I don't have experience with the laminate yet but have thought about that number one of yours myself. I really think the floor needs to go to the wall under the fridge. I think the first floor rep was right. There are leaks and there are leaks. If it's not a real flood and you get to it quickly enough, the floor might be fine. That second guy is goofy. With his method, a very small, managable leak actually WOULD wreck your floor.

Also, when you want to move your fridge, do you really want to worry about catching the end of your laminate run and risk chipping the surface? I keep thinking that when I do my floor, I will look into whether it would be advisable to seal the joints under the heavy fridge and stove, where dragging them out might put stress on them.

From what I've read, you should put down a piece of hardboard to roll the frig on when moving it over any laminate floor. It's amazing how heavy a frig is and can ruin a new floor in nothing flat.

I would put it down under all the appilances for cleaning purposes. Cleaning concrete is not an option, in my book.

thanks for that tip, green-zeus!!!

Well, from experience, I can tell you that our idiot GC DID NOT put the floor running all the way back under the fridge, freezer or DW and it has already caused problems. The first was aesthetic... The fridge does not sit directly on the floor and you could see where the floor ended and the substrate was. That was ugly, let me tell you. Fortunately my dh is getting better in his woodworking skills and he used a left over piece and custom built a toekick to match the rest of the kitchen and installed it under the fridge so now you can't see the substrate.

Secondly, we had to move the freezer and damaged the edge of the laminate trying to get it "over the hump". Fortunately you can't see it. Also both the fridge and the freezer are built in and screwed in place so fortunately, unless they are ever replaced, they will never need moving again LOL.

The lack of floor under the DW was also solved with a toekick but we had to build it up so we could attach the top to the underside of the counter.

All in all, IMHO, it's better, probably cheaper, and certainly less hassle, to run the floor all the way to the wall.

We put laminate in our kitchen and adjoining rooms. We're also on a cement slab foundation.

The laminate goes under the fridge and beverage center, but we placed the DWs on top of plywood the same height as the flooring. The flooring goes about 1" into the DW cavity before the plywood starts so it looks like the floor goes under the DWs.

Where the laminate borders the carpet, the installers pulled up the carpet and reset the edge so that the carpet hides the edge of the laminate. It looks great! The T-molding that was installed between the laminate and tile was secured with liquid nails.

Let me know if you'd like to see pictures of any of the transitions.

Definitely put the DW the same height as the flooring, either on the laminate or on plywood like Alku did or something. I know so many people who have had to replace a dishwasher way down the line and had to cut into an old, but still beautiful floor or get stuck with a DW they don't like because it would fit a shorter space.

Same for the rest of your appliances. I have no knowledge of whether something other than laminate would be better under them, but definitely go for a level floor :)