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Granite 12 to 15 in overhang support - Most cost effective way

9 years ago

Doing a 54" peninsula with a 12 to 15" overhang off the back and wondering what's the best and most cost effective way of doing the support. I know that it can be done with hidden supports, corbels and with decorative legs.

What would you recommend.

The attached picture shows the peninsula which is anchored off the one wall.

Thanks

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Comments (9)

User
9 years ago
Ugly corbels are the cheapest. Pretty corbels can be the most expensive. In between are steel and doing a post with stretcher bars. So much depends on the skill of the installer that you will be using that it would be best to discuss this with him during the design phase. Also remember that the back of cabinets are not load bearing and will need to be reinforced to be structural attachment points to carry weight.
weedmeister
9 years ago
and the cabinet needs to be firmly attached to the floor so it doesn't roll over.
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Thanks for your responses. Mindimoo, your steel structure is awesome. No worry there. I wish I had researched this much better before having my kitchen demoed and ordering the granite. You both have some good points and good questions. My granite is 3 cm. It is black (Labrador Angola) which I am told is the strongest of all granite because it is much less porous than the lighter colors. The steel rods are threaded and they are imbedded in the bottom of the granite, covered by epoxy. So, water isn't an issue. There are 5 rods total. I don't know what it's called or what size it is. Looked like 1/4 to 1/2 inch. They say it's made for granite and the concept is similiar to what is done with concrete. One rod is in front of the cooktop cutout. One on either side of the cooktop extending to the 13" overhang, and two on a diagonal to each corner on the other end of the island which is where the 15" overhang is. These two probably don't meet the 2/3 to 1/3 rule. My original plan was to do something similar to the picture above in plywood. When I contacted my Lowe's cabinet installer to say I wanted to go back to Plan A he said it was overkill. He says he has demoed numerous kitchens where they had used the steel threaded rod and it is really difficult to break the granite. He was confident in their approach. I like and trust this guy but he is super busy so I hope he wasn't just telling me this because he didn't have time to help me prior to the install. Anyway, the granite was installed today. The fabricator gave me a written warranty that it won't crack as long as we don't sit or stand on it. I still have mixed feelings about the support. I still have the option of putting corbels on the end of the island although I wanted to avoid them because they are tough on the knees. But then again I wanted 15" there for the extra leg room since that is what many seemed to recommend on this forum. Also I could have L brackets on this end. There are doors on both sides of the island but the ends will just have panels (fake doors) which can be cut or notched for corbels or L brackets. I'm thrilled that the granite is finally in. I've been 2 1/2 months without a sink. I don't want to regret not researching this more than I did or rushing into things. If only I knew about this forum sooner. The feedback has really been great! Please let me know what you think. Thanks again!
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Thank you to all of you for your help and those photos. I think I see the light...but I still have questions. If I want a 12" overhang, 2cm granite, I need to have 6" of support under my overhang and 12" under the rest of my granite. If I want a15" overhang, 2cm granite, I need 9" of support and 18" under the rest of my granite. If I want 12" OH, 3cm granite, then it's 2" support and 4" under the rest and if it's 15" OH, 3cm granite, then it's 5" of support and 10" under the rest. If I did the rolled steel, would it make a big difference if I had a sink cutout on the other side? I plan for a 15" deep cabinet along the backside, so in the situation where I need 18" under the rest of my granite, could I eliminate the 3" under that section, or cheat and just cover the 15" cabinet? And do you just screw this into the cabinets along the top edges? And how often do you add a screw? One every 12"? Do you also add glue? How am I suppose to balance out the 1/4" difference from the front of the island to the back? And once balanced, do I still need a plywood underlay? Who normally supplies the underlay? Is it only for counters who are 2cm thick? Sorry for all the questions. This is my first reno and I'm not reno savvy. The most I've done is paint and build a few ikea shelves. Sum5463, it looks like your steel ends in the middle of the cabinet closest to us. How did you balance out the difference? Again, a big thanks to you and your photos. Jams
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Oh, I meant to mention that shorter people (or shorter-legged people) will be more comfortable than taller (or longer-legged) people with a less than desirable overhang. Our family ranges from 5'10" (me) to my DS (6'6" and still growing) and I'm fine w/the 15" overhang on our counter-height overhang, but my DH (6'5") and my DS think it would have been nicer with another 3"! That's why it's a minimum, I guess. I would assume if we had bar-height we would feel the same way regarding the minimum overhang (12" would be OK for me, but a tad too little for my DH & DS). If you're not planning to use it that often for seating and when you do not for any length of time, then 9" will probably be OK for you. It is your kitchen, so it's up to you what you do! Good luck! [BTW...we recommend one-level counters here to maximize the usefulness of the counter. One-level counters offer a wonderful expanse of workspace for large projects such as baking, crafts, homework, science fair, gift wrapping, etc. But, again, it's up to you. Bi-level counters not only cut into available workspace, but they usually have very little space on the top level (when the top is 42" high). Remember, if you plan to eat at the counter, you need room for a plate...usually they're around 10" in diameter...as well as "wiggle room" so the plate isn't easily knocked off the counter. Then you have drinking glass room...]
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PRO
Granite City Services
9 years ago
Inexpensive corbels are the cheapest option but as noted above the cabinet structure much provide a sturdy mounting point.

Inset (i.e. buried in the underside of the stone) steel supports are nice because they can be made essentially invisible but they require a fabricator with the necessary expertise and also require adequate cabinet structure for support.
HerrDoktorProfessor
9 years ago
Depending on how much of the slab is supported by cabinets you may be able to do a 12" overhang without supports. There are fairly well established rules of thumb for how much unsupported overhang there can be. Typically if 2/3 of the slab is supported then 1/3 can be unsupported.
In you case if you have a standard 24" base cabinet then you should be able to do up to 12" unsupported. anything more would require corbels or hidden steel supports.

There has been quite a bit of discussion here.

Here is a link that might be useful: island overhang
HerrDoktorProfessor
9 years ago
In our case we are doing a 12" unsupported overhang (I despise corbels) on 24" base cabinets on a 72" length. Our fabricator refused to use the steel hidden supports because our island cabs are painted MDF.
User
9 years ago
MIA professional standards are no more than 10'' unsupported. I won't do over 9'' because I have seen usupported overhangs crack. There are a lot of stones coming to market that didn't used to because they were too fragile to transport. Resining and netting at the quarry was developed to be able to ship them, but they aren't all strong enough to even have a 6'' overhang. All stones are not all suited to the same standards, and it's alwys better to err on the side of caution than have a damaged floor or injured pet.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
9 years ago
I agree with lwo.
aries61
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks everyone for you comments.

HerrDoktorProfessor, thanks for the link. Some good ideas.

Was also thinking maybe about possible doing a wood counter on the peninsula and granite on the L. It was nice when I did the kitchen 22 years ago, there weren't that many choices that there are now..
HerrDoktorProfessor
9 years ago
If you want to avoid the ugliness of corbels see the link below.
I really wanted to use these but out cabinet/countertop installer wouldn't warranty them. They would however, warranty an unsupported 12 inch overhang.

Go figure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hidden brackets

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