Cabinets Strong Enough For Granite?

DTproject · 02-17-2011, 05:45 PM

Hello-

We are finishing our basement and will be installing a wet bar against a finished stud wall. The cabinets that we purchased are just the unfinished Home Depot ones. Yesterday I was thrilled to get an incredible deal on 2 - 1 1/4in slabs of granite ($75)

but now I'm just wondering if I need to be concerned of the weight of the granite on these basic cabinets- or is there something I can do to reduce the load on the cabinets?

Thanks in advance for any information.

**oh'mike** · 02-17-2011, 08:44 PM

How many cabinets make up the back bar? What are the sides made of?

WirelessG · 02-17-2011, 10:11 PM

Yes, what are they made out of? In any event, I would be surprised if they couldn't hold the weight of the granite. Those slabs weight around 18 lbs/sqft. If a single cabinet is, say 2' x 3', that's 6 sq ft and the weight of the supported slab would be 108 lbs. The avergae guy weighs around 200 lbs. It's hard to imagine a guy sitting on a cabinet and having it collapse. Plus, I can't imagine that any manufacturer would sell cabinets so under designed that they could only bear the weight of laminate.

That's how I see it anyhow.

troubleseeker · 02-18-2011, 09:51 PM

Even the least inexpensive cabinets I have ever seen are capable of supporting granite tops.

ThatDaveGuy · 02-19-2011, 08:39 AM

Wireless nailed it, it is not the weight, it is the weight/sq ft, and there are a lot of things in your house with more than granite tops (think a full water heater or a fridge). As long as there are not any unsupported spans the granite will be fine.

DTproject · 02-21-2011, 10:41 AM

Thanks for your input- After talking to the cabinet/kitchen dept at Home Depot we feel confident that the granite will be fine but I think we will do some simple reinforcements just to be sure.
Sorry I posted and then disappeared, but the weekend is valuable time to get this project moving so no time for the computer or to answer the questions in re: to my question ....The face of the cabinets are Oak, but there is some particle board and that was what I was concerned about.

Thanks to all who responded... this is a great site!