It depends on the structural elements of the rest of the cabinet. What size material is used for the sides and back, as well as the face frame? Do you have full overlay cabinets with a center stile? If you have partial overlay, you need the stile. If you have full overlay butt doors with a center stile, you may want to consider a dust strip to cover the gap that will result.

I am replacing my cabinets with framed full-overlay cabinets and my cabinetmaker said there will be no center stiles. Yay! New hinges hold
the doors closed without any type of latch needed.

Most likely it is not needed. Most of the time it is used so that the manufacturer can use cheaper hinges that don't have the adjustability or so they can use the same size doors on several cabinets. The only time I put one in when I build a cabinet is to help make the door not so wide and squatty looking...like on a real wide and short cabinet.

I built a new laundry room just before I did the kitchen. I wasn't as focused on the details in that space, and I was so upset with the largest cabinet came with center stiles. I had them in my old kitchen and knew they made the cab so much less useful.

I lived with it for about 6 months cursing it every day...then finally asked a carpenter working on something else if I could take it out. He looked over the cabinet, said it wasn't structurally necessarily, and cut that baby out. So much better this way!

Anita

I've just seen the last of my friends off into the snowy night. Thanks for the helpful responses.

I did a little research and discovered that the cabinets are from 1980 and the company is Haas. I'm surprised what good shape they are in b/c they sure don't get good reports. These are partial overlay with 3 to 4 inch stiles, so much space will be wasted if I DIY retrofit rollouts. I have taken a 48"L, 12"D, 36" H cabinet in my laundry room and cut it horizontally to form a bench with cubbies for boots and used the other half for cubbies above the coat hooks. I kept the stile and framed it out. I used an Ikea butcher block for the bench seat and counter top for the intact cabinet next to it. The back is quite thin but the frame and sides are oak as are the entirely over done raised, raised, raised again panel doors.

One plan is to replace and butt the doors taking out the stiles, also replace the hinges and pulls, retrofit them, and paint everything. I'd rearrange them but also add a custom island w/drawers and serving/storage wall area as I enlarge the kitchen space to take advantage of poorly used space in my great room.

Another plan would be to replace the pulls, retrofit them, and rearrange them. Again enlarging the kitchen but painting or using light wood for the new pieces. In each plan the carpet (icky) is replaced with hardwood, new plumbing done, new counter tops, and ventilation improved. The duct work was done several months ago when the roof was replaced.

I'm quite handy and have a handyman who is willing to teach and work along side me. Which plan would you do? I'm on a limited budget but I also am into sustainability so keeping and modifying the cabinets seems practical. The uppers are ALL glass and in great shape. I'd replace the glass with seeded or something not so clear. This leaves more money for good (read Miele oven and DW) appliances as some of mine are as old as the cabinets.

I am a simple but good cook while DD2 is a domestic diva so this isn't a show kitchen. I'm not a pack rat and I'm quite organized. I could make it work with the stiles but... well, they aren't pretty!!

I'd appreciate your suggestions.

A 48" base cabinet NEEDS a stile to remain structurally sound. Usually, any size over 36" will need a stile to be able to be sound, but as I said, it depends on the thickness of the face frames and the sides. If you have flimsy sides, a center stile can provide a lot of support, and it may actually be needed in even the smaller cabinets.

I think you should ask one of the carpenters to look at it.

The issue would be someone(s) standing on the bench in the center of the nearly 48" long unsupported and structurally degraded rail (degraded for the joint to the stile).

The ikea counter will spread some of the weight out and a bench isn't as deep as a regular cabinet but you do need to plan on some real weight being applied directly in the center (think 300 to 400 pounds - a couple of guys or jumping youngsters) - it's way beyond my maths.

Because a bench is more narrow, you might be able to do something as simple as add steel supports on the back wall, screwed into the studs - think thick shelf brackets. Something so you aren't depending on the rail for anything but looks.

Here's my .02 cents on this -

IF you are going to have Natural Stone as your countertop material in
either 2CM or 3CM - you WILL need stiles.

I don't know the particulars on the rates of flexion of other products
such as solid surface and laminate, but I would venture a guess that
anything other than Natural Stone will flex a lot more........

I have seen too many FAILURES of stone countertops that were installed
on cabinet bases that were anywhere from 36" wide up to 48" wide - that
had NO center stile, and the stone fractured at the sink and cooktop openings
EVERY TIME.....

I will be doing a podcast on this subject soon at Natural Stone 101.com

Remember - NO center stile = NO Natural Stone for the counters... period

hope that helps - especially if you were thinking about putting in
Natural Stone as your countertop material

kevin

Live wire oak - I only have one 48" inch cabinet base and I plan to leave the stile for exactly the reason you state. It still leaves room for a good sized rollout and will house my pots and pans. Could I put a prep sink in on one side of that cabinet as plumbing already exists nearby? The uppers will be centered but will be a 24" and 21" (each built w/no stiles) yet the sides of the cabinets create a stile look. I have that extra 3" (on that side) to put a 36" chimney style hood over a 30" induction cooktop. I'm replacing an existing cooktop but upgrading the electrical to handle the induction. It is the cabinet back that is quite thin, front frame is 1" thick and sides are 1/2" thick.

bmorepanic - Perhaps b/c of my long post you missed that I have already completed the bench project. I did keep the stile AND framed out the bench top before installing the BB. The math was beyond me too but my handyman is quite good with the carpentry part so I trust his work on this. As we are a short family, I know we will be standing on the bench to get to the cubbies and storage boxes on top of the cubbies. I also kept the stile in the cubbies above. So now I have that set of doors to experiment with if I decide to paint.

Bmore - Way off topic but I think you are from Baltimore? I read a conversations thread back when I lurked. What do you know of Goucher College?

Kevin, I may use granite (or SS if I can find a metal shop to do Rhome's method) on the cooktop run. That will have the 48" cabinet so I will plan on leaving that stile even if I change to an arrangement where the doors butt in the middle. It also has a 36" cabinet could I trim the 3" stile to half that? Right now the counters are laminate so I appreciate the advice.

Owls4me, I feel your pain with Haas cabinets. I have a 30" base cabinet with a 4" center stile and pullouts! I'm not kidding, each pull out has 8" of storage space...that's 16" in 30" cabinet! It drives me nuts. I finally got the necessary power tool to cut it out but have been a little nervous. Please let us know what you decide to do because I'd love to turn this into a functional cabinet.

kevin,

I just noticed your post. All my base cabinets are 33" or less. (2 corner 33" cabinets, 33" clipped corner sink base, 2 18" 4 drawer cabinets, 15" and 12" full door cabinets) None of them have a center stile. I will be getting 3 cm granite. Will this be a problem?

Cheri27, I read your posts when I was researching Hass Cabinets through google. Might you post a picture? The stiles on my cabinets are 3" and I don't have rollouts right now. It provides more storage than your arrangement but I am getting pretty tired of practically crawling into the space to get things toward the back. It also has the half shelf midway high in each cabinet.

I'm in research and planning mode as I work on my laundry/mudroom that you go through to get to the kitchen. My projected start date is mid June but I'll keep you posted once I decide a course of action.