Kitchen Flooring Debate

Our house is concrete slab. So far, we've replaced about 500sqft of old, fecal matter stained carpeting in the house due to its past 15 years as a rental. 

We've got another 500sqft of carpet that needs removed. Then we've got another 500sqft of ugly, dated looking tile in bathrooms, kitchen, dining, laundry, hallway, etc. 

Our kitchen cabinets, of which we are not in love with both in design and finish, were installed on top of the tile. We'd like to remove a peninsula and replace it with an island, and in doing so we might just replace all of the countertops....and maybe all the cabinets too. 

The debate is: should we A) pull up the cabinets (gently) and remove the tile from underneath, and refloor the kitchen with LVP or B) cut the tile at the toe-kick and make the removal of the tile under the cabinets another day's (or owners) project? 

If you are going to replace the countertop, I'd remove that then unscrew the cabinets from the wall, and remove them completely. Lifting them in place, is not really and option.  If that is not feasable, I'd cut it at the toe kick and put some baseboard down as a new toekick when done to make sure it's hidden.

I'd remove, especially if doing new cabinets. It's hard to cyt the tile, particularly under existing cabinets. Get the whole floor clear and start anew.

Ever consider polished concrete?

If you don't remove cabinets, getting the tile out (cutting it flush with the toe kick, chiseling it out) will be as much work or more compared to just taking out the cabinets.

You could float some leveler on the tile and put flooring on top of the tile if you have the option, but again... cutting and installing around toe kicks can be just as much work as yanking cabinets.

My recommendation is to yank the cabinets.  If you're going to do up a kitchen, do it right.

Suggestion; if you buy new cabinets, consider IKEA.  That's not a canoe.  I redid my old house's kitchen with IKEA cabinets, partly because they are really actually quite well made, and with better hinges than even Kraft Maid, but also partly because they use legs instead of having the cabinet built the whole way to the floor.  The toe kick snaps onto the legs.  If I ever wanted to update the flooring in the future, all I would need to do is take of a couple legs at a time, lay my flooring, and reassemble.  Plus, they have the SLICKEST mounting system.  It's like a shallow unistrut with slide-in bolts.  It is so easy.  Mount the channel to the wall while it's easy to find studs and you're only leveling one piece.  Then you just hang the cabinets knowing they'll all be flush and level.

I went and got quotes from a couple kitchen places and both big box stores for cabinets.  None of them offered 1/10th the customization possibilities, and two of them actually suggested I go with IKEA instead of trying to sell me on their own stuff.  I was very happy with that kitchen.  I'm sure my ex wife still loves it :)

The kitchen in my current house was redone in 2012 and still pretty nice, but when I re-do it, guess where I'm going for cabinets.  2 hours away to my nearest IKEA.  My bedroom needed some floor-to-ceiling cabinets for in the closet.  IKEA pantries.  I would buy an assemble-yourself car from IKEA if they offered it.

Curtis is such a great guy he even gives good advice to the canoes. 

Pretty soon these canoes are going to pass the Turing test.

Canoes are people too.

CANOE LIVES MATTER.

Thanks Curtis. 

I think we've settled on not pulling the tile till we redo the kitchen, although we might cut a line around the existing kitchen. 

What type of tool would be best for cutting tile on the floor? 

Additionally, does Ikea offer a kitchen design service? 

pheller said:

Thanks Curtis. 

 

I think we've settled on not pulling the tile till we redo the kitchen, although we might cut a line around the existing kitchen. 

 

What type of tool would be best for cutting tile on the floor? 

 

Additionally, does Ikea offer a kitchen design service? 

I suspect, just like cars, you'll end up happier with the final product and have it be cheaper overall, to continue to save and do it all at once.

I did it one time with a 4" diamond blade on a side grinder.  Then built a custom threshold to cover the transition.

Fair warning, it was a dust storm.  Had my helper holding a big shop vac on the output side which helped a lot.

pheller said:

Thanks Curtis. 

 

I think we've settled on not pulling the tile till we redo the kitchen, although we might cut a line around the existing kitchen. 

 

What type of tool would be best for cutting tile on the floor? 

 

Additionally, does Ikea offer a kitchen design service? 

You can use a 4" diamond blade on a grinder.  Another option is a diamond bit for an oscillating/vibrating tool, but it will take a while and possibly multiple blades.  In either case, you don't have to cut the whole way through.  Just give it a fault line and it should snap where you scored it.  If you do the diamond blade/grinder, they make blades designed for dry operation.  More dust, but less mud.  Good respirator or at the very least a mask.

Ikea does offer a kitchen design service.  It is more focused on steering you toward the right parts for what you want and less on the aesthetic, but the showroom does a nice job of demonstrating nearly everything you could want.  Whereas you might go to a kitchen store and they will take the time to suggest colors/finishes and show you a 3D rendering of your space, Ikea is more of a "you design and we'll make sure the right parts get in your cart" service.  Both times I used the design service (old house for the kitchen and current house for the bathroom) they nailed it.  Everything comes separately, and they seem to know their stuff.  Since the whole thing is mostly modular, it is ultimately customizable.  The cabinets are mostly universal with choices in 5 or 6 colors/woods.  Then you can pick from about 20 doors, a few hinge styles, and regular drawer slides or the non-slam type.  Then you can stuff the cabinets with any one of hundreds of accessories; lazy susans, shelves, any combination of drawers or doors, recycling/trash bin holders, slide out trays, slide out pan holders.

They do countertops as well, but they just contract with local folks much like any big box store does.

They also sell sinks and faucets.  One of the things I like that they offer is the option of zero-clearance drains.  My bathroom has a vanity with two full-height drawers.  The drain goes straight back to the wall and then drops down to the trap leaving space for drawers without the cutout or the "dummy" drawer panel at the top.

Construction looks cheap, but it isn't.  I was speaking with a designer at Lowe's and the Kraft Maid rep.  The designer used to work for Ikea Kitchens and she said to go Ikea.  The Kraft Maid guy was telling me that they have been trying to get a contract with the company that does Ikea's hinges for years because they are far superior, but they exclusively contract with Ikea.  I figured if I'm sitting in Lowe's getting a $4000 kitchen quote and both the Lowe's desginer AND the Kraft Maid rep told me to drive two hours to buy Ikea cabinets, it was worth a shot. You'll look at the particle board and wonder what you're getting into, but they are actually made with whatever Sweden's version of Gorilla Glue is.  There is extra time in assembling the cabinets, but it is so much cheaper.  The kitchen in the old house had a lifetime warranty for me, 25 years transferrable to a new owner.  I think now it's a flat 25 years.