Experts -

We are moving from a sheet vinyl floor to a tile floor in our kitchen. We have heard that some installers do not recommend moving the cabinets/sink etc. and tiling up to them. Any thoughts (both pro and con) about this idea? I'm not planning on changing the kitchen configuration. How about accessing the dishwasher with a raised tile floor? Could I remove the underlayment and install cementboard to minimize the height difference?

Thanks!

- Mike Heyden

We recently (Armstrong) tiled our kitchen floor (over linoleum) and just went up to the cabinet bases. We have no dishwasher (just me) so someone else will have to respond to that part of your post.

You may be able to tile just up the edge of the feet of the dishwasher so you don't have height issues. The only other problem I see is that if you ever decide to replace your cabinets the new ones, may not line up with the old one which means you'll have to redo your floor again but if you plan on being out of the house by then you don't have to worry about that.

What You'll Most Likely Find Once You Installed The Tile Floor, The Dishwasher May Not Fit Back Between The Cabnits. And If You Stop The Tile Short Of The Dishwasher You'll Have A Hard Time Getting It Back Out If You Had To.

I Think Moving You Cabnits Is Out Of The Question, What You May Try Is Using 1/4 Backer Board Rather Than 1/2 And Also Making Sure That Your Tile Is 1/4 Tile Not The Thicker 3/8 To 1/2.
This Will Help Reduce The Rise Of Your Floor,

Depending on how much give your floor has 1/4 backer board my not be enough the kitchen gets a lot of heavy stuff in it like fridges. I've seen many tile kitchen floors ruined when they moved the fridge into place. Look at your dishwasher, the feet should move up and down see how much room you have to move them up from their current position.