This is all done in the planning and options, before the contract is signed. If the existing baseboards were left on as part of the remodel, I could see using shoe or quarter round, but if they are going to be brand new, I as the GC would place them after the flooring. What is most likely happening is he is trying to kill two birds with one stone. His trim guy is there to do other and all the trim at one time, which saves the GC for multiple trip charges. The GC can hang shoe molding fairly easy, but tall base can be challenging for those that don't do it everyday. You will lose the height of the baseboard, if they are down, and then shoe or quarter round used. He may have to come off of existing baseboard outside the kitchen remodel, so the height has to match.

Hi Kammerek, I've seen this topic covered here in the past. It seems that most people on this forum prefer to put the floor in first. We are not doing it that way - and it seems that all the contractors we talked with prefer to do the floor later. Maybe it depends on the type of flooring. We're getting engineered (prefinished) hardwood. The floor people came in and installed new 1/2" plywood subflooring before the cabinets were put in. Then came cabinets,appliances that are inside of cabinets, light fixtures, countertops, backplash and then flooring. After the flooring they'll put in the appliances that sit on the floor (fridge and dishwasher). The reason it's done this way is to protect the floor. Our granite is being installed today, and they granite guys were so happy that they didn't have to worry about the floor when they brought in the large island slab with a heavy-duty dolly. Tomorrow, when they do the backsplash, the tile guy will set up a wet saw outside; and will go back and forth cutting tile, bringing in mastic, grount, etc... It's nice to not worry about damaging the floor before the kitchen is finished. I guess it you're doing site-finished floors and you plan to put another coat on them, it doesn't matter as much. you can always cover the floor and try to protect it, but if the floor isn't there yet, you know it won't get dented or scratched. Just another view...

We're on our 3rd reno and we've always done the baseboards after the floor. I suppose it could be done either way, since quarter-round would hide the fact that the baseboard is not on top of the floor. But our current contractor also does it in this order so we didn't argue. Personally I wouldn't hang the doors until after the floors were in. But that's because none of our trim will be up until after. ;-) We are doing this order: Spray prime all new plaster Install wood floor install tile floor in bathroom do trim/baseboards/wainscoting install doors paint trim/baseboards/wainscoting/doors poly floors kitchen cabinet install Or at least that's the plan ;-) The bathroom floor might get done later, since we're doing it ourselves and we don't live in the same town as our house (it's our vacation home.)

plllog - the windows outside of our kitchen are stained. does that change your opinion? artemis78 - good eye! yes, that is an angled frameless cabinet. we chose frameless for the base cabinets b/c (1) they were cheaper, and (2) they can hold more stuff than inset base cabinets. since the wall cabinets are what is at eye level, we went inset for those. and we chose an angled cabinet b/c of our goofy kitchen configuration where the counters stick out on the other side of the wall (we have a small galley kitchen), so the angled cabinet would give more walk-thru space. i know angled cabs are not exactly period in our 1908 house but for that area, we went with practicality over authenticity. bickybee - i was afraid you'd say that. it's tough to find a good, solid oak stained door. we tried to strip the paint once before and the door just looked terrible. so tough!