When doing a kitchen should you tile underneath cabinets or just put plywood spacers there?

[steppinthrax]

I don't mind putting plywood to keep the cabinets level but. What size and is it a good idea to do this. I imagine when I'm finished there is going to be a very small gap between the cabinets and floor that I will have to fill with half rounds (cove molding). Anybody have any experience....

 

[JulesMaximus]

Don't tile under the cabinets. If you ever decide to change the flooring (which gets the most wear obviously) you'd be screwed if you tiled under your cabinets.

Also, I would just set the cabinets on the floor and use shims to level them. They don't need to be at the same height as the flooring.

 

[tidehigh]

notile

 

[rivan]

It's very common not to tile under cabinets.

Do keep extra tile tucked away somewhere in case you'd ever need some.

 

[Electric Amish]

Careful if you have an under-cabinet dishwasher. Having tile outside can cause an issue getting it in/out of the space.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I tiled my entire bathroom floor because it was only one cabinet and I wanted better waterproofing to protect the subfloor.

I would look into adding some kind of moisture barrier for your subfloor under your dishwasher and sink.....just in case. If you were to get a slow drip that you didn't notice, it can cause some decent damage in just a few months.

 

[sohcrates]

i tiled under my new kitchen cabinets because it kept the floor nice and level for the stove / dishwasher not to get stuck behind the "lip"

it's true that it's a PITA to change floors out, but they sell saws designed to just right alone the cabinet base if you ever needed to do that anyway.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: sohcrates
i tiled under my new kitchen cabinets because it kept the floor nice and level for the stove / dishwasher not to get stuck behind the "lip"

it's true that it's a PITA to change floors out, but they sell saws designed to just right alone the cabinet base if you ever needed to do that anyway.

How often do you replace your appliances? Stove is zero trouble, I've done it once already and you can always tile into the area where the stove and dishwasher go anyway so they slide out easily.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: sohcrates
i tiled under my new kitchen cabinets because it kept the floor nice and level for the stove / dishwasher not to get stuck behind the "lip"

it's true that it's a PITA to change floors out, but they sell saws designed to just right alone the cabinet base if you ever needed to do that anyway.

How often do you replace your appliances? Stove is zero trouble, I've done it once already and you can always tile into the area where the stove and dishwasher go anyway so they slide out easily.

Yeah. I would tile in the cut-outs for appliances, but not under the cabinets...although this causes an issue at the dishwasher height because of the counter-top going over it.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: sohcrates
i tiled under my new kitchen cabinets because it kept the floor nice and level for the stove / dishwasher not to get stuck behind the "lip"

it's true that it's a PITA to change floors out, but they sell saws designed to just right alone the cabinet base if you ever needed to do that anyway.

How often do you replace your appliances? Stove is zero trouble, I've done it once already and you can always tile into the area where the stove and dishwasher go anyway so they slide out easily.

Yeah. I would tile in the cut-outs for appliances, but not under the cabinets...although this causes an issue at the dishwasher height because of the counter-top going over it.

It could, usually you can adjust the height of the dishwasher enough to fit it in there. My kitchen flooring is ceramic tile on concrete slab so it is only the thickness of the tile and thinset. It would be more pronounced if you were laying tile on a wood subfloor because you'd have to put down hardibacker which would add 1/2" or more to the height of your floor. Still, you should be able to trim some of the cabinet to get it to fit if necessary.

 

[Tsaico]

I did the tile under appliances but not under cabinets. I also put plastic pads on the feet of the dishwasher since there was a little cut rivet feeling thing, not smooth. I did it just in case the sucker would scratch when I pulled it out for service.