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I'm currently building out a kitchen island and am running into a design dilemma. The island will consist of two 24" wide Ikea Sektion cabinets, each supported and anchored to the floor using 3 2x4s stacked to achieve the desired height. In the middle i'm planning on installing a 30" wide slide in stove (planning on a 30.5" opening), with a range hood directly above to vent out any cooking fumes. The countertop will be a 36" wide maple butcher block, with the grain running down the length of the island. The overhang will be approximately 11 inches, and we'll have some barstools on the backside of the island.

I'm wondering whether the butcher block will need any additional anchoring for the butcher block in the area near the stove? Seems to me that since there will be a cutout for the stove in this area, theres a potential weak point, since the only support here will be a 5/8" cover panel. Should i install some additional brackets here? Maybe a 2x4 anchored to the back of the island immediately under the cover panel to provide additional support (I'm concerned about this option as it may eat into my already small legroom for the barstools.

A rough sketch of the current layout is attached, with the rough countertop extents in red. Rough Sketch

Any help or ideas would be much appreciated!

easytiger
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Wood is strong in the direction parallel to the grain and weak perpendicular to the grain. The portion of the overhang behind the stove will be well-supported by the overhangs at each end.

The trouble is the overhangs at the ends are not well-supported due to the grain running the length of the island. The entire overhang would be held up by the strength of the glue joints holding the wood strips laminated together (and the strength of the strips themselves against splitting).

A 2x4 in the corner beneath the countertop where it meets the back side of the cabinets won't do much; it just shrinks the overhang from 11 inches to 9.5 inches. Some kind of angle brace in that spot will help. Common choices are a triangular piece of wood or an ordinary heavy-duty shelf bracket.

Some people really prefer an "invisible" solution. This could be accomplished with heavy steel. Perhaps a set of inverted L shapes made from 3/8" by 2.5" flat bar (as an entirely non-engineered off-the-cuff example). The vertical leg could be secured inside the cabinet base so that the horizontal leg reaches out to support the overhang. It could potentially be inset partially or completely into the overhang if desired. A fabrication shop could build such a thing for you, but it could be done DIY just as well by cutting the bar stock and welding to re-join the pieces at a right angle.

Greg Hill
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  • Thanks! That makes a lot of sense - I like the idea of L brackets inside the cabinet. Since its an ikea cabinet i'll need to install some 2x4 backing inside the cabinet. I'm liking this solution [linked here](https://ironsupports.com/products/hidden-granite-countertop-l-bracket?variant=15840872431687&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6NmHBhD2ARIsAI3hrM2EDQcIfXyl7W8HxpoTJSi5m5cP_0_JpbRf64dVIlEco_OZHHfx2ckaAiKLEALw_wcB) – easytiger Jul 20 '21 at 19:45
  • @easytiger Well of course they're available off-the-shelf somewhere! (I should have thought of that.) Now that you mention it... I'm reminded that a friend once asked me to help him make some like these because the quantity he wanted times the asking price was too costly for his project. – Greg Hill Jul 20 '21 at 21:16