36" is not too wide for drawers. My widths include a stack 32" wide and another 36" wide. With high quality glides, it (supposedly) should not matter if you use 1 or 2 pulls on the drawer as far as pulling the drawer crooked. I prefer the look of only 1 pull per drawer for aesthetics. I have no help to offer on the dish drawer question as I keep my dishes in uppers. My advice is to measure everything you want to store in all the drawers and plan accordingly.

I have very wide drawer stacks - the largest at almost 40". Love them. We have two sets of pulls but I almost always open them by just grabbing the one handle. Works just fine.

Just be sure that the heavy duty drawer glides are being used, and you can go wider than 36" in framed construction. With frameless, I wouldn't want to go wider than about 33". Also, the drawer construction itself has to support the weight of what you anticipate storing in it. You want a thicker plywood bottom, dadoed into solid wood sides for heavier objects. Not 1/8" masonite stapled to the bottom of a stapled and glued drawer! The sides of the cabinet also have to be able to support the weight that will be placed on them by the drawer glides.

I also have very wide drawer stacks. My dish drawers are 36 inches wide, and my pot drawers are 40. I have one center pull. I love them! They're roomy enough for a 12 piece place setting, bowls, cups, and my pot drawers handle all of my cookware with no crowding.

Cj

I also have very wide drawer stacks. My dish drawers are 36 inches wide, and my pot drawers are 40. I have one center pull. I love them! They're roomy enough for a 12 piece place setting, bowls, cups, and my pot drawers handle all of my cookware with no crowding.

Cj

I'm happy with my 36" wide frameless drawer stacks...but if I were starting a new design I'd carefully consider hollyspring's advice.

36" is really wide, and putting single long handles on mine was expensive. The storage capacity and efficiency of my drawers is absolutely fabulous, but in another kitchen I might prefer not to worry over whether the hardware and construction is adequate. I didn't pay a lot of attention to drawer construction or hardware selection, I figured the cheap builder grade stuff in my kitchen had held up well so the new stuff would surely do as well - but I didn't consider how much more each of my new drawers and cabinets holds.

Thanks for the information. My 36" framed cabinet will be made of 1/2 plywood bottoms and 5/8 maple sides for the drawers with dado construction. (I am not sure what type of glides are being used) So I should be ok with those drawers

I do have a 44" section, but I think I will go with 2 sets of drawers,instead of one large one.

i had the 42 inch drawer failure
I love the wide drawers but check the weight limits
I do have 2 pulls on the wider drawers but the newer glides are forgiving

Het gemini, what kind of drawer failure did you have? Drawer box, glides, cab box?

For those've you who've had good luck with 36" wide drawers:

Do you have heavy dish sets? I ask because I definitely lean towards heavy, substantial dishes that weigh a ton. My two favorite sets are Pfaltzgraff stoneware and Fiestaware. As such, I'm wondering if I should go with smaller drawers so that no one drawer is over-heavy (and still use heavy construction glides)?

My dish drawers are 35" (custom sized down from 36") and yes, my dishes are on the heavy side (Denby Jet). Right now one drawer holds 10 each of dinner plates, salad plates, cereal bowls and soup bowls plus assorted other bowls with seemingly no strain at all (but the kitchen has only been in use less than a week).

I have heavy pots and pans in one stack and heavy mixing bowls and glass bakeware in the other stack. No issues here

I had a sidewall failure.
It is important to realize the weight of the drawer and insert count towards total weight (38 lbs)
I asked and was told I could put 75 lbs in the drawer. I weighed my dishes and almost exactly 75 lbs (well I weighed a place setting and multiplied *12 for the villeroy and *6 for the pantry set)
Here is the old thread
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1020404519236.html

Believe it or not- still not resolved. We decided too risky to take out the cabinet. They are putting in a 2 level drawer.

The company paid to add reinforcement screws and the new drawer will have heavy duty glides if I ever see it.

I do have a 37 inch bank of drawers as well with pits and pans.

I love the big drawers for function. I don't have to keep opening drawers to figure out what is in each drawer.

a2: I can't believe this hasn't been resolved yet? What accounts for the delay (not trying to hijack, sorry).

I have 36" wide drawers from IKEA Akurum in two cabinets. One drawer has all my heavy dishes, another has pots and pans. I've never had a moment's problem. I am so glad I put IKEA cabinets in my ultra high end, downtown Manhattan, townhouse kitchen. Quality, design and it saved me 40 or 50 grand.

Why are you bringing up a thread that is almost 3 years old?

Actually I do agree about Ikea cabinets. :)

Seconding the IKEA cabinets durability. I have 3 36" IKEA drawer stacks. One holds a ton of dishes, another holds Gatorade, cans of soda - heavy stuff! I have one pull in the middle of each drawer, although I did go with a larger pull for the 30" and 36" cabinets than for the smaller cabs.