are built on top of it. Some mdf cabinets have a plastic coating and removing a plastic coating from kitchen cabinets is usually easier than removing a wood laminate. Installing laminate flooring under cabinets is a very common question for homeowners.

Typically cabinets come before flooring. The best way to do it is to use a heat gun to soften the adhesive and pull the laminate off in sections starting with the edging. I have been installing laminate flooring since the product first became popular. Floor covering or finish flooring is the surface that you see and walk on not the subfloor under the underlayment or underlayment between subfloor and finished layer.

Remove the cabinets and screw a plywood filler piece to the subfloor about inch inside the line where it will be under the cabinets. In most cases given standard flooring heights you will install the cabinets before the floor covering. This piece should be at least 2 inches wide and about inch thicker than the total thickness of the flooring including any vapor barrier or cushion. If you do it before and you.

However this process can be difficult labor intensive and time consuming. It s possible to replace kitchen tiles on the floor or wall without removing cabinets even if they re built on top of old tiles. Builders have an ongoing debate about whether it s better to install a hardwood floor before or after you put in the cabinets. However both are doable with patience and a steady supply of heat.

When installing laminate flooring in kitchens and bathrooms you cannot place cabinets or any hardware that is meant to be bolted permanently to the floor on the laminate. For installations that go over existing flooring in kitchens where cabinets are already installed i leave a 1 4 gap for expansion and trim out around the cabinets with matching quarter round from the flooring supplier. How to cut old flooring at the cabinets. How can i cut the flooring flush with the edge of the cabinet kickboard a specialty toe kick saw is available that can cut flush with a cabinet under the toe space or you may be able to adapt a grinder to do the job.