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Bar before floor or floor before bar?

8 years ago

I'm putting in a new floor and building a bar in my den. My designer wants me to put the floor in before the bar, that way if I ever want to change the bar it won't be a problem.

My contractor prefers I build the bar first then install flooring around the bar. He says if I want to change the bar I'll still need to replace some tile because the bar will damage the floor it is on top of. So in terms of future changes, neither option is really clean. Plus he says that putting the floor in after will give me more creative options because I can put the planks in exactly as I want them. If I do the floor first I'm stuck with whatever plank spacing I get.

I don't think it makes a difference but the floor is a wood-look tile.

What do you guys think? Floor first or bar first?

Featured Answer

gregmills_gw

8 years ago

Even if you ever did have to remove the bar for whatever reason and then had to change out a couple of tiles due to the holes as you mentioned, its a heck of a lot easier to replace a tile or two or three then have to re-configure the entire area to fill in the space where the bar once stood.

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Comments (9)

uscpsycho
Original Author
8 years ago
Nobody has any thoughts on this? Best practice?

TIA
weedyacres
8 years ago
Floor first, bar on top.

I'm not really understanding what your contractor is saying about:

1.) the bar will scratch the tile. Not unless it's really cheap tile.

2.) you can put the planks in "whatever way you want" and be creative. What's he thinking? Or what do you want for a design other than a standard wood-look stripes?

It is simpler to install tile in a full room, rather than around stuff. I'm not sure why your contractor wants all the extra cuts involved in going around a bar. It's less materials, but that's not a big deal.
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uscpsycho
Original Author
8 years ago
1) The bar is built in. It has to be connected to the floor. That means holes in the tile.

2) When you put the floor in first, you can't control where the edges will end up being in relation to the bar. So after the bar is put in you might have a little 3" piece of plank sticking out from under the bar before the first full piece. If the bar is in before the floor, you can control this.

Is there a reason to do the floor first other than making it easier to lay the floor down?
glennsfc
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I can think of one other reason to put the tile in first...and that is...to retain the finished height of the floor in relation to the finished height of the bar surface. In other words, if you install the bar first and don't allow for the total thickness of the flooring part, you shorten the distance between the finish floor and the bar surface.

If you take this into consideration, if installing the bar first, and raise the finished height of the bar to correspond with the thickness of the flooring, there would be no shortening of that distance.
geoffrey_b
8 years ago
I put the floor in first.
User
8 years ago
Generally I like cabinets before floors but in this case, maybe the floor first is better. You might intend to live in this house forever but I've seen many houses change hands where the new owner hated the existing bar. Floor first and buy enough extra flooring to use later is patching is needed.
Vith
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Floor first. Contractor should know how to drill holes in the tile to secure the bar down without cracking the tile...
weedyacres
8 years ago
You can avoid the tile slivers around the bar by drawing out on the floor where it will go, and then planning the tile pattern around it. And around the rest of the room layout (walls, doors, etc.).

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