Floors Generally Are Installed Last

When renovating a kitchen, bathroom, another area of your home, the flooring is usually the last thing that is put into place. This is simply because of logistics.

Most flooring is made of durable materials such as ceramic tile, hardwood, or vinyl that is strong enough to stand up to the boots of construction workers, movement of appliances, and other things common in renovation zones. But if you are investing all that money on a new floor, it should look perfect and brand new.

Demolition First

While putting in the new floor is one of the last things we do, taking out the old floor is actually one of the first steps in the demolition of your old kitchen or bathroom.

In older homes, it’s often the case that new flooring is put on over existing flooring. So it’s not uncommon to find a kind of stratification of flooring that exposes the changes made to the home over the course of its lifetime. You might find wood flooring beneath carpeting, ceramic tile beneath vinyl flooring, and so on. Removing the existing flooring first helps the renovation workers get down to the original flooring, which simplifies things like cabinet installation and provides access for possible plumbing and electrical work.

Minimizing Damage

There are lots of things moving through your kitchen or bathroom during the renovation process. That means lots of opportunities for mistakes, such as spilled paint, dropped boxes, and other potential dangers. Putting the flooring in last helps prevent damage to your flooring surface during the renovation process.

Most flooring is relatively quick to install. So doing it at the end is simpler and more efficient during most kitchen or bathroom renovations.

Doing the floor last is not a hard and fast rule. In some cases, new flooring may be installed in the middle or even the beginning of the process — such as when the tile installer’s schedule requires it. But doing it last is simply the sequence most renovations go.