Can I Support a Kitchen Countertop With Bar Stock?

Conventional Countertop Supports

• Bar stock, which is a solid rod or rectangular bar of aluminum or steel, provides more than enough strength to support a kitchen countertop in most cases. A more conventional solution is a series of wooden posts and braces that secure the countertop from below, and rest on the kitchen floor or subfloor. These wooden posts, which are usually just a few inches in diameter, can hold the weight of a heavy countertop. This means that all but the thinnest bar stock is strong enough to perform the same task.

Countertop Weight

• A countertop's weight varies greatly based on several factors. Before selecting and installing bar stock for a kitchen counter or island, it's important to estimate the weight of the finished countertop. The size of the overall countertop is important. The material it's made of is also significant. At a standard 1.5-inch thickness, granite countertops weigh around 18 pounds per square foot, while concrete countertops weigh slightly more, according to the Concrete Network website. The weight of a wooden countertop with a vinyl or laminate surface is negligible compared to these heavier materials.

Using Bar Stock

• Installing bar stock to support a kitchen countertop presents special challenges, including finding a way to affix the bar stock. To provide support, the bar stock needs to connect the floor to the underside of the counter, or the plywood base that the countertop rests on. Bar stock is solid metal with no machining, meaning you'll need to use clamps or brackets that have slots designed to hold material that's the precise size of the bar stock. Another option is using hollow wood posts and inserting the bar stock into the center for support.

Considerations

• Since bar stock is an industrial product and not generally sold in retail stores, acquiring it may be a challenge for some homeowners. Even with an extremely strong bar-stock base, a granite or concrete countertop may still need brackets for added support, especially if it features an overhang of more than a few inches. These factors, along with the fact that few countertops require more than a conventional wood-post support system, account for the limited use of bar stock in kitchen-counter designs.