We're doing Ikea cabinets with 3cm soapstone tops. The soapstone guy says we don't need plywood on top of the cabinets before the soapstone goes in (note that we will be notching the metal crosspieces into the cabinet sides so they're flush). My contractor is dubious, saying he always puts plywood under stone tops.
Any experience/expert opinions on this?
Generally speaking, I understand the same as Debbi - yes for 2 cm, not necessary for 3 cm.
We have ikea cabinets and 3 cm soapstone and no plywood. I did use the ikea brackets on the sides of the cabinets to bring the sides up to flush with the metal pieces on the front and back of the ikea cabinets, so all sides of the cabinet would be touching and supporting the stone.
PROThere is no need to add plywood on top of the existing base
cabinets. This will raise the entire countertop up the thickness of
the plywood. Which means you will see the plywood edge at the front.
However, since these are Ikea cabinets, the cabinets are supported only on the metal strips or stretchers. Ikea
typically supplies these small metal pcs to apply to the top of the
base cabinet to level off the base cabinets consistent with the metal
strip. We recommend adding strips of wood on top of the base
cabinets to keep everything level to the front metal strips.
Soapstone
is extremely heavy at 22 lbs sq/ft, so we also recommend adding wood cleats
at rear of base cabinets, where you can, to add additional support.Hope that helps.
Reload the page to not see this specific ad anymore
Houzz uses cookies and similar technologies to personalise my experience, serve me relevant content, and improve Houzz products and services. By clicking ‘Accept’ I agree to this, as further described in the Houzz Cookie Policy. I can reject non-essential cookies by clicking ‘Manage Preferences’.
Debbi Branka