Should Your Flooring Go In Before Or After The Kitchen?
Get the sequence right and your kitchen looks built-in, not retrofitted.
One of the most common questions we hear before a renovation starts — and the answer makes a real difference to the final look, the long-term performance, and the cost.
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When you renovate a kitchen, should the new floor go in before or after the cabinets? The short answer: it depends on whether your flooring floats or is fixed.
It's a question we field constantly at Kitchen & Home Renovations Co. — and it's a fair one, because getting the order wrong can leave you with trapped floors, awkward kickboard gaps, or money spent on flooring nobody will ever see. We renovate kitchens across Sydney, from our Taren Point showroom through the Sutherland Shire, St George, the Inner West, Eastern Suburbs and North Shore, and the same principle holds everywhere: the right sequence is set by your floor type, not by habit.
Below we'll walk through the method we recommend for floating floors (which covers most modern kitchens), the exception for tiles and glued floors, a practical week-by-week timeline, and the mistakes we help clients sidestep.
- For floating floors (hybrid, laminate, most vinyl plank), install the floor after the cabinets but before the kickboards.
- For tiles and glued floors, lay the floor before the kitchen — they're fixed and don't move.
- Floating floors should never be trapped under heavy cabinetry; they need room to expand and contract.
- Confirm the floor thickness early so benchtop heights and kickboards are set correctly.
- Kickboards always go on last, cut to the finished floor height for a seamless line.
It Comes Down To Your Floor Type
There's no single rule that fits every floor. What decides the order is whether your flooring is a floating floor or a fixed one.
Floating floors — hybrid, laminate and most vinyl plank — sit loose over the subfloor and need room to move with temperature and humidity. Fixed floors — tiles and glue-down floors — are bonded down and don't move at all. That single difference flips the whole sequence. Most modern kitchens use floating floors, so that's where we'll start.
The Ideal Sequence For Floating Floors
The cabinetry goes in first, with the kickboards and panels left off. Because we know the floor thickness in advance — say 6.5mm hybrid — the cabinets can be set to the right height from the start.
Once the cabinetry is set, the floating floor is laid up to the cabinets — not under them — leaving the expansion gap the floor needs to move freely.
Kickboards and panels are fitted last, cut to the exact finished floor height so they meet the floor cleanly with no gaps or trims.
A fine silicone line between floor and kickboard gives that seamless, built-in look — the detail that reads as intentional rather than retrofitted.
Four Reasons This Method Wins
It Protects The Floor
Hybrid and laminate are made to expand and contract. Laying them after the cabinetry means they're never trapped or stressed.
Kickboards Align Perfectly
Kickboards are cut to the exact finished floor height, so there are no awkward gaps or cover trims.
A More Polished Finish
A fine silicone line between floor and kickboard delivers a clean, seamless result.
It Can Cost Less
You're not paying to run flooring under heavy cabinetry where it will never be seen.
Done properly, your kitchen won't just look stunning on day one — it'll still work beautifully years down the track.
How Different Floor Types Compare
Different materials need different handling. Here's the simple version:
| Floor Type | When To Install | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hybrid | After cabinetry, before kickboards | It floats and needs room to move. |
| Laminate | After cabinetry, before kickboards | Same as hybrid — a floating floor. |
| Vinyl plank | Usually after cabinetry | Mostly floating these days, unless it's glue-down. |
| Tiles | Before the kitchen | Fixed and non-moving, so they go down wall-to-wall first. |
| Engineered timber | Depends | Floating goes after cabinetry; glued goes before. |
If you're not sure which camp your floor sits in, that's fine — we confirm the right method with your flooring installer before anything starts.
A Recent Sutherland Shire Renovation
The Sutherland Shire kitchen as we found it.
The same kitchen, finished.
A Practical Renovation Timeline
Here's the kind of week-by-week sequence many of our Sydney clients follow:
Remove the old kitchen and prepare the floors and walls.
Install the new cabinetry — with no kickboards or panels yet.
Lay the new flooring once the exact thickness is confirmed.
Fit kickboards, panels and the final silicone finishes.
This sequencing reduces delays, protects the materials, and helps deliver a cleaner finish.
What If You're Doing A Kitchen Makeover?
Plenty of our clients aren't doing a full demolition. They're doing a kitchen makeover — benchtop resurfacing, cabinet door replacement, splashback updates or a facelift renovation.
In these cases, correct floor-height allowances and kickboard planning matter even more, because you're working around existing cabinetry. It's something we factor in carefully so the new finishes sit right against your floor.
- Floating floors trapped under fixed cabinets
- Guessing the floor thickness instead of confirming it
- Kickboards installed before the flooring
- No expansion gaps left for floating floors
- Poor sealing, leading to water damage or lifting
Kitchen Flooring & Installation Timing
Should I install kitchen flooring before or after the kitchen?
Can hybrid flooring be installed under kitchen cabinets?
Will flooring thickness affect my benchtop height?
Can I change the flooring later without removing the kitchen?
Should kickboards go on before flooring?
Which floor types go in before the kitchen?
Do you handle makeovers as well as full renovations?
Do you service my area?
Let's Get The Sequence Right Together
Whether it's a full renovation or a makeover, we'll help you plan the order so your floor and kitchen work beautifully — now and for years to come.
Book A Free In-Home Consultation Call 02 9531 2004