I’m getting ready to build a set of kitchen cabinets, including a large island with a breakfast bar attached. It looks like, if I make them standard heights, the island will be 36″ high and the breakfast bar will be 42″ high. I’ve never done this kind of project before, and I’m trying to figure out how to design this so I can put in the electrical and the countertop. I’m planning on a Caesarstone countertop, which is an engineered stone product.
A friend told me that the best way to approach this project is to build a stub wall and to install the electrical in this wall, to cover it my veneered sheet goods for the breakfast bar, then to build the island separately and attach it to the breakfast bar. But doing this, I wouldn’t have any access to the inside of the breakfast bar, which I assume I would need to attach the counter top.
Can anyone either give me any information on how to approach this or point me to a book or something that could give me some design help?
In addition, I’m trying to find some information about how wide the base of the breakfast bar needs to be to support the counter. I want about a 12″ overhang on the bar. If I make the breakfast bar 6″ deep and the counter 18″, will this provide enough support?
Replies
Hi yourself!
Hi Again pm ,
Sorry about the dud , user error . Then I posted a reply and it disappeared sort of , so we'll try again .
Building the stub wall is not a bad thing , sometimes we have them dry wall the wall . That top plate will make a good foundation for the countertop overhang support .
You can make a frame and fasten it to the back side of the wall , like a torsion box if you will . If the wall back is wood you can recess and hide the elec under the frame . Put the deck over or build it in , I try and always recess the deck out of site.
You can make some wood corbel supports say about 10 " deep with 4 1/2" wall 18" top 1 1/"2 overhang of top .
The breakfast bar look is a thing of it's own , another approach is to run the counter out at the 36" height , one large work surface uninterrupted .Regular ht chairs .
The top material you are using will call out a spec for a decking of say 5/8" with a minimum of un supported areas .
good luck dusty
You might want to throw this question over to the Breaktime crowd. There's a little more construction background there plus I think it gets more traffic.
I just finished a large island that replaced one the customer had. They wanted to go to a free standing stove instead of a cooktop and move it to the other side of the island. They also wanted it to include an icemaker and one electrical outlet.
My design has a "service core" in the middle of the island (picture 753) and all services (gas, electrical, and plumbing) are run into the core then distributed to the appropriate section of the island. I created a "chase" under the countertop (picture 760) to route the receptacle wiring.
The island was delivered a couple of weeks ago and we're waiting for the glass counter top. It should be done sometime next week.
That makes a lot of sense (lucky you, you don't have to use conduit). I have to run seven different circuits to this thing, so that's a big issue.
What kind of glass countertop? I had been thinking about glass, but I was worried that it wouldn't be very durable.
I could have used conduit if it was needed - just a bit more of a hassle to build - lol. Do you really need seven separate circuits - or just seven feeds. Either way, you should be able to use the "service core" idea. It could be sized to accomodate however many wires, pipes, etc are needed.
The glass top was a new one for me. The customer is getting it from the Home Depot Expo Center and I spent quite a bit of time talking to them and the manufacturer about glass. I found out that they're pretty common in Europe and Asia (my customers are Chinese) and that they're supposed to be much easier to clean. Apparently, durability is no better or worse than granite or tile.
My island top had to give continuous support for the glass and you can only cantilever 3" or less. I also had to deal with some issues regarding the Viking range back and side trim pieces. The stove cutout in the glass had to have a minimum 3/8" radius (square corners create stress risers and the top will probably break)
Regarding the overhang, you need to talk to the countertop people about this. I always have them tell me a maximum overhange without support for their product. That way it is their problem if it breaks. Not to sound like a building inspector but those two pictures in this thread, I'm pretty sure that yellow Romex should be an armored cable like BX. At the least if it isn't exposed in any of the cabinetry interiors there should be a metal plate where it passes throught that cabinet back.
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