Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Replacing kitchen floor. What about cabinets?

Hi All, I've looked back on posts and don't see what I guess is a basic question. We (I say 'we' but I haven't told my husband yet :)) want to replace the kitchen floor which is vinyl tiles poorly done and loose. Under that is an older floor - maybe linoleum, don't know yet if it is tile or sheet. Don't know what's under that. The question is this: what about under the cabinets? All the sites I look at want to help me pick out a new floor. If any of the flooring is under the cabinets, do I cut at the base lines? I'm thinking of a laminate (or porcelain tiles) which would bring the height back up again. I can't imagine moving anything except the fridge (it's the worst there because of a ice maker water leak while the house was on sale and vacant). :confused:
Any help is appreciated!
Norma

I wouldn't move the cabinets either. The thing is you don't know how many layers of flooring are there and how many of those layers are under the cabinets. I would cut at the base and if the new floor doesn't quite make the height of the old floor, I would put a base board or something else to cover the gap.

However, before you do anything at all, determine how much damage was done by the leak you mentioned. Don't put new flooring on a damaged subfloor.

Thanks for the response. I AM concerned about the extent of that leak. I can tell that the floor is uneven as it heads in that direction. It may be nothing and it may be bad subfloor.

Thanks again!

How do you plan to cut the old floor to get close to the cabinets and not leave any of the old floor exposed? How about under the toe kick?

I don't have much of a plan right now.... That's why I came here. Hoping that there is someone with expertise who can give me some guidance. All I figure so far is that whatever I put down has to be the same height as what I took off. :confused:

tough project, but you'll have to add enough subfloor to make up the difference.

Yep. They way I'm thinking though is that the top vinyl tiles are VERY thin. What's underneath is vinyl or linoleum and that's not much thicker. I'm leaning toward porcelain or stone and those are pretty thick. You know how these projects take on a life of their own. Now I'm thinking that maybe I'd add a radiant flooring underneath "while I'm there". There are kits out there that seem pretty straightforward.

You are getting into a whole new ballgame introducing radiant heat into the picture.

Tile, whether it be porcelain or stone, requires strict subfloor requirements.

You will need to determine what your subfloor is comprised of now, i.e. plywood, OSB, particle board, and how thick.

What are your floor joist sizes, spacing, and unsupported span.

These are the questions that need to be answered to determine if your current subfloor is able to support tile.

Good points I didn't think of. Normally I make a plan and strictly follow it, but I think in this case the loose & ugly vinyl tile comes up. The linoleum comes up and we see if the water leak went on longer than I think (we haven't even moved in yet) and whatever is under there has to be replaced and to what extent. The good thing is that it was not near the cabinets.
We'll see what's there and I may be back.
Thanks everyone for your input!
Norma