I'm finishing up my kitchen island and have a 36" deep piece of laminate top. It overhangs 12" on the back of the two 33" wide base cabinets.
I know it is common practice to install L brackets to support the overhang, but that means the bracket is screwing into the thin particle wood backing the cabinets have. Is this sufficient? Is there a better way as Norm Abram would say?
I saw online some marble cantilever supports that work in a way that they run across the entire top of the cabinet base making it so the weight of that area counters the 12" overhang. They require notching out the back of the base cabinet just enough so the bracket sits flush with the rest of the surface. These seem both expensive and maybe not made for a laminate style countertop.
Best Answer
Corbels are commonly used (as opposed to L-brackets), and they should work fine with your cabinet panel, assuming appropriate screws are used. Most of the force applied is in shear (up and down).
You could also install a sheet of 3/4" BC plywood onto your cabinet (nicer side down), and lay the laminate top onto that. The plywood should fit neatly inside the laminate top's edge lip, and it will provide more than enough strength for your small overhang while maintaining a floating appearance.