Kitchen appliances on top of a hardwood floor?

In the process of laying a floating hardwood floor in the kitchen. Do I install the floating floor under appliances such as dishwasher and heavy stove? My thoughts are that,  for the stove anyway, its weight may cause problems with the natural expansion and contraction of the floor. I was therefore thinking about screwing timber down to raise the appliances to the same height as the floor and leave a gap which would be hidden to allow the floor to move.

Am I over thinking this or good idea?

Overthinking it IMHO

What do the manufacturers say? I personally would go with your plan and play it safe.

Hmmm, I’ve never thought about that!

The same could be said for all the kitchen units, esp if a stone worktop is used.

sharkbait

Free Member

Hmmm, I’ve never thought about that!

The same could be said for all the kitchen units, esp if a stone worktop is used.

You wouldn’t put the units on it. Same for lvt/laminate etc. You’d stop just short of the unit front legs, or use a holesaw so the feet sit on the subfloor.

Yeah I’d be sitting appliances on some other packing, battens, ply etc.

Nice floor can just sneak under the front edge, same as with cabinets, flooring under the plinth panel but cabinet feet on the sub floor.

To offer a contrary view …

in 2008 we had solid oak flooring installed in our kitchen.

bonded to ~15mm ply that had been stapled to the underlying boards.

then we installed the kitchen. Admittedly, our units are raised above the floor on legs with under-cupboard lighting. Having the same level and appearance was necessary.

all the appliances: dishwasher; fridge-freezeer; and, originally, a range-style dual-fuel cooker sat on top of the flooring.

The only place where there has been any shrinkage or disruption is under & at the back of the fridge-freezer. Due to the endless warm, dry environment there caused by the compressor/heat exchanger.

If you lay flooring only up to the front edge of appliances and units this creates a problem if you need to move them out or remove fascia panels. And the edges can look very meh.

whatever you do, don’t use the awful curved beading for the edges. Get some flat or routed material to give continuity to the skirting relief.

YMMV

I was therefore thinking about screwing timber down to raise the appliances to the same height as the floor and leave a gap which would be hidden to allow the floor to move.

Am I over thinking this or good idea?

sounds like a good idea if your flooring is likely to be squishy or unstable over time. It would overcome the ‘the dishwasher needs to come out but it is trapped by the worktop above and the flooring in front’ problem. Though aesthetically and for simplicity I’d go to the edges.

I’d go with that type of flooring up to the feet of the units and cooker so room for expansion. Any under worktop appliances that might need to be removed will be on adjustable feet so you can lower them down to tilt it back and slide out