How to Plan Your Kitchen Flooring Installation

Remodeling the kitchen is a bottom-up type of project. Now before you go and pour yourself a stiff one, I said bottom-up - not bottoms up. It’s best if you start with the flooring and work your way up to paint, cabinets and countertops. Even though you’re going to start with the kitchen floors, there are a few things you should do before peeling and sticking, slapping and clicking or sliding and gluing.

First of all, you need to determine if you even have to tear out your old kitchen flooring in order to install the new. Some floorings work well over others, while some require a clean slate. As long as your old floors are in good shape - no warping, soft spots, gaps, chips, or other damages - flooring materials like floating wood floors or carpeting can most likely be installed on top.

Do a little research on the type of kitchen flooring you have right now and the kind of materials you plan to put down in its place. Find out if it's recommended that you tear out the older flooring first. In many cases, you can fill in cracks and gaps or simply put an underlayment layer on the old floor and install the new kitchen floor right on top.

The next step is to measure your floors. You know the old adage - measure twice, cut once - well, it’s true. In this case, you need to measure accurately to make sure you get the proper amount of flooring materials - too little and you’ll be running to the store again hoping they still have your exact type. Too much and you’ll be wasting money and materials. Measuring will not only help you purchase the right amount, but also help when it comes time to cut your materials to fit into the corners and edges of the room. Flooring like wood and tile can be difficult to cut, but fairly impossible if you don’t have accurate measurements.

Be sure to research your new flooring well. Find out what the professionals recommend and ask if they have any tricks of the trade - they may know of a better adhesive or a quicker cutting method. Based on the information you find, make yourself a shopping list so that you'll definitely have everything you need to complete your project efficiently. Nothing slows progress like having to run to the store every few hours for one more thing that you’ve forgotten. Try to keep in mind the flooring, adhesives, screws, nails or staples and tools that you’ll need.

If at all possible, drag another person into this project with you. Two heads are always better than one and you’ll be less likely to cut something improperly if there’s someone around to double-check your work. Not to mention the extra set of hands are essential for loading and unloading the truck and getting down to the nitty-gritty.