Fit kitchen first -then floor tiles after?

hollydays

Is it ok to do this? Have the money set aside for the kitchen-then put down slate or stone floor tiles at a later date.Can you do it this way round?

adonis

We fitted our kitchen first, all the units had adjustable legs so i tiled to just under them and fitted the kickboards (or whatever their called) over them.
When the floor was hard i carefully moved the washing machine, fridge etc out and tiled the floor that was left.

annie-c

I know lots of people who have done this, you also save money because the surface area to be tiled is smaller onnce the kitchen units are fitted.

Personally I had my whole floor tiled first and kitchen fitted after... this means that in the event of a flood or large spillage (and I've already had a small one) it's easier to clean up (ie the water doesn't puddle on the lower level that is untiled). Also if you have slot-in appliances, eg cooker, washing machine, it is easier to manouvre them out of the space they are in if you don't have to lift them from a lower position than the tiles.

TAG

I agree with annie-c and would tile the whole floor first.

When we moved into our house the previous owners had tiled the floor last. this proved a major problem when I had a new washing machine to put in.

The plug socket for it is behind the dishwasher along with the stop !!!!. because the dishwasher was so tightly fitted and we couldn't lower it I ended up having to remove several tiles to get it out. Because DH is a very unentusiastic DIY er the tiles are still missing nearly 4 years down the line and it drives me potty.

jennifernil

I would tile first for the reason annie-c gave, especially if the tiles are thick. This happened to my daughter, the people she bought from tiled afterwards.
But I would not have tiles in the kitchen personally. Too hard for standing on and very unforgiving if you drop dishes on them!!

paddy's_mum

I once tiled a kitchen floor with relatively expensive tiles. I could keep only the couple that were left over, not afford to buy a whole other pack for any patching that might need doing.

When, some time later, a tile got broken when a cast-iron casserole bounced on it, I was thankful that I had tiled first as my diy friend was able to carefully remove one of the unseen ones and effect a good repair/replacement of the broken one.

hollydays

Some great tips here thanks.
We need to tile the floor as we have a heavy-duty dog,and i like a covering that is easy to disinfect and is hardwearing.If anyone has any better ideas please feel free to suggest-but i probably will post that question a little later

Avoriaz

I agree with Andrew-b.

Tile after every time.

Why waste time effort and money on something that will never be seen?

Buy and keep an few extra tiles for spares. Store them under the kitchen units.

Canucklehead

Good morning: We always tile before fitting the kitchen as it gives us more room to move around (very difficult tiling a galley kitchen floor with everything in place when you're over 6 ft. tall ) ...also we decorate before fitting cabinets (dust sheets on floor to protect tiles)...an experienced individual would be able to proceed with a kitchen installation without causing damage.

HTH

Canucklehead

Georgiabay

I had my floor tiled before the units were fitted but to save on tiles the tiler stopped short where the units were going to be. This also saved on cutting as he just finished on a full tile. Of course this meant that the cupboards were on floor at the back and tiles at the front but the legs are adjustable anyway so it didn't matter.

amd

We have just tiled BEFORE fitting kitchen. In our last place we had to replace 1 unit and the gap in the original floor tiles where it didn't quite fit drove me mad. It saves any problems for the future owners if they decide to rearrange the kitchen as we've tiled the whole floor. I think if you're fitting something you might not match at a future date this is vital.

Also - don't put any spares under the units. I think I did that when we tiled my mum's bathroom floor. Now we have to dismantle the wooden bath surround and seals to check if that's where I put the spares as we can't find them to replace a cracked one! I thought it was a good idea at the time, but can't remember if I did it or not. Certainly wouldn't do it again.