Current kitchen--I have a 6" overhang that is beyond awful.

Old kitchen--1.5". New kitchen will likely be the same!

for Natural, Engineered and "Green" slab countertops - 1 1/2 inches of overhang
on the front leading edges of your countertops is "the norm"...
I have seen this in Solid Surface products too....

Your finished overhang can vary by up to 1/2 inch more
(giving you up to 2 inches of front overhang),
or 1/4 inch less (reducing the dimension down to 1 1/4 inches of front overhang)

IMHO - for the finished product,
this will ultimately be depending on the cabinets,
your personal taste, how straight the cabinets are,
and the Fabricator doing the work....

hth

kevin

My overhang is the width of my index finger...about 1/2 an inch. I like a clean look and only want enough overhang to facilitate the crumb catch when I wipe down the counters. No regrets.

If it is a bad design idea, I've got it. My overhang is not really even measurable. A quarter inch? Therefore, water from an airgap leak caused cabinet damage. The overhang does not account for the pulls. The overhang problem with pulls is especially problematic in a spot where there are two low drawers turned into a loveseat. Bummer - when you sit there, your feet hit the cabinet and the pulls. That should have been a much deeper overhang.

Kevin,
I just had our Vetrazzo countertops measured for our kitchen. The Guy who measured said that normal is 1.5" overhang that starts from the cabinet and not the drawer front. Are you saying 1.5" from the front of the cabinets or the door/drawer fronts?

He also mentioned that people seem to be going for very little overhang these days as well like Amysqr has....

We ended up with an inch past the drawers to help cover our knobs except on the end of one cabinet run because of space issues. Here's hoping they will be installed next week!

Earth_Pal:

My Bad..... Your guy that measured is right!!!

a NORMAL overhang is measured 1 1/2 inches from the FACE of the CABINET FRAME - NOT the drawer front... Sorry for not pointing that out earlier... <:-0gt;Thanks for asking that question - I am pr-occupied with some other issues
right now....

hth

kevin

Hey Kevin!

No problem! I didn't know that was how the measurement was done until he mentioned it and figured there might be another GWer who didn't know either!

:)

EP

reyesuela,

If you are still on here, could you elaborate? Why beyond awful?

Thanks!

Our template for soapstone was made yesterday. Bucks County Soapstone recommended a 1 inch overhang from face of cab. frame.

Are there different recommendations for inset cabinets? Seems like since the frames and doors are flush there should be less overhang since there is no additional depth from doors. Or am I completely off?

You generally want the overhang to not only cover the doors and drawer fronts, but also the pulls/knobs...it reduces bruises! When the pulls/knobs stick out past the counter, you are more likely to bump them or have things get caught on them.

The overhang should, at the very least, extend past cabinets/drawer fronts/doors so liquids drip straight down to the floor and do not touch the cabinets...if you have no overhang (i.e., flush) with the cabinets/doors/drawers), liquids will drip down the cabinet surface to the floor.

Usually, though, "no overhang" is a sleeker, more "modern" look while inset cabinets are usually a more "traditional" look. However, if you like the look, then do what you like. But, I would at least have a 1/4" overhang so you know the drips will not drip down the cabinets.

I posted on this too, but responding to this one as well.

I have frameless cabinets so we measured starting at the front edge of the drawer fronts and then out a little bit past the handles...that's how I got 1 5/8" overhang.

Is that going to look odd? I don't want it looking like it is sticking out too far.

Eks6426-

I think that your overhang of 1 5/8" is going to look just fine....

hth

kevin

I agree with EKS6426. We have full overlay cabinets/drawers and plan to have templated with drawers IN. Overhang will be larger on front edge of cabinets than on the sides where there is no drawers/panels. Unfortunately, we are just at drywall stage - so this decision is months away!!!

Thanks for posting this. Our kitchen has about 3/8" overhang (beyond the drawer fronts.) We have frameless cabinets. In our case, I was trying to maximize walking space between the island and wall cabinets. It looks good, but is a bit shallow for spills. Spills definitely go down the front of the cabinets and drawer fronts but doesn't usually go into the drawers.

We are now doing a bathroom remodel and my contractor said use the same overhang. But after thinking about this and how it is in my kitchen, I will be doing a bigger overhang (but not so big that it feels like the sink is too far in).

Hi atlbeardie, it's been several years since this post, but I have the same issue with my countertop overhang and the sink. Were you able to get the counters shaved down or do you have to get all new counter?? Thank you!