OT: Kitchen Cabinets

[NikkiSixx]

Can someone explain to me why any sane person, would tile an entire kitchen floor and then mount the lower kitchen cabinets on top of the tile????

I found this out last week.. not sure how I will rectify, but I think I have to yank the cabinets and re-do the whole mess..

Then today, I found out that this same clown did the same thing in one of the bathrooms..

Now, I'm not a construction guy.. but, is this kind of crap common from latin contractors?

I mean, it's ridiculous.. if you want to change floors, there is no clean way to do this.

It's not my first remodel, and I always had the cabinets mounted to the concrete or subfloor. The finish tile would go under where the stove, fridge, dishwasher are, but not the main cabinets.

Considering a 1/4 inch slat of wood to glue or slide under the front lip? Also thought maybe shims? but that seems like it would be a disaster eventually. Prob just have to unload it all, remove the sink, all the water connnections, unmount and drag out the whole cabinet, remove the tile, remount 1/4 inch lower..

will consider any ideas...

bonus points if you can tell me why people are so stupid to begin with..

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

My guess is.. and its worth what you paid for it... the floor guy showed up before the cabinet guy so the floor guy didn't know where to stop. Only explanation I can think of.

 

[NikkiSixx]

My guess is.. and its worth what you paid for it... the floor guy showed up before the cabinet guy so the floor guy didn't know where to stop. Only explanation I can think of.

it's a very good explanation..

I'm just really pissed off that someone would think that was ok to do..

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

it's a very good explanation..

I'm just really pissed off that someone would think that was ok to do..

...went thru a house fire 1.5years ago. Hired a general contractor to cordinate everything... after a few months I just took over because of stuff just like that. To much to list

I sat down and made a calander and put one contractor at my house a day, never let two of them on the property on same day and made em abide by the days they were scheduled. If you didn't show you got replaced by somebody who would...and I did fire a few of them. BUT, when it was all said and done, stuff like you just deacribed was avoided and double bonus, the general contractor paid me what they charged the ins company for profit and overhead, which i wasn't expecting..woulda dun it for free, just because of examples like this.

 

[goldencohusker]

I think the contractor will tell you its to have a clean look and protect against leaks getting into subfloor and damaging the cabinet. But my guess is the real reason is its easier for them to put the floor down and not have to deal with all the intricate cuts that they will have to make on the flooring if they put the cabinets down first.

 

[NikkiSixx]

...went thru a house fire 1.5years ago. Hired a general contractor to cordinate everything... after a few months I just took over because of stuff just like that. To much to list

I sat down and made a calander and put one contractor at my house a day, never let two of them on the property on same day and made em abide by the days they were scheduled. If you didn't show you got replaced by somebody who would...and I did fire a few of them. BUT, when it was all said and done, stuff like you just deacribed was avoided and double bonus, the general contractor paid me what they charged the ins company for profit and overhead, which i wasn't expecting..woulda dun it for free, just because of examples like this.

that's a great story.. a lot of wisdom there!

 

[dinglefritz]

it's a very good explanation..

I'm just really pissed off that someone would think that was ok to do..

What you’re describing is actually my preferred install on the houses I’ve built and the most common install in new homes in my area. Stopping the flooring before the cabs is a pain in the ***. Your problem isn’t so much the installation as it is what was installed. Ceramic tile is a real pain in the ***.

 

[dinglefritz]

I think the contractor will tell you its to have a clean look and protect against leaks getting into subfloor and damaging the cabinet. But my guess is the real reason is its easier for them to put the floor down and not have to deal with all the intricate cuts that they will have to make on the flooring if they put the cabinets down first.

It is a MUCH better look. It’s foolish to fail to run vinyls under the cabs. Tile? Pain in the *** no matter what you do. Changing out flooring where tile has been laid almost always involves removing the cabs and re-installing in my experience. The house my kids lived in near Aksarben Village had 3 layers of vinyl in the kitchen when re-did it. Ended up adding a layer of underlayment plywood after removing the vinyl, put down LVT, used the old quarter round to finish around the cabs.

 

[NikkiSixx]

What you’re describing is actually my preferred install on the houses I’ve built and the most common install in new homes in my area. Stopping the flooring before the cabs is a pain in the ***. Your problem isn’t so much the installation as it is what was installed. Ceramic tile is a real pain in the ***.

I think you're insane with that idea.. nobody should mount cabinets on top of finished tile, there is no way to change out the flooring without upsetting the cabinets..

 

[NikkiSixx]

This has me thinking actually.. From here on out, if I contact a contractor, and they send me out an illegal, I am going to demand an American or call another contractor.. the days of paying high prices for illegal labor are over for me.. the substandard work with US prices is nothing but a scam imo.

 

[goldencohusker]

Getting home improvement work done has turned into such a conundrum - particularly as contractor pricing goes higher and higher. Do it yourself and save some big $ while sucking the life out of your free time, or pay contractors big $ and then still have to supervise them like a hawk to make sure they aren't cutting corners or otherwise screwing up something they are supposed to be the expert at. Ugh.

 

[dinglefritz]

I think you're insane with that idea.. nobody should mount cabinets on top of finished tile, there is no way to change out the flooring without upsetting the cabinets..

I agree about tile but I wouldn’t put tile in a house anymore to begin with. My master bedroom has it now run under the cabs but it would be a piece of cake to remove the cab kicks and change out the tile if I ever decide to change it. Did that in my last house in the kitchen and replaced it with hardwood. No problem.

I guess no matter the floor material, you always have to deal with different material thicknesses and the edge finishes. Cabinets in general can be a pain to deal with when changing flooring and tiles are bad every time. If you don’t replace tile butted to your cab kicks with tile again you likely have grout staining on the kicks to fix.

On the other hand if you have to pull a cab out for some reason,butting the tile is a problem. Forget about replacing your base cabs with butted tile.

 

[HUSKERFAN66]

We're remodeling a house right now. I'm planning on putting the lvp down before we reset the cabinets and appliances

 

[LouisK]

This has me thinking actually.. From here on out, if I contact a contractor, and they send me out an illegal, I am going to demand an American or call another contractor.. the days of paying high prices for illegal labor are over for me.. the substandard work with US prices is nothing but a scam imo.

Wow, do you know that illegals did this previous construction or are you just a ......?

 

[mgbreeze]

Ahh, home ownership. It's always fun to start a project and discover these little hidden easter eggs left for you! This guy is my spirit animal that I quote often:

Deric Cahill on Instagram: "My house remains undefeated."

55K likes, 1,043 comments - deric_cahill on November 11, 2025: "My house remains undefeated.".

www.instagram.com

 

[NikkiSixx]

Wow, do you know that illegals did this previous construction or are you just a ......?

I have a pretty good idea, yeah.. also, I'm in south florida, so it's something I'm running into a lot here. If I am going to pay the US price, I should get US labor.. if I am going to pay illegals price, then it should be at least half. What's been normalized in this country is paying the illegal worker the US price, and I'm not doing it anymore and I have had nothing but trouble with every job done by someone speaking Spanish. I don't care what you think.

 

[NikkiSixx]

Ahh, home ownership. It's always fun to start a project and discover these little hidden easter eggs left for you! This guy is my spirit animal that I quote often:

Deric Cahill on Instagram: "My house remains undefeated."

55K likes, 1,043 comments - deric_cahill on November 11, 2025: "My house remains undefeated.".

www.instagram.com

this is hilarious!

 

[Jayb01]

I think you're insane with that idea.. nobody should mount cabinets on top of finished tile, there is no way to change out the flooring without upsetting the cabinets..

Dude that's standard pretty much everywhere to place cabinets over your finished floor. Funny thing is that you think it's half assed to do do it the industry standard way. Meanwhile you are also posting about demanding an American or non illegal so this doesn't happen. The only place I've seen cabinets before floors commonly is in planned communities in Florida. Guess who the workforce was that did it your preferred way?

Cabinets are basically an extension of trim. Would you cut floor around all of your trim? Also if done properly the tile under the cabinets only go past the front edge of the cabinet. This is so that you can use the floor itself to ride the cabinet on for best support and can guarantee you don't have to shim it up if your floor goes up at all near the wall, which it almost always does in anything other than brand new homes. That half inch void where there is no tile allows the back edge of the cabinet to go down while the front edge is fully on the finished floor.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

I mean...like someone said, if the cabs are put in first and the flooring second, you get it that way.

If the flooring is put in first, you get it the other way.

 

[HUSKERFAN66]

I mean...like someone said, if the cabs are put in first and the flooring second, you get it that way.

If the flooring is put in first, you get it the other way.

And then if you change flooring down the road you cut it off in front of the cabinets and new flooring goes against it and seal it

 

[dinglefritz]

We're remodeling a house right now. I'm planning on putting the lvp down before we reset the cabinets and appliances

It’s actually the preferable method. I bought some commercial grade LVP for the house we had in Omaha. Be forewarned it will scratch and get damaged if you get wild with it. It’s much tougher than the old vinyls but….

 

[dinglefritz]

I have a pretty good idea, yeah.. also, I'm in south florida, so it's something I'm running into a lot here. If I am going to pay the US price, I should get US labor.. if I am going to pay illegals price, then it should be at least half. What's been normalized in this country is paying the illegal worker the US price, and I'm not doing it anymore and I have had nothing but trouble with every job done by someone speaking Spanish. I don't care what you think.

A contractor in Omaha sent out a Spanish only speaking crew to re-roof our house. I had to explain to the contractor rep AND the crew how to flash and seal around the chimney. They had never even heard of Blackjack roof cement/sealant.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

And then if you change flooring down the road you cut it off in front of the cabinets and new flooring goes against it and seal it

That is what I thought!

 

[HUSKERFAN66]

It’s actually the preferable method. I bought some commercial grade LVP for the house we had in Omaha. Be forewarned it will scratch and get damaged if you get wild with it. It’s much tougher than the old vinyls but….

Yeah we did a bunch of research. Not going with box store stuff. Going with Johnson hardwood brand.

 

[WHCSC]

It’s a floor. Leave it alone.

 

[OctavianDillard]

Not sure how contractors do it, having to deal with all the homeowners that know better would be insufferable

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Not sure how contractors do it, having to deal with all the homeowners that know better would be insufferable

Right? Like, you called THEM to do it because you can't/won't. Then you watch over them the entire time to judge them???

I had a plumber come out and I was not even home! I just told him...the door is open, the place I need you to look at is in the basement. He did it, he sent me an invoice and that was that.

 

[dinglefritz]

Yeah we did a bunch of research. Not going with box store stuff. Going with Johnson hardwood brand.

We bought the best line from Kelley’s carpets. They have it on their store floors. It looked great and they drive forklifts on it. The problem with any of it is sharp objects such as somebody sliding a wooden object with a nail sticking out.

Kelley’s sell more flooring than NFM. I got to their store 20 minutes before they opened. The owner saw me at the door and came out to get me. Showed me the stuff then turned me over to his daughter who helped me decide on the color etc. GREAT PEOPLE! I still have their personal cell #s. Turns out he farms on the side. We visited for a long time. We had a call back for his carpet installers but they were prompt and fixed it. 100% would have them again.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

We bought the best line from Kelley’s carpets. They have it on their store floors. It looked great and they drive forklifts on it. The problem with any of it is sharp objects such as somebody sliding a wooden object with a nail sticking out.

Kelley’s sell more flooring than NFM. I got to their store 20 minutes before they opened. The owner saw me at the door and came out to get me. Showed me the stuff then turned me over to his daughter who helped me decide on the color etc. GREAT PEOPLE! I still have their personal cell #s. Turns out he farms on the side. We visited for a long time. We had a call back for his carpet installers but they were prompt and fixed it. 100% would have them again.

I have never used them but I have heard great things about that place.

 

[dinglefritz]

I have never used them but I have heard great things about that place.

Better price on identical material and better product knowledge than NFM. I did the floor prep on the job and they let me use their dumpsters at no charge for the old vinyl, pad, underlayment and carpet. 2 pickup loads.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Not sure how contractors do it, having to deal with all the homeowners that know better would be insufferable

I had a contractor floor over my dryer vent. Yeah, I knew more than that professional.

Had another contractor turn on the water in the house, in the middle of a fire restoration....usually there is a reason it's off, as was the case here.... flooded my basement. Knew more than that idiot to.

 

[dinglefritz]

Right? Like, you called THEM to do it because you can't/won't. Then you watch over them the entire time to judge them???

I had a plumber come out and I was not even home! I just told him...the door is open, the place I need you to look at is in the basement. He did it, he sent me an invoice and that was that.

During COVID, I got the number of a plumber in Joplin MO. My sister had a sewer line problem at her house. He gave me a ballpark number, came out, dug up and replaced a broken line near the curb, fixed a plumbing issue in the house and billed me just his original estimate. It was way more work than we thought. He refused a deposit before the job. Insisted he would mail a bill and and an out of state check was fine. $1600. Nobody else would even return a call. A city utility secretary working from home finally returned my call and gave me his name.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

During COVID, I got the number of a plumber in Joplin MO. My sister had a sewer line problem at her house. He gave me a ballpark number, came out, dug up and fixed a broken line near the curb, fixed a plumbing issue in the house and billed me just his original estimate. It was way more work than we thought. He refused a deposit before the job. Insisted he would mail a bill and and an out of state check was fine.

My plumber, who I had never met but got his number from a friend...asked for nothing upfront at all and just said "I can just email you the bill, no big deal". I have never even met the guy!

 

[redwine65]

It’s a floor. Leave it alone.

I agree, just use a robotic vacuum on carpets and paper towels on hard floors if you see something worth bending over and throwing away.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

I agree, just use a robotic vacuum on carpets and paper towels on hard floors if you see something worth bending over and throwing away.

Right?

I have to get new carpet soon and I am already dreading it and wondering if maybe just LV or hardwood is the way to go...and just toss a throw rug over some of it.

 

[Man Woman & Child]

I don’t understand the problem. I’m in the middle of a full gut remodel and some of the cabinets are over the floor some are not. Depended on the order in which it was all installed but I could care less either way. In ranking the things to b*tch about and ask to have redone correctly, which there have been a TON of, this would rank very very low. And don’t get me started on the stuff that has ranked higher.

 

[Man Woman & Child]

Not sure how contractors do it, having to deal with all the homeowners that know better would be insufferable

I had a contractor floor over my dryer vent. Yeah, I knew more than that professional.

Had another contractor turn on the water in the house, in the middle of a fire restoration....usually there is a reason it's off, as was the case here.... flooded my basement. Knew more than that idiot to.

Yep. Have a contractor f*ck up enough things and you tend to feel the need to micro-manage them.

 

[goldencohusker]

Of course there are contractors that do a great job at a reasonable cost and don't need you looking over their shoulder, but there are plenty that are not like that. For as much as it costs to outsource work to contractors today, if you don't adopt a trust-but-verify approach, its not a matter of if, but when, you're going to get burned if you think all you need to do is leave the door open for them and write the check.

 

[NikkiSixx]

Dude that's standard pretty much everywhere to place cabinets over your finished floor. Funny thing is that you think it's half assed to do do it the industry standard way. Meanwhile you are also posting about demanding an American or non illegal so this doesn't happen. The only place I've seen cabinets before floors commonly is in planned communities in Florida. Guess who the workforce was that did it your preferred way?

Cabinets are basically an extension of trim. Would you cut floor around all of your trim? Also if done properly the tile under the cabinets only go past the front edge of the cabinet. This is so that you can use the floor itself to ride the cabinet on for best support and can guarantee you don't have to shim it up if your floor goes up at all near the wall, which it almost always does in anything other than brand new homes. That half inch void where there is no tile allows the back edge of the cabinet to go down while the front edge is fully on the finished floor.

no, tile is a finished product, you don't mount cabinets on top of that structure.. it is not the industry standard. Tile, does not break cleanly, so if you want to change out the floor after it is installed, you create nothing but a mess, because all the cabinetry must come out.. I've never seen this as an industry standard.. maybe in latin america, but not in the US.

 

[NikkiSixx]

Right?

I have to get new carpet soon and I am already dreading it and wondering if maybe just LV or hardwood is the way to go...and just toss a throw rug over some of it.

i tore out all the LVP in this place I am working on.. it was brand new, looked like crap, felt like crap to walk on, and I know it's popular, but it's like the plank fake wood flooring.. maybe okay for a small area, but not for an entire house. I like to tile the whole thing and use area rugs. Rugs gets dirty, easy to replace, no allergies from carpet and all that mess..

but here is a hint.. you should def put the lvp under your kitchen cabinets! Even better if you can put carpet in your kitchen, under the cabinets too! That's the industry standard apparently.. lol