Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Help! Granite countertop for wall-mounted cabinets?

We are remodeling our Master Bath and have FINALLY picked out a good wall-mounted vanity cabinet for our master bath remodel. :D The cabinets are KraftMaid and will be wall-mounted 7" off the floor with NO legs. I.e., they are only supported by the wall mount.

For the countertop, we want to use either granite slab or granite tile. But, we are worried about safety, sagging and cracking.

Is it feasible to put granite tile on wall mounted cabinets? How about granite slab? Any issues to watch out for? Extra support needed? Installation tips? :confused:

I really need some help on this one.

Thanks,

Dan.

You will have a weight issue.

Why 7 inches above the floor? Do you need this much extra counter height?

over the floor. The cabinets are about 24" tall without top. Add 1.5" for countertop and that's 25.5". Since we want the counter top to be about 32.5" high, that leaves a space under the cabinets of about 7".

We did some testing, and even though my wife and I are on the short side, 32.5" is about right for us.

Note that the cabinets will extend from one side wall to another, so we will have some end support. And, I can easily add some sort of hidden beam to span the walls. The total cabinet length run will be slightly less than 10 feet.

What can we do to ensure that the cabinets will support the weight?

Thanks,

Dan.

I now understand your reason for the height.

If you install proper fasteners in each stud, the cabinet will be supported along the back wall. The ends may be another issue. Will filler strips be used at the front to fill the gap between the cabinet front and the end walls? If so, a ledger board attached to the studs will need to be installed on the wall at each end, with the top edge supporting the counter top.

You still have a support issue with the front of the cabinet. A 10-foot long face frame will not support a granite counter top.

I would look for a way to add some decorative legs to support this from the floor. Remember that the granite will be heavy, and will be weakened in the area where the holes are cut for the bowl(s).

Another option is to build a 7" high frame under the vanity. You will then be required to install a tall toe kick from the floor to the top edge of the normal toe kick. (About 11 inches). 2x8's ripped down to 7 inches would work for the frame.

Would kitchen base cabinets work for your situation? Just a thought. A normal vanity is more than 24 inches tall.

This might be too late, but I know you can purchase cabinets that are 33" tall. We did this for our bathroom.

I put in a 48" granite vanity top on that, and there is no way I would trust a wall mount. I'd be paranoid the thing would crash (founded or not)

If it's too late for 33" cabs, I'd look into some sort of support under the cabinet.

How well can you see under the cabinet?

It really does not have to float to seem to float.

If you went back a 6 or 8 inches and provided some support (2x beam a couple of legs) that was a dark color, you could still have the "floating" illusion.

You could even fool everyone with a recessed continuous support and mirror in front of the support. They would only see a reflection of the floor (unless they laid on the floor).

Much of this depends on the construction of the cabinet.

Dick