[Home](https://www.referralflooring.com/)/[Tips](https://www.referralflooring.com/tips)/Order of work Doing the job # The order things happen in. Sequencing questions cost people more money than material choices do, because getting them wrong means doing something twice. Where a question has a documented answer, it is quoted from the national installation guidelines with the source beside it. Where it is Max's judgement, it says so. ### Flooring before or after kitchen cabinets? Cabinets first, then flooring up to them, is the more common order for a floating floor, because a floating floor must be free to move and cabinets screwed through it pin it down. For nail-down or glue-down hardwood, running the floor first and setting cabinets on top is normal and makes a future cabinet change easier. The deciding factor is which floor you have chosen, so decide the floor before the cabinets are ordered. Getting this backwards is how people end up with a toe kick that does not fit or a floating floor that buckles a year later. The [choosing guide](https://www.referralflooring.com/which-flooring-to-choose) covers running one floor from the kitchen into the living room. ### Do you paint before or after flooring? Paint the walls first, then install the floor, then do the final touch ups. Painting first means no drips on a new floor and no masking of a finished surface. The touch-up pass afterwards deals with the scuffs that installing baseboard and moving material inevitably leaves. ### Do you install baseboards before or after flooring? Flooring first, then baseboard, in almost every case. The baseboard covers the expansion gap the floor needs at the wall, and it hides the cut line. On a floating floor this is not cosmetic: the baseboard must sit on the floor without pinching it, so it is nailed to the wall, never down through the boards. Removal and reinstallation of baseboard and door casing is [part of the job here](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-removal-and-disposal) rather than a separate charge, which is worth checking with anyone you are comparing. ### What do you do if the subfloor is not level, especially under vinyl plank? You correct it before the floor goes down, and there are published numbers for how flat is flat enough. For glue-down and fasteners under 1½", including most vinyl plank and engineered work, the tolerance is 1/8" in 6' or 3/16" in 10'.[1] For nail-down with longer fasteners it is 3/16" in 6' or ¼" in 10'.[1] How it gets corrected depends on what is wrong: planing high spots, screwing down loose panels, self-levelling cement in low areas, or grinding a slab. The guidelines say flatness should be measured across the span of each room, not spot checked, to get the overall topography.[1] Where a subfloor cannot be brought to tolerance, the guidelines call for replacing it or adding a second layer rather than proceeding.[1] Nobody enjoys hearing that. It is still cheaper than a floor that fails. The [subfloor page](https://www.referralflooring.com/subfloor-repair-and-levelling) has the six ways it is done. ### What is under the carpet in an older house? Usually plywood or plank subfloor, tack strip around the perimeter, hundreds of staples, and sometimes a layer of older flooring nobody mentioned. On stairs it is often unfinished construction-grade treads and risers that were never meant to be seen, which matters if you are planning to expose them. Occasionally there is original hardwood under there in good enough condition to [sand and refinish](https://www.referralflooring.com/hardwood-floor-refinishing), which is the cheapest good outcome available and worth checking for before you buy anything. Old resilient tile or sheet vinyl under the carpet in a pre-1980s house is a different conversation, covered on the [removal page](https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-removal-and-disposal). ### Flush mount floor vents: are they worth it, and do they work with vinyl plank? They sit level with the floor instead of on top of it, so nothing catches on them and the eye is not drawn to a metal grille in the middle of a new floor. They work with vinyl plank and with wood, and the decision has to be made before installation because the opening is framed as the floor goes in. **Max's take:** it is one of the few small upgrades people notice every day and never regret. Retrofitting one afterwards means cutting into a finished floor, so it is a now decision. ### How long does a hardwood installation take? *Waiting on Max.* Timing depends on the crew, the room, and how much subfloor work is found once the old floor is up, so this one gets his real numbers rather than an average from the internet. It is on his list. Sources 1. National Wood Flooring Association, [Wood Flooring Installation Guidelines](https://nwfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/NWFA-Installation-Guidelines.pdf), revised 2025. Subfloor flatness tolerances, how flatness is to be measured, and what is required where a subfloor cannot meet tolerance. Standards last read 9 September 2026 More answers ## The other guides. - [Why a new floor squeaks, cups or gapsMoisture and the subfloor, with the figures.](https://www.referralflooring.com/why-new-floors-squeak-cup-and-gap) - [What can go over an existing floorTile, linoleum, laminate, hardwood, carpet and concrete.](https://www.referralflooring.com/what-can-go-over-an-existing-floor) - [Which flooring to chooseBasements, kitchens, bathrooms, dogs, radiant heat, wide plank, sheen.](https://www.referralflooring.com/which-flooring-to-choose) - [Stairs, treads and spindlesNosing, hardwood after carpet, runners, iron vs wood.](https://www.referralflooring.com/stair-nosing-treads-and-spindles) - [Cleaning and careWhat to use, what will wreck it, humidifiers, replacing one plank.](https://www.referralflooring.com/cleaning-and-caring-for-floors) - [All the questionsThe full index, and why there are no prices on it.](https://www.referralflooring.com/tips) Your job ## Planning a kitchen? Decide the floor first. The free estimate is the cheapest time to get the order right. The samples come with it. [Book a free estimate](https://www.referralflooring.com/#book) [Call 289-689-4242](tel:+12896894242) Phone [289-689-4242](tel:+12896894242) Email [referralflooring@gmail.com](mailto:referralflooring@gmail.com) Not on the list? Text or email the question and it gets answered, with its source. --- Source: https://www.referralflooring.com/flooring-order-of-work