Tile first or not?

[mjncad]

I've always seen cabinets first, tile last; but I see the advantages of the other way too.

How about a plywood riser the same footprint as the cabinets and thickness of the tile. That way you get the advantage of tile first, cabinet last installation without going to the expense of tiling portions of the floor that likely will never see the light of day again. Plus if you have redo the floor, or replace a broken tile, you're not having to remove cabinets to blow out tile, or find a way to saw-cut the tile to leave the cabinets in place.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I just went thru this with my builder. After discussing the pros and cons of tile under the cabinets, we decided that the cabinets will go in first in the kitchen Tile will be under the diswasher area so there is no lip in front to hang etc when replacing the dishwasher. This was not a cost issue since I bought enough tile to do the whole area, just seemed the best way to do it for less hassle in the future if you need to repair the tile. Not to many folks ever have to rip out the entire cabinet structure and even so, they are all standard sizes so having no tile under them is not an issue at least for me. I would certainly never put hardwood under a cabinet. A small water leak and you would warp the hardwood and then have to rip out the cabinets to get to it.

 

[alchemysa]

I think it depends on the kickboard. 'Cabinet first/tile last' looks good (maybe even looks best) if you have cabinets sitting on a fixed '4 sided' kickboard/base. But if you have cabinets on adjustable legs with a clip-on kickboard then definately tile first.