A number of years back we were fortunate to get a call on a great project out in Gig Harbor, WA. This was back in the days when phone camera pictures weren’t too great so here, in this article, the grainy pictures merely serve as “evidence” something happened for the most part. On this occasion, a client wanted to add a raised bar at the end of their already finished island. However, prior to our involvement, no real decisions, plans, or structural accommodations were made so this could be done a little easier. Our job was to design, fabricate, and install the appropriate structural support while at the same time, keep the overall visual design consistent with the homes architecture.
Before starting we took a little time to place the existing granite top in the general position the client had in mind. After a little more discussion, head scratching and calculating we headed back to the laboratory to solve some problems.
Armed with the needed info, we got busy fabricating these nifty metal post brackets to fully support the counter top weight and overhang torque by transferring all of it to the structural members of the cabinets below. When done, these things resembled Legos or Tinkertoys for grownups.
To assist in the load transfer and also to add bar height and surface area (later covered in tamber) a pedestal was built to be sleeve over the metal posts.
On site the pedestal was placed into position and holes for the metal post brackets were located, then bored into the existing counter top using diamond tooling.
With post brackets mounted, matching holes were bored into the pedestal allowing it to be slid over and fastened to the post brackets.
After test fitting for alignment and position, the area was cleaned and the pedestal was permanently attached to the posts.
With pedestal secured, a 3/16″ steel plate was attached to the top of the posts as well as the pedestal itself to support the cantilever weight of the granite piece.
Once the base was completed, the matching granite slab was secured and resulted in a firm, functional and architecturally friendly solution to a problem that could have been much easier with a bit more forethought. Such is life but this was still a fun puzzle and a happy customer.
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