Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Support post for kitchen island: pipe or wood?

Hello. Recently we opened up our kitchen by cutting out one half of an interior wall to turn that set of cabinets and the stove into an island. This also involved removing a load-bearing column. I want to install a new column that will be mounted on top of the new Formica counter (there is plenty of support directly under the countertop) and to the bottom of the ceiling beam which is exposed.

Picture is at: http://home.comcast.net/~johnreynolds/postquery.jpg

My question: If I try to use a 3 or 4" steel pipe as the support, how should I mount it to the countertop and beam? Or, would a wooden column be much simpler in terms of installation.

Thanks in advance for any help.

-John Reynolds

It sounds like you got in over your head with no planning when you cut out part of the loadbearing wall. You may be lucky if you were wrong about it being loadbearing.

If you cut out a portion or all of a loadbearing wall, you must put in a beam to carry the loads above.

If the wall was loadbearing, this beam must be supported on both ends.

Any column support must be supported by another column below ot a properly designed beam.

A cabinet and countertop is not considered structural or adequate. Your picture shows a pretty scarry post of 2x4s sitting on something. I assume you want to get rid of the post too.

Call someone to look at your situation and ask for suggestions.

Dick

It sounds like you got in over your head with no planning...

Thanks for replying, Dick. FWIW, I did consult with a carpenter before the project, and it was his suggestion that we do this.

I should have posted the before and after pictures to give readers a better sense of the project.
Here is what is was:
http://home.comcast.net/~johnreynolds/dsc01290.jpg
and here is what it is now:
http://home.comcast.net/~johnreynolds/dsc04380.jpg

If anyone has any advice about the best way to put a pole in there for support, I'd sure like to hear it.

-John