Laminate flooring and cabinets

[JoeyGee]

I get to replace my vinyl kitchen floor with laminate wood flooring this weekend. My question is, how do I butt the flooring against the cabinets? I know the walls I will put trim on to cover the small gap, but do I leave a gap next to the cabinets? Do I butt the floor up tight to the cabinets?

[jspelbring]

Cabinets

I would but it up, then cover with quarter round trim (you can get it to match the laminate)v

[lombard]

With laminate, you're stuck leaving a small gap all the way around, including under the cabinets. You'll just have to use some quarter round in the toe kick under the cabinets, just like the rest of your walls..

[Rslaugh]

Definitely do not butt it up tight. These floors really can expand and contract 1/4". Also make sure to bring it into the room you are going to be installing it in and let it aclimate for at least 24 hours. Voice of experience and rework on both counts. Spend a lot of time to get it started square and keep it that way. You can get an installation kit with some plastic wedges to space the first course out from your wall.

[crokett]

1/4" wood scraps take about 2 minutes to rip on the tablesaw and work just as well as the spacers in the install kit. Also, take a scrap of the flooring and break the bottom off the groove side. Use that as a tap block to get the seams tight after you snap a piece in.

[Rslaugh]

1/4" wood scraps will work fine if you've got a perfectly straight wall otherwise you need to find some way to make your first row straignt and keep it that way as your tapping the next ones into place.

[jabe]

You'll need to maintain that expansion space around your cabinets. Cover the space with 3/4 rounds, you can buy them from your laminate flooring dealer although kinda pricey. I usually buy unfinished 3/4 round and stain/poly them to match. I use 3/4 rounds because of our high humidity in the tropics causes the floor to expand/contract alot.

[brooks]

This is a little bit off topic but I'm hoping to find people with experience with laminate flooring.

I have a bathroom sink cabinet I'm not quite ready to replace but it's due SOON. Say a month. Meanwhile, the sink corrosion finally broke through, so I'd like to change the sink. The new sink and faucet are ready - but the sink cabinet is not. I think I'm going to have a big headache expanding the hole in the cheap old "corian" type countertop. It's so old, it's crumbling. If I cut it, I'm afraid it will completely fall apart.

Could I make a plywood countertop and cover it with spare laminate flooring for the time period between installing a new sink and building a new sink cabinet? I hate to buy new materials for a cabinet that has to be replaced in a month anyway.

[ART-EDNA]

That old cabinet

Take a look at the EDGE FLOORING SITE-Something NEW-Ceramic tile that snaps togther-plan on useing for a kitchen floor and bathroom at this house-very nice looking-easy install and will be better for a sink area than laminate flooring!

[brooks]

I have plenty of ceramic tile. I just don't want to sit around waiting for mortar to dry or put any permanent work into a cabinet that is doomed to the scrap pile in a few weeks. I'm not ready to make the cabinet yet, won't be for a while, so I'd like to use the carcass of the current cabinet.

I was thinking I could prime the back and edges of the flooring and put a good bead of silicone sealant to the sink edge, thick enough so it's easy to cut the sink out when I replace the cabinet. It needs to be waterproof for that short time.