How to install floating hybrid floor around freestanding dishwasher?

Question

We've had floating hybrid floor in our kitchen area for over 4 yrs now. Our cabinets were installed on the subfloor but not the freestanding dishwasher. A few planks in the middle had started to lift a bit, had them replaced by installer recently. Don't want the same problem recurring. I'm getting mixed messages on hybrid floor vs dishwasher. Our floor goes under the dishwasher to the wall edge which does make a clean finish. Some say you shouldn't as DW would pin down floating floor & won't let it expand. Do I really need to create an expansion gap (5-10 mm) along the front legs of DW?

Thanks in advance

rahad · Answer

since you pointed out those panels, I had a better look around & behind it. It was cut L shaped to sit on top of the floorboard. The other arm of L was too close to the end of floorboard leaving hardly any gap. I made a little gap at the junction. It was a tight spot. So couldn’t use multitool blade. See how go. Thank you for pointing that out to me. Much appreciated

MitchellMc · Answer

How much weight is on the panels @rahad? If it's just the weight of the panels, that shouldn't be an issue, but if there is significant cabinetry above the sink bearing its weight downwards, that could be.

It would have been more of an issue if the floorboards were cut and tightly fitted around the panel, as that would have created a point where expansion wasn't possible.

Regarding your questions, I suspect the panel goes the whole way to the wall, sitting on top of the floorboards. I don't think trimming under it at the front would resolve anything.

If the panel had a significant weight to it, the recommended approach would be to cut the flooring out to go around it and then cover the expansion gaps with a moulding. I've added a rendering I created to illustrate this.

Mitchell

rahad · Answer

yea, a lot of variables here to isolate a single culprit. You’re right. The dishwasher may have nothing to do with it. I understand why people install their floorboards all the way under the DW. Makes it a bit easy to take it out of the cavity for servicing when needed.

Do you mean these panels (circled yellow)? Yes, floorboards do go under it. The floorboards weren’t cut to fit around the cabinet panels. Shall I trim underneath the panel horizontally where it meets the lfloorboard & leave a tiny gap so the cabinet panels aren’t right on top of floor boards. Would that be a good idea? Benchtop has enough load bearing across other areas of cabinet.