Floating flooring such as Hybrid shall be laid after kitchen cabinets are installed. The reason is that floating flooring isn’t rated to take the weight of the kitchen cabinets. Floating flooring expands and contracts as temperatures change and can buckle when pinned down by cabinets.

Many home renovators are keen to avoid the look of additional scotia / beading running along their kickboards, island bench and cabinets that comes with installing an floating flooring after cabinets. This scotia and beading is used to hide the expansion gaps required around the perimeter of floating flooring. To avoid the look and have a flush finish, have the kitchen installer install the cabinets without the kickboards so the floor boards can be slid under and then install the kickboards after the floors.