I want a new kitchen floor but not a new kitchen.

[temporary]

I have a three year old kitchen which I like a lot, with very battered wooden floors. The decisions were made in a hurry at the time, because I was due with twins any minute and wanted the builders out, but I am now regretting the floor.

Can I get a nice floor laid after the kitchen if I have a plinth in place? (I am thinking some sort of tiles by the way, when I say nice.)

The extra problem is that I have a couple of drawers in the plinth which I will have to loose I guess, but I have decided I can't tolerate a difficult to clean wood floor anymore.

Usually the plinth should just pull off.

How are you planning to get the tiles laid? Will they go on top of the wooden floor? If so they may need plywood and/or screeding between the two layers to make it level and stop movement. You'll be raising your floor height a little. After the floor is laid the plinths just clip back on.

Or are the wooden floors laid on top of something else (e.g. concrete) and will they be coming up? If you're lucky they will just be in the visible areas and you can have them removed and something else laid. If you are unlikely they will go all the way under the units like our @*!£%^! laminate, and you will have to remove all the units to get the sodding things out.

You see that's the problem, they go all the way under the units and I really REALLY don't want to remove the whole kitchen.
Which means that I am faced with raising the floor level a bit, (a significant bit though), in order to put ply in. So if we take the plinth out we won't be able to slot it back in. Unless we could shave a cm or more off.

How much extra did it cost to take your units out and re-fit them, for your new floor?

We haven't done it yet. The units are at least 14 years old (that's how long we have been in the house) and have seen better days, so I don't think they're worth the trouble and expense of taking them out and putting them back... so we're looking at a whole new kitchen. I curse the previous owners for doing this!

Easy enough to trim the plinth I would think. Of course your worktops will then seem a bit lower! Also, do you have any freestanding appliances under the worktop? If so, you may have trouble moving them out over the edge of the new floor. You can move them out then tile underneath them, but you may find there isn't room under the worktop to do this.

Next floor will not go under all the cabinets!

Oh god yes! The dishwasher. Bugger.

Are they solid wood floors?
Could you embrace the battered look as part of your style? Or are they not in keeping with your kitchen look?

I would give anything to have battered, original fllorboards in our kitchen as I think they are much warmer both in look and feel than tiles!

we got some lovely cheap wood look vinyl - they just roll it down/cut to shape up to the edges of the plinths... everyone who comes round comments on how nice it is! don't remember the make - some we looked at called Rhino I think - cos they're so tough, but don't know if that's what we got in the end...

You know, apparently some communities in London, because of their faith, actually dismantle their kitchen every year to clean it.... So it is do-able....

whizzing 6mm or so off the plinths is easy if you know how to use a circular saw.

Many appliances have a worktop about 25mm thick that can be removed by undoing two scrwews. You will have to read the instructions. This enables it to slide under a tight kitchen worktop.

If you have a step you will find it impossible quite challenging to slide the appliances out.

I always like to lay the floor before the cabinets go in.