Flooring in kitchen

[Wuzzat?]

And you have canceled the fire stopping.

To a small extent, yes. And for the holes without hardware cloth, mice will be coming in.
Note to self: staple h/w cloth.

For that 900 SF (130,000 sq. inches) floor, maybe 6 sq. inches out of the 130 thousand. And this is above whatever the code-approved cutouts for the ducts & water pipes are doing. Figure at least 1 sq. inch for each.

It's a tradeoff.
New floor every time your sink/dishwasher leaks or
marginally increasing the chances of a house fire spreading from a basement with few sources of ignition.

Do the numbers, Neal.
You'd be surprised at how many opponents get deflated when confronted with facts.

 

[Rusty]

Apparently it's common knowledge among some in the flooring crowd. Those holes would have saved me a bunch of bucks.

I have been a pro flooring installer since 1973. I have never seen it done.

 

[Wuzzat?]

I have been a pro flooring installer since 1973. I have never seen it done.

Our first two flooring jobs did not include drilling holes.

Do you recommend it?

I should mention that there is an incentive to not do this, or even offer the option, and thereby increase the chances of the HO needing a new floor.

 

[Rusty]

I would not do it personally, but if the HO wants to do it, any problem is on them. My insurance would not cover problems from me drilling holes in a floor.

 

[Wuzzat?]

My contractor's insurance would probably have covered it but I never made a claim.

At this point the hole idea seems to be in limbo.