The short answer is no, you do not install bathroom cabinets after laying tile. That would be counter-productive to the experience of installing tile and also leave a lumpy and ugly surface in the shower or on the floor. You will also have to disturb the grout between tiles, which could carry mold spores.
Allowing these things to happen can lead you back down the slippery slope of plumbing problems and expensive fixes. The following are reasons why should not lay tiles before installing bathroom cabinets during bathroom remodelling:
THE GROUT BETWEEN TILES IS ESSENTIAL
Your grout is a critical player in the impermeability of your shower or bathtub, and if you find yourself mopping it up with a cleaner, you know that it needs cleaning. A clean grout has a better seal, and one of the reasons yours is so porous is because it’s unevenly distributed around the tile.
The uneven distribution of grout can cause water to be trapped in crevices and encourage moisture to condense into puddles at the intersection of two tiles. For this reason, laying a tile before installing bathroom cabinets is a no-no.
NEW GROUT ON OLD TILES WON’T LOOK GOOD
If you’re laying a tile before installing bathroom cabinets and there’s no suitable place to hold up the tiles in the work area, you will have to go back later and move them around when the grout has dried. That will be a real hassle because you don’t want to interrupt tile installation with this step. Besides, the result will be a mess with half-cleaned tiles sitting on top of the grout.
TILE COULD CRACK WHEN THE CABINETS ARE INSTALLED
If you lay tile before installing bathroom cabinets, you risk cracking the tiles. The added weight of the cabinets will compress the subflooring and cause it to warp. Your bathroom floor will bulge up, and as a result, its surface will warp with an uneven pattern.
It may not crack immediately but later on, after some time has passed. The tiles would be left with uneven lines that may show up when the cabinets are installed.
THE FLOOR WILL HAVE A BUMPY TEXTURE WHEN IT IS FINISHED
A bumpy texture resembles a rough surface, which goes well with tile or ceramic material. If her bathroom floor had no bumps before, it looks like sandpaper under the tiles. You’ll have to go back and take off the tile to fix this problem later on.
To lay tiles around your bathroom cabinets please get in touch with our Cape Town contractors.
