Kitchen reno floor - wall to wall or units?

[KCSIE]

We've had our old kitchen striped back to brick and the old floor extensively dug out to level it. Underfloor heating has been installed (wet/boiler run) and floor tiles next.

Question - floor tiles wall to wall? Or units to units?

I feel like with the amount of work gone into the floor levelling and UFH so far that wall to wall would be the natural better option.

Builders pushing for units to units.

Pros/cons for each option and thoughts please?

Why are your builders pushing for that? (I think init to unit is quite norrmal) Does it have a knock on, with sockets etc if units sit in top? Why do you want to tile what you can't see? I guess it saves money jit to tile under?

@Seaside3 I think they're pushing because it delays the schedule otherwise. Unit to unit then they can fit the kitchen now, whereas if they do wall to wall then they have to hold off units etc until flooring is done

WWYD?

Wall to wall. they are being really lazy. You can't move appliances in and out properly if there is no flooring underneath, leaks might be missed as they will run under the flooring, you can't clean it properly , you can't move the kickboards under the cabinets easily for maintainence of pipes etc.

Lots of possible problems

Our flooring is unit to unit, sails passed the kick boards by about 6 inches. I dont see the need to go wall to wall, mainly it costs more and takes longer (more so with having to cut to fit). With modern built in kitchens when do you ever need to pull out an appliance, virtually never!

Well with my old kitchen (circa 2016) we pulled out appliances a lot!

Our kitchen company insisted on wall to wall, said it wouldn’t sit correctly otherwise.

I also like the idea of doing it ‘properly’ and that if we wanted to change the kitchen we wouldn’t need to change the floor. I know that’s daft and unlikely

Our kitchen is a year old. Unit to unit all day long, it's a waste of money to do anything else but our budget was done by the end!
The only appliance not integrated is the fridge freezer and that has flooring underneath

Wish I'd done wall to wall. I had enough tiles. It looks fine, but as others have said it's a pain moving appliances and I know that behind the plinth is all grubby and messy 😔

Which kitchen company was this please?

@KCSIE

Harvey Jones.

In my new kitchen the flooring goes from units to units but overlaps the kick boards by about 4 inches so it’s no problem to remove them. The flooring goes under the washing machine, tumble dryer and fridge/freezer so no problem if they need replacing. Looks fine to me!

I think I'll ask them to do this! Are your white goods free standing or integrated?

Tile wall to wall where appliances will be and then just to behind kickboards for the rest. If you do full wall to wall and the floor becomes damaged at any point, a cracked tile for eg. you will need to remove the whole kitchen to replace the flooring. Taking the units out means worktops could be damaged, which has a knock on effect to tiles and decor.

If you decide to change the flooring in the future I think it's easier if its unit to unit.

You can also put leak-detector alarms under the units for peace of mind.

Our floor had to have screed so it went wall to wall. I've never had it just to the units- that's either lazy of the builder OR they want to crack on with the units without waiting for floor to be ready. ☺️

Definitely wall to wall. Please learn from my mistakes.

The dishwasher is integrated and has a door to match the units - so I do not think floor tiles go underneath it.The washing machine and tumble dryer are freestanding, as is the fridge/freezer so were pulled out by the floor fitters for the tiles to go under. The fridge/freezer is a bit of a statement piece as it is European style, wider than normal with a fridge door opening as usual but with two deep freezer drawers underneath. Basically I wanted it and the kitchen was designed around it!