I have a friend who has a floating floor and I believe she was told by the floor manufacturer to leave 1/4 inch space between base cabinets and floor. No floating floor under the base cabinets because the weight of cabinets + stuff in cabs + granite could cause the floor to bind. I think she did the same for the island- the floor was cut out for the island and then the island was anchored to the subfloor. We have 6 kids, youngest are 2 yr old twins and they climb. Their current trick is to open the cab doors until the child lock catches (about 2 inches, maybe and they manage to get a few toes into that space so they can see what is up on the counter or to reach for some forbidden thing up there. I spend my day running from one to the other to keep them out of trouble (they strategize). My older kids know no sitting on counters but once or twice, one of their friends will sit on one, especially the 7-12 yr old kids. They are told to get down and they do but some parents allow it so when they come over they think it is ok initially. I think I'd search for a work type table if you can't anchor it. Toddlers and kids can come up with crazy things to try and I just wouldn't trust a non anchored island.

I had the same problem because my plumber was not supposed to run the radiant heat tubes under my island, but when I came home from work, the tubes were everywhere. I don't think anything special was done to secure the island. It was near impossible to move before the granite went on (I know because I had it moved about 4" and it took 3 men). With the granite on, its not going anywhere. Hopefully no one will stand on it, but I think it would be fine if they did. Coincidently, my design choice before encountering this issue was solid ends on the island. Then, just as another preference, I ordered a half moon cut for the overhang side of the counter. I think it does provide extra stability. If you don't like island legs, maybe you can order solid sides: You could probably create a similiar end piece using beadboard and molding over a more substantial support end. Good Luck. I know how Sandy wrecked havoc on so many. I was lucky to only have tree damage.

Construction adhesive may hold, but it also may release over time due to moisture exposure at floor level. You might want to consider a high grade silicone adhesive, instead. Regardless of what you use, you'll still end up staining the grout (a consideration only if you ever intend to take the island away). I believe that granite counter installers routinely depend on silicone and the weight of the granite to keep countertops in place. If you try adhesive and it fails at some future point, then I would mount a hidden frame of 2X4's to the floor and attach the cabinets to that. I would do this by drilling through the tiles. A hammer drill and the right bit will make short work of it. Then you can fasten the frame down with the something like tapcon screws. You could even add some silicone adhesive: this glue and screw combo should be plenty strong. As for powder actuated nail drivers, they take some skill to use correctly and get the depth correct, and are very dangerous to use without safety training: they're basically guns that fire nails instead of bullets. I'd discourage this approach.

Just a thought, if the granite makes the island too heavy to bump out of place, how will you be able to purposely move it once it is installed? We decided to secure our island because we wanted to make sure it didn't move any during the granite installation process. We were afraid the installers might move/bump/push one side of the cabinets out of line by just an inch or so - enough to mess-up the plumbing and throw the island out of line with the rest of the kitchen. If it were to happen, purposely moving the island back into line with the top on it would be the nearly impossible. Do I think this is likely to happen? No. Did I want to eat crow and be sorry if it did? Definately not! The issue of electrical in the island has to do with state law - TN doesn't require it, other states do. If you really want to leave it unsecured, and think you will be able to move it around later, I would double check with the granite/marble company - they should know what is acceptable. Nancy