I have a friend who wants to upgrade her countertops to granite, but is afraid it will weigh too much for her old cabinets. How can she determine if they will support granite, or go with something lighter like Corian ??
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raise the issue with the granite guys, but most well installed cabinets ie level.plumb and most of all flat will accomadate a granite top
cabinets in decent shape?, gables well shimmed to a solid floor? well fastened to the walls with shim as needed?
if so, you for it!!
caulking is not a piece of trim
I've never had any problems with cabinets being able to support any loads put on them. I've even had to stand on them before. I weigh 200 pounds. not a problem.
3/4" granite weighs about 11 pounds per square foot. 1-1/4" is about 18 psf. By contrast, water in 1 quart canning jars weighs about 26 psf. I'll echo the advice to check with the granite installers, but unless there's some particular reason to believe the cabinets are failing, like deflection or noises when she puts weight on it, I don't think there's much risk.
As others have said, there's likely not a problem. Granite really isn;t all that heavy.
I've installed 2" thick concrete tops over old cabinets, and if there's any doubt the most that usually has to be done is add a backer to the back of the cabinet. Most cheaply made cabinets have wafer thin backs. Cutting out and adding a piece of half-inch ply does wonders.
Also, after removing the existing top, you could skin the top of the entire run of cabinets with 8' long rips from a sheet of plywood. that'll tighten the entire run up and help spread the load.