"bdeditch" wrote in message
My daughter wants me to build her a Kitchen Island that will be approx
11' by 8' ( L shaped). It will hold a stove top and will have a back
splash behind it. On top of the back splash she wants to have a
granite Counter top. My concern is what is going to hold up the 1 foot
over hang that she wants to have. I am sure that I can make the back
splash approx 6" wide but what should I use to hold up the over hang?

In short, you need a design that incorporates support, but not knowing your
design, it is almost impossible to advise you.

I would draw up a proposed plan and head to a local cabinet shop and see
what they advise based on your drawing. Here's why:

IME, and simply put, you need _support_ of some type for the overhang,
regardless of the material you are using for your countertop.

A 3/4" plywood substrate is quite sufficient to support a 3/4" thick granite
"countertop" overhang of 12", providing the plywood substrate is
sufficiently deep (front to back) to be properly "cantilevered" from the
supporting base/island cabinet.

In doing a granite overhang on an island, I try to use the old "1/3 to 2/3"
cantilever rule as a bare minimum, and much more if I can get away with it:

IOW, as a MINIMUM for 12" overhang, I want at least 36" of granite over +/-
36" of well fastened plywood substrate, supported by a minimum of 24" of
countertop.

Your problem is that your "countertop", in this case the top of your
backsplash, is only 6" deep and you're attempting to "cantilever" 12" of a
roughly 18" deep slab of granite.

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Last update: 2/20/07