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An island is plumbing,
wiring and walking space.
The cabinet is the easy part.

An island has to earn its floor twice - once as worktop and storage, and once as the space you walk around it. Put a sink or a cooktop in one and, on the slab most South Florida homes are built on, it also means cutting concrete. We design and install islands across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, services included.

Plan My Island See the Journey
  • Licensed, bonded & insured · CBC1265280
  • 104 municipalities across 3 counties
  • Design-build: permitting & construction in-house

Miami-Dade · Broward & Palm Beach Counties

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Recent projects

Four islands we built

Twelve frames from four completed kitchens - a waterfall island with seating, a marble island with the cooktop in it, a navy kitchen island and a compact one. Tap any image to see it larger.

01

Waterfall island with seating for three.

02

A different kitchen: marble island with seating for four.

03

The seating side of the waterfall island.

04

Marble island with the gas cooktop set into the top.

05

Navy kitchen: a freestanding waterfall island.

06

Wine refrigerator built into the island run.

07

The marble worktop and cooktop, close.

08

A waterfall end, mitred and veining-matched.

09

The undermount sink set into the island top.

10

The navy kitchen island top, clear of services.

11

A compact island with seating for two.

12

The end of the waterfall island, looking out.

All photographs are of real completed Elbaz Construction work. They come from four separate kitchens and are shown as recent work, not as one project.

01 / 12

The journey

Six stages, tape measure to first meal.

Island projects go wrong in two places, and neither is the cabinet. Either the walkway around it ends up too tight to actually use, or a sink or cooktop gets decided after the floor has already been closed up. Both are settled long before anyone orders stone. This page walks the sequence in order, starting with the measurement that decides whether an island belongs in the room at all.

Use the stage markers to jump straight to what you care about. Nothing here is a sales pitch - it is the sequence we actually follow.

Stage 01 · Measure

What you actually want the island for

Four reasons, and they produce genuinely different islands. Which one is yours changes the size, the services and occasionally the answer on whether to build one.

Somewhere to actually work

The most common reason, and the easiest to get right. An island used primarily for preparation wants an uninterrupted run of worktop and no seating eating into it. That sounds obvious until seating is added late and the usable prep length halves. Decide which side of the island is for working and which is for sitting before the size is fixed.

  • An uninterrupted worktop run matters more than total square footage
  • Seating on the same side as the prep area cancels out both
  • A cooktop in the island turns it into the working centre of the room
  • Where the trash pull-out goes decides how the island is actually used
  • Task lighting over the island, not just the perimeter
Marble kitchen island worktop with a gas cooktop set into it, seen along its length

Completed Elbaz project: a marble island top with the cooktop set into it.

Somewhere to sit

Seating at an island is the feature people ask for most and specify least. It needs an overhang deep enough for knees, support under the stone once that overhang gets long, and enough width per seat that two people are not touching elbows. Counter height and bar height also want different overhangs and different stools.

  • Counter height and bar height need different overhangs and stools
  • Most stone needs support once the unsupported overhang gets long
  • Allow real width per seat, not the minimum that technically fits
  • Seating at the end keeps the long worktop run intact
  • Where the outlets go matters once people sit and charge things
Seating side of a waterfall kitchen island, with three stools under a long stone overhang

Completed Elbaz project: a waterfall island with seating for three.

Storage the walls cannot give

An island is the only cabinetry in a kitchen that can be reached from both sides, which makes it the best place for deep drawers, and the only practical home for things like a wine refrigerator or a second dishwasher without giving up perimeter wall. It also means the back has to be finished, because it is on show.

  • Deep drawers hold more, and reach further, than doors and shelves
  • An appliance in the island frees a run of perimeter wall
  • The back and the ends are visible from the room and get finished as such
  • Anything powered in the island needs a circuit run to it
  • Panelled ends read as furniture rather than as a run of cabinets
End of a kitchen island with a wine refrigerator built into the cabinet run beneath the worktop

Completed Elbaz project: the island end, with a wine refrigerator built into the run.

Opening the room up

Plenty of islands begin as a wall or a peninsula that is coming out. That is a bigger job than adding an island to an open room, because whatever was in the wall - services, sometimes structure - has to go somewhere else, and the floor underneath it will need making good.

  • A wall coming out may be carrying load, which is checked, not assumed
  • Services inside a removed wall have to be re-routed, not just capped
  • The floor under a removed wall or peninsula needs patching or replacing
  • The ceiling above often needs making good too
  • This is the version most likely to need a permit and engineering
Freestanding white waterfall kitchen island against navy perimeter cabinetry with brass hardware

Completed Elbaz project: a freestanding waterfall island in a navy kitchen.

Stage 02 · Design

The four decisions that set the island

Everything else is finish selection. These four decide the size, the services and whether the room still works once it is in.

Size and the space around it

This is backwards from how most people approach it. You do not decide how big the island should be and then see what walkway is left - you fix the walkway first, and the island is whatever remains. The clearance most kitchen designers work to is around 42 inches for a single cook and 48 where two people work at once, more where an appliance door or a dishwasher has to open into the gap.

  • Fix the walkway first; the island is what is left over
  • Around 42 inches for one cook, 48 where two people work, is the usual guidance
  • Every appliance door that opens into the walkway needs its own room
  • A long thin island often beats a large square one in a real kitchen
  • Check the diagonal routes people actually walk, not just the straight ones
Completed kitchen island with a full-height waterfall end, seating for three and an undermount sink

Completed Elbaz project: a full-height waterfall island with seating for three.

What goes inside it

This single decision separates a cabinet with a top on it from a construction project. An island with nothing in it needs, at most, a circuit. An island with a sink needs supply, waste and a vent. An island with a cooktop needs power or gas and, critically, somewhere for the extraction to go. On a slab-on-grade house all of that arrives from below, through the concrete.

  • A clear island top may need nothing more than a circuit
  • A sink needs supply, waste and a vent that cannot run through a wall
  • A cooktop needs power or gas plus a real ventilation answer
  • On a slab, services reach the island by cutting and trenching concrete
  • This is the decision that most often turns an install into permitted work
Gas cooktop set into a marble kitchen island top, with the seating kept clear on the far side

Completed Elbaz project: a marble island with the gas cooktop set into it and seating on the far side.

Seating, height and overhang

Seating is where islands most often disappoint, and always for the same two reasons: not enough depth for knees, and not enough width per seat. Counter-height seating at 36 inches and bar-height seating at 42 inches want different overhangs and different stools, and once the overhang gets long the stone needs support under it - your fabricator specifies how much for the material you have chosen.

  • Counter height and bar height are different decisions, not interchangeable
  • Depth for knees and width per seat both have to be there, not one or the other
  • Long overhangs get steel, corbels or a panel under them
  • Seating at the end preserves the working length of the island
  • Stool height is chosen against the finished worktop height, not the drawing
Kitchen island seating with a screened lanai and planting visible beyond

Completed Elbaz project: island seating with the screened lanai beyond.

Edges, ends and the slab

A waterfall end - where the worktop turns down the side of the island to the floor - is a fabrication decision more than a design one. The corner is a mitred joint, and it looks right only when the veining runs continuously around it, which means the pieces have to be cut from the same slab in the right order. That needs more material and a fabricator who plans the cut before making it.

  • A waterfall corner is a mitred joint, cut and matched from one slab
  • Carrying the veining around the corner is planning, not luck
  • It needs more material than a standard edge, sometimes a larger slab
  • Where any seam lands is agreed with you, not left to the saw
  • A standard edge is not a lesser choice - it suits plenty of kitchens better
Waterfall end of a kitchen island, with the stone mitred at the corner and the veining carried down the side

Completed Elbaz project: a waterfall end, with the stone mitred and the veining carried down the side.

Every photograph in this section is real Elbaz work, from four different completed kitchens. Each caption says which project it is; they are not one kitchen.

Stage 03 · Permit

Drawings, permits and what is under the floor

Whether an island needs a permit depends entirely on what goes into it. A cabinet with a top needs none. A sink, a cooktop or a wall coming out is a different matter.

Clearances before anything else

The room is measured and the walkways set out on the floor before a size is proposed. If the clearance does not work, no amount of design fixes it later.

Nothing, sink, or cooktop

This decision drives everything after it - the permit, the slab, the programme and a good part of the cost. It is made early and deliberately, not left open.

Slab, or a floor with a void

Most South Florida homes are slab-on-grade, so services to an island arrive by saw-cutting and trenching the concrete. Where there is a crawl space or a floor above a void, the answer is different and usually simpler.

Whether it is carrying anything

Where the island replaces a wall or a peninsula, whether that wall is load-bearing is established properly. Where it is, structural design and a permit follow.

Circuits, outlets and lighting

Countertop receptacles are GFCI-protected, and a receptacle is never set face-up in the worktop. Whether one is required in the island itself depends on the code edition your jurisdiction has adopted, which has changed recently - we confirm which applies at your address.

Only if a cooktop goes in

A cooktop in an island has no wall behind it, so extraction is either a ceiling-mounted hood over the island or a downdraft within it. High-extraction hoods can also require a make-up air provision.

The part people do not expect

An island sink cannot be vented up through a wall, because there is no wall. It needs a loop vent run below the floor or an air admittance valve where the jurisdiction permits one - and not every one of them does.

Where the scope requires it

Where a permit is needed, the set is prepared and filed with your municipality, or with the county where the property is unincorporated. Review comments are answered and the set resubmitted.

Where a board is also involved

Condominium and HOA boards frequently have their own rules and their own schedule, particularly where plumbing is being altered. Worth starting alongside the permit rather than after it.

Measured off the built cabinets

Stone is templated from the installed cabinetry, never from the drawing. Seam positions and any overhang support are agreed with you before the slab is cut.

Requirements, review times and inspection sequences are set by your local building department, and they differ across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach and between the municipalities inside them. Nothing here is a guaranteed timeline or an assurance of approval - we confirm what your address actually requires once we know it.

Stage 04 · Install

Installing it, in order

The order matters more here than in most kitchen work, because almost everything that is difficult happens below the floor and has to be finished before anything visible starts.

Protection

Before anything is opened

The route in is protected, the rest of the kitchen and the adjoining rooms are sheeted, and dust containment goes up. Cutting concrete indoors is dusty work and it is managed rather than tolerated.

Quality check · Containment up before the first cut

Completed kitchen island with a full-height waterfall end, seating for three and an undermount sink

Removal

Peninsula, wall or old island out

Whatever is being removed comes out, and what was inside it is properly identified rather than guessed at. Anything load-bearing has its support in place before removal, not after.

Quality check · Nothing removed until what it carries is known

Freestanding white waterfall kitchen island against navy perimeter cabinetry with brass hardware

Setting out

The island marked on the floor

The island footprint and the walkways are marked on the actual floor and walked before any concrete is cut. This is the last cheap moment to move it, and people frequently do.

Quality check · Footprint walked and agreed on site

Completed marble-topped kitchen island with seating for four and dark shaker cabinetry beneath

Slab cutting

Trenching for the services

Where a sink or cooktop is going in, the slab is saw-cut and trenched along the service route. This is the noisiest day of the job and it is done in one go rather than spread out.

Quality check · Trench routed to the island footprint

Undermount sink and black mixer set into a stone kitchen island top, with an integrated dishwasher in the run

Rough-in

Supply, waste, vent and power

Drainage with its fall, the vent arrangement, supply lines, and the circuits for outlets and any appliance are all run in the trench and tested before it is closed.

Quality check · Rough-in inspected where the scope is permitted

Gas cooktop set into a marble kitchen island top, with the seating kept clear on the far side

Closing the floor

Concrete back, floor made good

The trench is filled and the slab made good, then the floor finish is patched or replaced across the affected area. A patch in a tiled floor is visible unless the tile matches, and that is discussed before it happens, not after.

Quality check · Floor made good before cabinetry lands

Compact kitchen island with seating for two in a smaller kitchen footprint

Cabinetry

The island set and levelled

The cabinet run is set out, levelled and fixed, with the ends and back panelled because they are on show. Any overhang support is built in at this stage, not added later.

Quality check · Island level across its full length

End of a kitchen island with a wine refrigerator built into the cabinet run beneath the worktop

Template

Stone measured off the real thing

The fabricator templates from the installed cabinetry. Seam positions and, for a waterfall, the slab layout and the direction the veining runs are agreed before cutting.

Quality check · Slab layout approved before the saw

Waterfall end of a kitchen island, with the stone mitred at the corner and the veining carried down the side

Worktop

Stone in, sink and cooktop set

The worktop is installed, any waterfall ends are mitred and joined on site, and the sink or cooktop cut-outs are set. This is the day the island stops being cabinets.

Quality check · Mitred corners closed and matched

A single run of marble worktop across the length of a kitchen island

Connections and finish

Making it work

Plumbing and electrical final connections, the extraction commissioned where there is a cooktop, then trim, silicone and the walkthrough with you.

Quality check · Finals passed and the walkway measured as built

Seating side of a waterfall kitchen island, with three stools under a long stone overhang

Stage 05 · Inspect

The three decisions people find hardest

Balanced both ways. What is right depends on your room, your floor and how the kitchen is actually used.

Sink in the island

Face the room while you work

Undermount sink and black mixer set into a stone kitchen island top, with an integrated dishwasher in the run
How
Supply, waste and a vent run to the island, on a slab by trenching the concrete.
Benefits
You prepare and wash facing the room rather than a wall, and the perimeter is freed for a run of uninterrupted worktop.
Limits
It is the decision that turns an island into permitted work, it consumes the middle of the worktop, and the venting has to be solved.
Upkeep
Normal. The trap and the vent arrangement are under the floor and out of reach, so they are worth doing properly once.
In South Florida
On a slab-on-grade house this means saw-cutting and trenching concrete, then making the floor good.

A clear island top

Uninterrupted worktop

Kitchen island worktop kept clear of any sink or cooktop, with navy cabinetry beyond
How
The island stays cabinetry and worktop, with at most a circuit run to it.
Benefits
Far simpler and cheaper, often no permit, no slab cutting, and the longest possible run of usable worktop.
Limits
The sink stays on the perimeter, so you work facing a wall. Adding one later means doing the floor work then.
Upkeep
Nothing beyond the worktop itself.
In South Florida
Avoids the slab work entirely, which is a real saving in both cost and disruption.

Which oneIf you are opening the floor anyway - for a cooktop, or because the flooring is being replaced - put the sink in. If the floor would otherwise stay closed, be honest about whether facing the room is worth cutting the slab for. Plenty of excellent kitchens keep the island clear.

Seating at the island

One piece does both jobs

Seating side of a waterfall kitchen island, with three stools under a long stone overhang
How
The worktop overhangs one side or one end, with support built in under it.
Benefits
No separate furniture, no extra floor space, and people can sit with whoever is cooking.
Limits
The overhang eats walkway on that side, and the seating side is lost as prep space. Long overhangs need support.
Upkeep
Stools scuff the panel behind them - a finished, hard-wearing end panel earns its place.
In South Florida
Common in open-plan layouts where a table would block the route to the lanai.

A separate table

Keep the island for working

Completed marble-topped kitchen island with seating for four and dark shaker cabinetry beneath
How
The island stays full-depth worktop and a table sits elsewhere in the room.
Benefits
The whole island stays usable for preparation, seating is more comfortable, and the table seats more.
Limits
It needs floor area the room may not have, and it is another piece of furniture in the walkway.
Upkeep
A table is a table.
In South Florida
Works well where the kitchen opens onto a dining area already.

Which oneIf the room can take a table without blocking a walkway, the island works harder without seating. If it cannot, put the seating at the end rather than along the working side - you keep the prep run and still seat people.

Waterfall ends

The stone turns down to the floor

Waterfall end of a kitchen island, with the stone mitred at the corner and the veining carried down the side
How
The worktop is mitred at the corner and continues down the side of the island to the floor.
Benefits
It reads as one solid piece, protects the cabinet end from feet and stools, and carries the veining around the corner when it is cut properly.
Limits
More material, sometimes a larger slab, and a fabrication job that has to be planned rather than improvised.
Upkeep
The vertical face takes knocks at floor level - the same care as the worktop.
In South Florida
A common request in open-plan kitchens where the island end is visible from the living space.

A standard edge

Worktop stops at the cabinet

A single run of marble worktop across the length of a kitchen island
How
The worktop overhangs slightly and the cabinet end is finished with a panel.
Benefits
Less material, simpler fabrication, and a panelled end can look every bit as considered.
Limits
The end is a panel rather than stone, so it takes wear differently.
Upkeep
A painted or veneered end panel is easier to repair than stone.
In South Florida
Perfectly normal, and the right answer in most kitchens where the island end is not on show.

Which oneA waterfall earns itself where the end of the island is genuinely visible from a living space. Where it faces a wall or a walkway, the money is better spent on the worktop material itself. It is a visibility decision, not a quality one.

What moves the cost and the calendar

Tick whatever applies. This will not produce a price - what is under your floor decides too much of it - but it will show which parts carry the cost and the calendar.

What this points to

We do not publish figures for this work, because the same scope can differ several-fold once the existing conditions are visible. You get a real, itemised number after a site visit, in writing.

Stage 06 · Use

What an island install is actually like

Photographs from four completed Elbaz kitchens. An island touches the floor, the services and the middle of the room, so it is worth knowing what the weeks actually look like.

How long it runs

A clear island on an open floor is a short job. One with a sink or a cooktop on a slab runs considerably longer, because the concrete has to be cut, the services run and inspected, and the floor made good before the cabinetry arrives. We will be specific once the scope is set.

The noisiest day

Saw-cutting concrete indoors. It is loud, it is dusty, and it is contained and done in one go rather than spread across the job.

Dust

Concrete cutting and any demolition are the dusty parts. Containment goes up before the first cut, not after someone notices.

Using the kitchen

Where the island is an addition to an otherwise working kitchen, you often keep using the perimeter. Where a peninsula or wall is coming out, expect a period without it, and we will tell you honestly how long.

The floor

Trenching a slab means the floor over that route is opened and made good. If the existing tile or wood cannot be matched, that is raised before any cutting starts, never afterwards.

Inspectors on site

Where the scope is permitted, rough-in is inspected with the trench still open, and there are finals at the end. Someone needs to provide access.

The gap before stone

There is a wait between the cabinetry being set and the worktop arriving, because the stone is templated from the built island. It is normal, it is planned for, and the kitchen looks unfinished during it.

The walkthrough

We measure the finished walkways with you at handover, against what was agreed at setting-out. It is the number that decides whether the island works.

Why the contractor matters on an island

Only claims we can stand behind. Everything below is either a matter of public record or visible in the work shown on this page.

Licensed, bonded and insured

Elbaz Construction is a licensed general contractor, CBC1265280. Where island work is permitted work, permits are pulled in the company name.

Services and finishes by one company

The plumbing, the electrical, the concrete work and the cabinetry are coordinated by the same contractor, so nobody is waiting on somebody else to come back.

The floor is planned, not discovered

What is under your floor is established before a size is agreed, because on a slab it decides the scope more than anything above it.

Clearances set out on site

The footprint is marked on the actual floor and walked before concrete is cut, which is the last cheap moment to move it.

Venting solved properly

An island sink has no wall to vent through. The arrangement is designed for what your jurisdiction accepts, not improvised at rough-in.

Stone templated off the build

Worktops are templated from the installed cabinetry, and seam positions and slab layout are agreed with you before cutting.

Local knowledge

Requirements differ across the 104 municipalities of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, and which code edition applies at your address is confirmed rather than assumed.

Permit closed out

Where a permit is pulled it is signed off and closed. An open permit follows the property and surfaces when it is sold.

Questions, by stage

Filter to the part of the job you are thinking about.

Will an island fit in my kitchen?Before starting

That is a clearance question, not a size question. Fix the walkway you need around it first - around 42 inches for one cook, 48 where two people work, and more wherever an appliance door opens into the gap - and the island is whatever floor is left. If nothing sensible is left, a peninsula or a moveable cart may serve you better, and we will say so.

Does a kitchen island need a permit?Before starting

It depends entirely on what goes in it. A cabinet run with a worktop on it generally does not. Add a sink, a cooktop, gas, new circuits, or take out a wall, and you are into permitted work. We confirm this against your address and your scope before anything starts.

Can I add an island to a kitchen I already like?Before starting

Often, yes - that is one of the more common versions of this job. The questions are whether the clearance works and what is under the floor. If the island stays clear of services, it can be a genuinely contained project.

How big should the island be?Design

Whatever is left after the walkways are fixed. A long, relatively narrow island usually works better in a real kitchen than a large square one, because a square island is too deep to reach across and pushes the walkways tight at the ends.

How much overhang do I need for seating?Design

Enough depth for knees and enough width per seat that two people are not sharing an elbow, and the two heights are different: counter height and bar height want different overhangs and different stools. Beyond a certain unsupported length the stone needs support underneath, and your fabricator specifies that for the material chosen.

Should the sink or the cooktop go in the island?Design

Whichever you use facing the room. A sink in the island suits people who prepare and wash while talking to the room; a cooktop suits people who cook that way, but it brings the extraction question with it. Putting both in is possible and usually crowds the worktop.

What is a waterfall island?Design

One where the worktop turns down the side of the island to the floor instead of stopping at the cabinet. The corner is a mitred joint, and it looks right when the veining runs continuously around it - which means the pieces are cut from the same slab in a planned order.

What is actually under my kitchen floor?Planning

In most South Florida homes, a concrete slab on grade. That matters because any service going to an island - drain, water, gas, or a circuit - has to be routed through it, which means saw-cutting and trenching the concrete and then making the floor good.

How do you vent an island sink?Planning

Not through a wall, because there is not one. It is done either with a loop vent run below the floor or with an air admittance valve where the jurisdiction permits one - and not all of them do. It is designed for what your building department accepts before the trench is cut.

Can I take out the wall between my kitchen and living room?Planning

Sometimes, and it is a common way to make room for an island. Whether the wall is load-bearing is established properly rather than assumed. Where it is, that means structural design, a permit and support in place before anything is removed.

Does a cooktop in the island need special ventilation?Permits

It needs a real answer, because there is no wall behind it. That is either a ceiling-mounted hood over the island or a downdraft within it. Hoods above a certain extraction rate can also require a make-up air provision, which is confirmed against the code edition in force at your address.

Do I need an outlet in the island?Permits

Countertop receptacles are GFCI-protected and are never installed face-up in the worktop. Whether one is required in the island itself depends on which code edition your jurisdiction has adopted, and that requirement has changed in recent editions - so we confirm which applies rather than working from memory.

How long will my kitchen be out of use?Construction

For a clear island added to a working kitchen, often not at all. Where the slab is being cut or a peninsula is coming out, there is a genuine period without it, and the honest length depends on the scope and the inspection schedule.

Will the floor have a visible patch?Construction

Wherever a slab is trenched, the floor over that route is opened. If your existing tile or wood can be matched, the patch disappears. If it cannot - a discontinued tile, an aged wood finish - it will be visible, and we raise that before cutting anything, never after.

Why can you not quote me from a photograph?Cost

Because the photograph shows the part that costs least. What decides the number is under the floor: whether the slab is being cut, how far the services have to run, and whether anything structural is involved.

What makes an island more expensive?Cost

In rough order: putting a sink or cooktop in it, cutting a slab to reach it, removing a load-bearing wall, matching a floor that no longer exists, and waterfall ends. The stone itself is usually not the biggest line.

What do you check at handover?Completion

We measure the finished walkways with you against what was set out on the floor at the start, confirm every drawer and door clears, run the water and the extraction, and check the overhang support is doing its job.

How do I look after a stone island top?Maintenance

Follow the fabricator's care instructions for the specific material - marble, quartz and granite are genuinely different, and some need sealing while others never do. The vertical face of a waterfall end takes knocks at floor level, so that is the part worth watching.

Client experience

What clients say, in their own words

Live Google reviews for Elbaz Construction, pulled straight from our Google Business Profile — not retyped, not edited and not selected by us.

Reviews are served live by the site's own Google Reviews plugin and update as new ones are posted. Nothing here is retyped, shortened or re-attributed.

Project files

Islands, walked around and photographed.

A waterfall quartz island with a wine fridge, a granite island with a cooktop and hood, and a white quartz island under three pendants. Three different jobs for the same piece of the kitchen.

3Projects shown
23Photos
3Site videos
PROJECT 01

Waterfall quartz island with toe-kick lighting

A white waterfall quartz island sits in a modern kitchen with taupe flat-panel handleless cabinets and a walnut-tone accent. LED toe-kick lighting runs along the base, and a wine fridge is built into the island. Wall ovens and large floor tile complete the room.

Scope of work

  • Island cabinet base in flat-panel taupe
  • Waterfall quartz top with mitered side panels
  • Built-in wine fridge in the island
  • LED toe-kick lighting along the island base
  • Seating on the kitchen side with barstools
  • Large-format porcelain tile floor around the island

Materials & finishes

Waterfall quartzTaupe flat-panel doorsWalnut-tone accentLED toe-kick stripLarge-format tileWine fridge

What to look for in the photos

Look at the corner where the top turns down into the side panel: the vein carries through, and the seam is tight. Then look at the toe-kick light, which is even along the whole base.

Elbaz Construction project photo · 6 photos

PROJECT 02

Granite island with cooktop and island hood

A granite island holds a cooktop under a stainless island hood, in a kitchen of dark shaker cabinets with a glass mosaic backsplash. Rattan stools sit at the island. In one view, a farmhouse sink under a window and a dining area appear beyond.

Scope of work

  • Island with a cooktop set into the granite top
  • Stainless island hood suspended above the cooktop
  • Dark shaker cabinets around the island
  • Seating with stools at the island
  • Glass mosaic backsplash on the perimeter wall
  • Wood-look tile flooring in one view, hardwood in another

Materials & finishes

Granite topDark shaker doorsGlass mosaicStainless hoodWood-look tilePendant lights

What to look for in the photos

Look at the island hood: it is centered on the cooktop and hung at a height that keeps sight lines open. Then look at the granite top, where the cooktop cutout is clean on every side.

Elbaz Construction project photo · 5 photos

PROJECT 03

White quartz island under three glass pendants

A white quartz island with metal stools sits in a white shaker U-kitchen with a stainless hood and lit glass-front uppers. Three glass pendants hang over the island. Hardwood flooring runs through the room.

Scope of work

  • Island in white shaker cabinetry
  • Quartz island top with seating overhang
  • Three glass pendants over the island
  • Metal stools along the seating side
  • Stainless hood on the range wall
  • Hardwood flooring around the island

Materials & finishes

White shaker doorsQuartz topGlass pendantsMetal stoolsStainless hoodHardwood floor

What to look for in the photos

Look at the pendants: they are evenly spaced and centered on the island, not on the room. Then look at the stools, which have clear knee space under the quartz overhang.

Elbaz Construction project photo · 5 photos

In motion

Islands, seen from every side.

Three clips of finished Elbaz islands: an orbit, a push-in and a walk down the length of a kitchen.

Orbit around waterfall island, ends on stone edge
Slow push-in on waterfall island with stools
Walk down kitchen past island and lit toe-kick

Budget and schedule

What an island costs, and the sequence.

Both charts are typical. An island with a sink or cooktop shifts the budget toward trades; a simple cabinet island shifts it toward the top.

Where a typical kitchen island budget goes

100%OF BUDGET
  • Island cabinetry24%
  • Countertop and waterfall panels28%
  • Electrical and plumbing runs14%
  • Built-in appliances16%
  • Floor opening and patching8%
  • Lighting, hardware and seating6%
  • Drawings and permits4%

These are typical shares; adding a sink, cooktop or waterfall panels moves them toward the trades and the stone.

A typical island installation, week by week

Layout & clearances
Your decisions
Drawings & permit
Plans filed
Fabrication
Cabinet, stone
Floor opening & rough-in
Island set & top installed
Finish & handover
Week 0Week 4Week 8

Layout and drawings come first; the floor work and install are the short part at the end.

Drawn to scale

Clearances that make an island work.

Four drawings show how an island sits in the kitchen: the walkway around it, the seating, and how it relates to the other work areas.

ISLAND · 42 in CLEAR ALL SIDES

Island with 42-inch aisles

A single wall run with an island opposite. Leave about 42 inches on each working side so two people can pass.

12–15 in24 in PER SEATOVERHANG + SEAT WIDTH

Seating overhang and stool width

Allow a 12 to 15 inch overhang and 24 inches per stool so knees fit and neighbors do not collide.

SINKCOOKFRIDGE4–9 ft4–9 ftSUM OF LEGS 13–26 ft (NKBA)

Island and the triangle

Placing a sink or cooktop in the island changes the triangle. Check that each leg stays short and free of traffic.

PENINSULA

Peninsula as an alternative

A peninsula attaches to a run of cabinets and gives seating and prep space where a freestanding island would crowd the room.

Scope planner

Plan the island in four answers.

See which trades an island brings in, whether it needs a permit, and how many extra weeks to expect on site.

What does the island hold?
Which top?
What happens to the floor?
Built-in extras?

Island details

Edges, lights and what sits in the top.

The island carries the most visible details in the kitchen. These close views show the sink, the cooktop, the wine fridge and the lighting.

Black faucet, undermount sink
LED toe-kick lighting
Island sink and dishwasher
Dual-zone wine fridge
Granite top, cooktop
Island hood over cooktop
Quartz top, glass pendants

More questions

Before the island goes in.

Practical answers for island projects in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Ask us directly
Do island pendants need a separate switch or circuit?

Pendants need a ceiling junction box centered on the island, and a switch placed where you can reach it from the kitchen. Lighting is usually on its own circuit, with a dimmer if you want one. If the ceiling is vaulted or has no framing above the island, we plan the box and support before the ceiling is closed.

How much weight can an island top carry?

A quartz or granite slab with waterfall panels is heavy, so the cabinet base needs solid support and level footing. A seating overhang beyond about 10 inches needs brackets or hidden steel so the stone does not crack. We review the overhang, the slab thickness and the base design together, and set supports before the stone arrives.

Do I need to anchor the island to the floor?

Yes. An anchored island will not shift when people lean or sit on it, and it keeps plumbing and electrical connections safe from strain. We fix the base to the floor and level it. In a condo, drilling into a slab may need board approval and a scanning step, so we confirm the rules first.

Where does the seam go on a long island top?

A seam is needed when the island is longer than the slab or when a waterfall panel meets the top. We place it where it is least visible, usually near a sink or at a corner, and match the veining across it. The fabricator reviews your actual slab before cutting so the seam looks intentional.

Can a gas line run to an island cooktop?

Yes, but the line must come up through the floor into the island base. That means cutting the slab or running it through a crawl space, then pressure testing the line. It needs a permit and a licensed gas plumber under the Florida Building Code. If a gas run is impractical, an induction cooktop avoids it altogether.

Does humidity affect a wood island top?

Yes. Wood expands and contracts with humidity, so an unsealed top can cup or open a seam in the summer. A sealed butcher block with a durable finish holds up better, and it needs periodic re-oiling. Stone and quartz tops avoid the issue. We help you weigh the look of wood against the extra care it needs.

Is toe-kick lighting worth adding?

It gives a soft night glow and makes the island look as if it floats. It is a low-voltage strip, so it adds little to the electrical load, but it needs a hidden driver that can be reached and a cabinet recess that keeps moisture out. We set it on a dimmer, and plan it with the cabinet drawings.

How does a heavy stone top get into the house?

Slabs and waterfall panels are carried on edge by a crew, so the path from the truck to the island needs clear width and no steps. We walk the route at the site visit and protect floors and corners. If the route is too tight, the top can be made in sections with seams planned in advance.

Service Areas

Proudly serving homeowners across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach

(754) 236-0675

104 municipalities across three counties — and we hold the licence to build in all of them. Not sure about your address? Ask us.

Next steps

Where to go from here

Grouped by what you are trying to do, not by category.

Learn

The parts of the kitchen an island touches

Compare

Where an island is one option among several

Plan

Drawings, structure and approvals

Prepare

If the island is part of something larger

Start

Related services we build

Read

Longer reading on kitchen decisions

Start here

Book the site visit

The more you can tell us about the room and what you want in the island, the more useful the first conversation is.

What happens next

  1. We read it properly and come back to you, usually the same or next working day.
  2. A short call to understand the property and what is driving the project.
  3. A site visit - we measure the room, mark the walkways, and establish what is under your floor.
  4. A written, itemised proposal with the scope set out, including how unknowns are handled.
  5. If you go ahead, we prepare and file any permit before work starts.
Preferred contact method

We use your details only to respond to this enquiry. No lists, no resale.

Thanks — that came through.

Your details are with the Elbaz Construction team and we will come back to you, usually the same or next working day. If it is urgent, call (754) 236-0675.

Completed kitchen island with a full-height waterfall end, seating for three and an undermount sink

Start with the walkway, not the island.

The clearance around an island decides whether it improves the kitchen or quietly ruins it. That measurement is the first thing we take.

Book a Site Visit Call (754) 236-0675