Want to Attach Island Legs to the Floor?

If you have ever wondered how to secure an island leg to the floor to prevent lateral movement of the leg due to a strong kick or inadvertent force applied to the side of the leg, we have some great news for you. One of our generous customers, Matt with Crossgrain327, supplied us with details about how he was able to attach his island leg to the floor. And his stunning island build is a testament to his incredible woodworking skills! For this build, Matt used our Massive Wilmington Island Leg, part 1781, and painted it an exciting blue shade to match his impressive island.

Here is how he attached the single island leg to his wood floor:

1–Drill a 2″ deep hole into your floor, that is slightly narrower than your 4″ long hanger bolt (a hanger bolt has wood threading on one end, machine threading on the other end) Install the hanger bolt into the floor, wood threading end first. Screw it down until approximately 2″ of the machine threading is exposed. (For an easy tutorial on installing hanger bolts, see this video provided by one of our collaborative partners–EightHundredFurniture–for installing cabinet feet, which uses a technique of twisting the hanger bolt into the hole, by using 2 nuts threaded onto the opposite end of the bolt.)

2–In the bottom of the island leg, drill a hole in the center of the leg that is slightly narrower than your hanger bolt, 2″ deep. To install a threaded insert (that will accept the size hanger bolt you are using), simply insert a bolt with a head into the insert, making sure the bolt is the same size threading as the insert. Turn the bolt all the way down until the head of the bolt touches the top of the insert, then insert the end of the bolt into the hole in the leg, and use a ratchet to tighten the fitting down into the hole. Remove the bolt from the fitting, and you will then have a fitting installed into the bottom of the leg. The photos below show a hole drilled into the bottom of the foot, in addition to a countersunk hole to attach a metal plate that is screwed down around the installed insert. Set the insert opening in the leg over the bolt in the floor, and spin until tight to the floor.

3–Mount the top of the leg to the countertop. There are several techniques you could use for this. You can attach to skirtboards which are screwed into the bottom of the countertop, or use an industrial adhesive for stone tops. In Matt’s case, he had a 2″ thick wood top, so he used a screw to go through the top of the countertop, down through the top of the leg, and then the hole was plugged and stained to match.