I’m planning on building a bar along a wall that is not being used near the backdoor of my house. Its in a little breakfast nook area beside the kitchen. I came up with the idea of using a flat panel that resembles butcher block, but is 8’x20"x3/4". I plan on staining it to match the hardwood floor in that area. It will basically take the place of our kitchen table that we don’t really have room for any more.
I need some help from some of you carpentry professionals about the best way to mount it to the wall. I would like to do something that won’t have legs on the ends, but be more of a bracket attached to the wall and will still look good. It won’t have to support a whole lot of weight, but enough not to fall off when you stack groceries or whatever on top of it.
I’m hoping someone like Redfish matt could provide some tips or insight on this. Thanks ahead of time.
You could build the wood bar solid, then drill holes depth wise from the back to the front- not all the way through to the front though. Then use a metal plate fastened to the wall studs with metal dowels welded to the metal plate. Then slide the solid bar over the metal dowels. Lots of Fab work though, but would eliminate the use of brackets and look like its floating.
Or you could fasten a ledger to the wall and rest the back end on that and use brackets made for granite bars.
You could build the wood bar solid, then drill holes depth wise from the back to the front- not all the way through to the front though. Then use a metal plate fastened to the wall studs with metal dowels welded to the metal plate. Then slide the solid bar over the metal dowels. Lots of Fab work though, but would eliminate the use of brackets and look like its floating.
Or you could fasten a ledger to the wall and rest the back end on that and use brackets made for granite bars.
I did run across some stud mounted brackets that stick out through the sheetrock and are almost invisible. They are designed for granite countertops, so they would definitely work. The only problem I have with that is I’d have to cut out sheetrock and then patch it and paint it afterward, but it would look good when I’m done. They are very expensive though, and I’m trying to do this on a budget.
I already have the top, just need a way to hang it. Thanks for the ideas, guys. Keep 'em coming.
You don’t need a carpenter to “take out the kitchen table and put a bar along that wall”. According to the old country song all you need to do is “hire a wino to decorate our home”.
Would be glad to help you. I have a small 16" wide “bar top” that I installed in my own house that’s about 6’ long that we use for desk space.
Mounting these is quite easy. You can either buy steel brackets (aka “corbels”) or make your own out of plywood that is stained to match the top. If you need help making your own out of plywood, let me know, I can take a pic of mine, piece of cake.
You mount these brackets to your wall studs. I would probably put one on every stud (every 16") just for stability since your top is 3/4". If you had a 1.5" thick top, you could probably get away with skipping a stud. .
Anchor these to the studs with good 2.5 or 3" screws. Use a level to make sure they are all in plane with each other. Then, lay the top down on the brackets, and shoot some screws up into the top. In your case, don’t use screws longer than 3/4" if you use steel brackets, unless they are crazy thick.
Hopefully these pics will make sense. Just imagine the vertical surface being your wall rather than a knee wall or back of a cabinet island.
… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.
By the way, you will want corbels/brackets that are at least 12" across the top, (esp. if they are really stout), or 16" if they are on the “lighter duty” side.
If you choose to use wood, you can make them like this. You make an L shaped bracket, and then put the cross-brace in the center for strength. I prefer to make the center piece a plywood triangle that is nearly as wide across the top as the L-bracket that it’s seated into.
Typically I will make the L-bracket about 2-2.5" wide, and mount the plywood triangle centered in it, so that you have equal (and, plenty) of room on both sides of the plywood triangle to shoot screws to mount to the wall and under the bar top.
… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.
Lastly, if you need help doing the varnish on it, that’s my specialty. Shoot me a PM (or email, even better, via clicking on my profile name). I won’t be checking this board but sporadically with the new baby in the house and all. If you live locally to North Chuck, and you want me to spray this in our shop, I am very reasonable in my rates for finish work, so long as I can use our stuff to spray it with.
… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.
Just wanted to give an update for you guys. I made some brackets out of 2 1/2"x3/8" flat bar bent 90 degrees. I lagged them to the studs through the sheetrock with three lags per bracket. The top still isn’t completely finished because the weather has been crappy for stain/polyurethane. I still have at least one more coat of polyurethane left to put on, but here is what the finished product will look like.
Thanks guys, I’m finally finished with it now. I am going to repaint the walls in there next and put some sort of backsplash up, but that’s for another day…
