Hi Juno - from what I've learned, it really depends on how big the shelf needs to be and how much weight you'll be putting on it. If its just a few tchotchkes then you should be fine with an "off the shelf" shelf and mounting hardware. There are quite a few places that sell these kinds of shelves, link below. You can also build the shelves yourself with a little elbow grease - google "torsion box shelves" for instructions. That seems to be the popular choice and would give you a lightweight alternative. Also look up "french cleat" for mounting hardware - that also seems to be a popular way to attach them. If you do decide to go with solid wood, that Hafele hardware at the top of the page is for solid shelves and would provide the invisible support you're probably looking for. They have an option for masonry installation and it looks like they come with pretty detailed instructions. We're going to have to DIY the hardware for ours because our shelves will be so deep and long and I want triple assurance the things won't pull off the wall when I load them up. I placed an order yesterday with a local saw mill - they're going to give us ripped and planed boards to glue together ourselves, and then we'll take them back so they can plane them again to the correct thickness and clean up the ends. I'll sand and stain them myself, and then according to ctycdm's instructions above we'll affix them to the walls. Hope this helps! EDIT: Also, FWIW, I calculated the weight of our longest shelf (approx 75"x12"x2") to be 32 lbs. I also found this online which gives you the approx weight of lumber depending on how dry it is... http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/green-kiln-dried-pressure-treated-lumber-weights-d_1860.html Here is a link that might be useful: Prefab shelves This post was edited by Swentastic on Wed, Oct 8, 14 at 13:17

Strap systems, Hercules Universal Sink Harness and Sink Strap, are incompatible with drop-in sinks, because they push the sink upward. That's desirable for an undermount, not for a drop-in. After confirming that the top is supported by strip underlayment between the cabinet tops and the bottom of the top around the sink base cabinet perimeter, run a bead of caulk around the top at the sink perimeter, drop in the sink, Windex the squeeze-out, wipe it away and you're done.

Mad_Gallica - thank you SOOO much for identifying the problem! It makes sense that the Your Topics feed is the problem, since I stopped being able to access the second page about the same time that transition happened. In all the discussions of Houzz problems with GW, I'd never seen that mentioned on this forum. I really appreciate you bringing that to my attention with a relatively manageable fix, even if that means renegotiating around Houzz's clumsy front end to find the Roses and Antique Roses forum. Emily, I appreciate the alternate links and I was able to access the second pages from those links as well, just not when using the Your Topics page that is supposed to be our starting place to filter out the other discussions. It's ironic that the primary innovation that was supposed to make GW more user-friendly has made it unusable for me from that format (I wonder why others using Your Topics on this forum don't seem to have the same problem). Technical support clearly didn't have information about this bug, at least not sufficiently to resolve the problem or even to indicate that this problem legitimately existed apart from my browser, and they were unable to suggest a strategy to test the assumption or a workaround as you did in your posts. We appreciate your problem solving with us on this forum, but the contrast between you and technical support/programmers for Houzz is one of the reasons we've had the kinds of reactions that Jeri mentions above. You have shown genuine signs of caring and trying to resolve some of the problems, but that has not been the case for most of the rest of the Houzz personnel. Even with your input, the things that are problems don't seem to change even this long after they've been unworkable. If it's possible for you to pass along these bugs to the programmers in ways that could get results it would be welcome, but we just don't have much confidence that you'll be able to get changes accomplished. Thanks for helping though and for being a positive presence in a sea of frustration. Cynthia

Some still use them, but there is hardly ever a reason to not use square tube steel or other more inconspicuous supports. Better support and no knocked knees. If your fabricator won't walk his crew over the supports, they are inadequate. Tops are just veneer.