Just about any cabinet will support granite. I have the crappiest cabinets imaginable and they are holding granite just fine.

It's about distributing the weight. As long as they're built properly, they should.

IKEA has a good warranty on their cabinets and they KNOW people are putting granite on them. Don't worry! (Doesn't IKEA even sell granite? They do sell quartz which is just as heavy.)

I guess it's mostly that I'm worried about having the granite overhang and put extra stress on the cabinets. We're thinking we'll do some legs to support it, though; thinking the cabinets maybe couldn't handle corbels.

I hadn't thought about the warranty. I'll inquire at the store about that. Thanks.

Just remember that for IKEA warranty purposes you must keep all of your receipts for the cabinets, installation, everything. Good luck! Let us see the reveal :-)

Your fabricator should be able to tell you what additional supports you need, if any. It'll be the same as for any other cabinet line.

The top fabricator may suggest corbel wood supports every 24" along the back or side top overhang. I have used a fabricator who would insert metal rods underneath the overhang, yet it was not even noticeable. In my opinion, putting an expensive top on cabinets made of M.D.F. or particleboard, is like putting $1000.00 rims on your rusty old car you never sold, or drive! Eam44 is correct in stating that even with a warranty, there isn't 1 cabinet company offering to compensate your contractor for all the hours of labor involved. At best, you will receive new cabinets that are no better than the last ones you had. It is about what is important to each individual. A chef, a person who is always on the go, and a couple doing their first home remodel have drastically different views of what order of importance you may have.

Ikea cabinets are very well built and much better than most of the lower priced cabinets out there, the finishes on the doors are the weak point. There are many other companies that make high quality doors for the ikea system. The idea that plywood is better than MDF for cabinet boxes is a myth. MDF is just as good if not better than plywood in kitchen cabs...the benefit most kitchen designers push about plywood is "moisture resistance". MDF is better reacting to all types of moisture than plywood except for a flood. In either case, if your kitchen is flooded your cabinet frame will have to be replaced.

If you like one of the colors of caesarstone that Ikea carries..they have the best prices out there on the counters. They use a local fabricator to install them, but at prices no one can touch.

"In my opinion, putting an expensive top on cabinets made of M.D.F. or
particleboard, is like putting $1000.00 rims on your rusty old car you
never sold, or drive!"

B.S. More like putting $1000 rims on your cheap car that still looks great and runs great and gets the job done to your satisfaction.

I'm a materials snob for sure, but I don't find IKEA cabinets bad. Well, I do find some of their door styles bad, or at least not what I want. :)

(They did have that one eucalyptus door a while ago...that was actually quite nice...think they had to discontinue it because they discovered it was built by children or something.)

We did a DYI IKEA island at our last house. It was 7 feet long and had a 15" overhang. We used heavyweight stainless steel countertop brackets every foot. My dh was concerned about the force of the brackets on the cabinets so he built a pony wall behind the cabinets with extra supports every 12". Covered the whole thing with IKEA matching panels. Probably overkill.

""In my opinion, putting an expensive top on cabinets made of M.D.F. or
particleboard, is like putting $1000.00 rims on your rusty old car you
never sold, or drive!"

True, but that wouldn't be granite --- at least not where I am. People put granite, marble, quartz on their IKEA cabinets, and use top appliances.

Granite is pretty much standard now, at least where I live. I don't think of it as a "top of the line" upgrade. I'm definitely going to look into pricing for wood door fronts for the IKEA cabinets, as that is something we really would like to have.

"The top fabricator may suggest corbel wood supports every 24" along the back or side top overhang"

And what will using the corbels accomplish?

"And what will using the corbels accomplish?"

Corbels (or legs) are necessary to support any counter that overhangs more than 10" -- no matter your cabinet type.

I have a 24" (wide) cabinet we assembled a couple of months ago - it has 3 cm granite on it - it is doing fine. My other IKEA cabinets are 7 yrs old but do not have granite, and I am still happy with them also.

Jessica-

I would argue against doing legs. You want the granite support integrated with the cabinets (which corbels would accomplish). Legs can be vulnerable to being kicked, and are tied to the floor. Over time, settling or deflection of the floor could transfer stress to the overhang, which would not occur with corbels.

Absolutely. We have a sektion kitchen with peninsula with 36" wide granite overhanging on one side, and the sink. The cabinets are very sturdy

From the little bit I know corbels are NOT adequate support for a granite top. In fact they are predominately a decorative piece.

Corners are completely useless attached to most cabinet backs. They are a bit more useful when properly attached to a pony wall. Most aren't properly attached in an actual structural supportive manner.

Countertop support has to be both designed and engineered. It cannot be left to the late minute. And it cannot depend on a false belief in the non structural providing structural support. You might as well believe the earth is flat as believe a 1/8" bit of masonite is going to support 400 pounds of stone.

"Absolutely. We have a sektion kitchen with peninsula with 36" wide
granite overhanging on one side, and the sink. The cabinets are very
sturdy"

What are you using to support your overhang? Ours will be 24" on 3 sides. It's in an odd L-shape.

"Countertop support has to be both designed and engineered."

Yes, that's a given. We will have professionals installing the counters and the cabinets.

If you search for examples of IKEA kitchens here, you'll see many great examples of FANTASTIC kitchens, many with granite or quartz. Here's one: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4587257/my-ikea-kitchen-11-years-later?n=56

millworkman-

I agree: you're absolutely right that corbels that are only decorative add no structural support. It is possible, however to install them at solid structural points, or with hidden steel brackets so that they are functional. I should have made that clear.

We are planning on doing legs anyway.

We did not have enough of an overhang to require additional supports but our fabricator/installer did not have a problem with the IKEA Sektion as base for our quartz countertops.

We were considering Ikea cabinets, then the new cabinets arrived and after I looked at the boxes, I wondered this myself. Here is a photo of two of Ikea cabinet boxes I saw.

Why do you think that construction won't support a granite countertop? Yes, granite countertops are heavy because they are huge slabs of stone. However that weight is distributed over many square feet of cabinet tops. I have heard of this concern, but I've never heard of an actual instance where Ikea cabinets colapsed because they couldn't handle the weight of a granite countertop.

People PLEASE! These threads are getting tiresome.

Worldwide, Thousand and thousands (if not millions) of Ikea Sektion kitchen cabinets support Stone or Quartz counters without any problems, (and some support the even heavier concrete counters).

To allay your fears, check out this old thread on this topic:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3157270/granite-guy-says-cant-install-on-ikea-cabinets-help

Here a photo of our own expert on countertops, sinks et: The one and only: Joseph Corlett, LLC hanging Ikea cabs. (I know, it's old Akurum cabs, but really, on frameless cabs it's the sides that hold the stone, so no difference.

I have heard people say they bowed, so that is why I worry, kudzu9. Although I have never seen a picture of the bowing. So, wasn't sure if it was false info.

A man standing on cabinets for a snapshot is cool, but I'm more concerned about a slab that is quite a bit heavier and will be there for years. I don't want the sides of my cabinets to bow. I was under the impression the new sektion cabinets are made from an inferior material compared too the boxes on the old akurum cabinets. Maybe I'm wrong. So far no one has said they've had a problem in this thread, so that's good news.

I'm sorry if you find the threads tiresome, pippa. Maybe you could just ignore them from now on.

Ikea cabinets are strong enough for stone slabs but the hardware wiggles loose

Jessica-

A 1-1/4 thick slab of granite only weighs about 18 lbs/sqft, so the force exerted on a 2'X5' section of cabinets would be about 180 lbs...about the same weight as a man. Don't be confused by the fact that a large slab of granite weighs a lot: the weight is distributed over a large area and, the bigger the slab, the bigger the area. Your Ikea cabinets aren't going to bow or have a problem unless you intend to support 1000 lbs of granite (about 55 sqft) on top of a single 2'X2' cabinet...

Ikea cabinets are strong enough for stone slabs but the hardware wiggles loose

Another ill-informed piece of BS.

Jessica Burns - no need for snark. Thing is, it IS tiresome to see the same type of threads pop up regarding Ikea cabs. These questions have been asked over and over in various threads before, a simple GW search brings them up. The thing is, the moment somebody starts a new thread questioning Ikea cabinetry, some kitchen pros (who lose business due to Ikea) will take the opportunity and bash the competition as above: "putting an expensive top on cabinets made of M.D.F. or particleboard, is like putting $1000.00 rims on your rusty old car" , and : " the hardware will wriggle lose". Utter nonsense. Just about all high end European cabinetry is made from furniture board. And when Ikea hardware has been used and installed correctly, the hardware does NOT wriggle lose.) Thing is, people are used to working with plywood and they're used to driving in screws at high speed (or they've seen it done this way on HGTV). But doing this to furniture board/particleboard is asking for trouble, the hardware is best not driven in by a high speed drill, as over-torquing can lead to loose, wiggly connections. As always, each material demands the correct hardware and the correct technique. That's all.

Alas, I bet that the next thread regarding Ikea kitchens will be: "Will my Ikea kitchen collapse? I've heard the hardware wriggles lose over time"

That's what's tiresome...

This question is being asked incorrectly. Yes an IKEA cabinet can support a slab of stone. It's the lateral force that you have to be concerned about. If the cabinets are connected to a wall there should be a problem. A free standing island could be a different issue. I am doing a kitchen right now using IKEA base cabinets, drawers and adding my own custom fronts. I don't really trust the cardboard backs alone for the island so will add ponywall or at least 3/4" plywood back fastened to the floor for lateral support.

*should not be a problem when cabinets are fastened to a wall.

jdesign_gw - Bolting a 3/4" plywood sheet between the backs of the cabs when building and island is what we're planning to do too, and everything bolted to the floor as well. Totally reasonable.

The biggest issue with IKEA is the issue with all frameless cabinets. They are easy to rack, and that puts stress on the connectors. Which is why they can loosen over time. It is less of an issue with preassembled cabinets and professional installation than flat pack cabinets and DIY installations. That is because it is more of an acquired skill set to get things square and connected correctly. It takes a bit of practice, as any other construction skill will do. No, it's not that difficult, if you own and use the right tools including a level and a square and have an extra pair of hands or multiple clamps and a jig.

An island does need additional reinforcement, both for stability and for attachment points for counter supports. Anyone that is planning a 24" overhang had better get their ducks in a row engineering wise or there is going to be a family tragedy no matter if the cabinets are framed or frameless. You don't just screw metal support brackets into furniture board sides or add hanging chad posts and a prayer.

You need to post an an actual measured diagram and discuss your support plans in depth. It is not your stone professionals responsibility to educate you as the designer on how to accomplish support for his product. It is only his responsibility to tell you that it is inadequate and refuse to install his product on top of it until that issue has been corrected. Which may mean rebuilding the island entirely if you didn't build it correctly from the beginning with stone support designed into it correctly. Not to mention that the island also requires electrical outlets be designed into it as well. Building codes require a lot of pesky compliance in Kitchens.

If you are gonna play KD, you'd better darn well know what you are doing or you could kill someone.

Sophie, we didn't design our island, we hired a designer. But, I appreciate your concerns. I am only concerned now about the strength of the IKEA cabinets at this point. I don't want to use IKEA cabinets if I have to reinforce them. It seems that is the case from what I'm reading, so probably going to spend the extra $4K on the other cabinets we looked at.

A 24" overhang is going to need reinforcement no matter the cabinet line. You need to basically build a table with stretcher bars and posts. Those stretcher bars have to have meat to attach to, with the virrect fasteners for material type, no matter how the cabinets are constructed. And you need to figure out where those outlets go now as well because the electrical box might interfere with the needed attachment points for the overhang support.

Perhaps post your design for more targeted advice. A 24" overhang is unusual in that it is much more than the recommended 15" that the NKBA advises for a 36"H counter. It needs a more specialized solution than either plain corbels or steel brackets. The solution needs to be tailored to the existing design and construction makeup of the cabinets that you will be using.

OK, I'll get back to our designer on what she planned on for total support. But, yes, the island is basically a table, which is why it has legs (no corbels) and a large overhang. We're at the cabinet shopping stage and I veered off into the IKEA cabinets on my own, which appears to have been unwise.

A table with cabinets below is constructed exactly like a traditional table. You build an H ladder frame that is pocket screwed or mortised into the posts. The H frame support has to be attached to the cabinets boxes though. That is where you run into issues, depending on cabinet construction. Framed, frameless, particle board, plywood, and the skills of the actual installer will all have a bearing on how that table frame is attached to the cabinet boxes. Some "designers" aka cabinet sales people don't have real world construction experience that translates into real world practicality. Such as the issue with the electrical outlets, raised above.

Our designer does not sell cabinets. She's a designer only and also handles the contractors. Her design includes the electrical and mechanical plans. She takes us cabinet shopping, but, like I said, I veered off on my own with the IKEA cabinets.

sorry, slightly OT here

jdesign_gw: "I am doing a kitchen right now using IKEA base cabinets, drawers and adding my own custom fronts. I don't really trust the cardboard backs alone for the island so will add ponywall or at least 3/4" plywood back fastened to the floor for lateral support."

Ikea does sell a Sektion support brackets for kitchen islands and has nice little pictographs (what else?) for how many to install to the floor to support an island, depending on the island configuration.

With the cabinets attached to each other *and the supports, and the supports attached to the floor, seems pretty sturdy for the cabs and countertop without overhang.

cheers