Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - No questions, just a convo on concrete countertops
Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.View Full Version : No questions, just a convo on concrete countertops
Demoana
10-22-07, 10:15 PM
Well, we're at the countertop stage, and after looking at all the different styles out there, we decided to make concrete countertops for our house we're building. Admittedly I was rather hesitant at first, but I've since been won over, hands down. It's definitely been a challenge.
Hmmm why am I posting this? I don't really want a whole lot of advice. It's been a learning experience....we started with the guest bath, and it's passable. Not great, not bad, kind of cool. Our master bathroom countertop, though, really turned out nicely. Surprisingly so, considering we really screwed up when we were making it. The concrete was a quick drying one, and after the first batch was made (a bit too dry to start with in the first place) and he poured it in the mold and I was trying to spread it nice and even while it was setting under my hands....the belt on the cement mixer broke. So we were both running around, looking for anything to use as a belt, while the cement was drying in the mold, finally got it fixed, but it was too late to 'save' what had already been spread from one end of the mold to the other. We figured it was pointless, but finished the countertop anyway, and it turned out better than we'd ever imagined. The voids that were everywhere looked like veins in rock/marble. It definitely does not look like concrete. So.
We're planning on doing part of our kitchen similarly. We have a long run, and an island, so we want to do the long run with a non-aggregate cement mix, so there are no rocks, no pebbles, no voids, nothing. That mix uses a type of sand in it, which doesn't take color well, so when we put the black color in with it, the sand will look like little white specks distributed everywhere in it. Our island...well we want to do it the same way as our bathroom tops, with the veins, only make it black with white veins instead of brown with black veins. And we have an assortment of ammonites to put in both tops as inserts, enough for a few patterns and random scatterings.
Anyway, just sharing. Really excited so yeah, hehe I may go off a bit.
So here are a few pics, these first two of our bathroom top just out of the mold. Looks pretty messed up, yes?:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Demoana/PICT0302-1.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Demoana/PICT0300-1.jpg
And these are about halfway done, all wet & shiny (like it will be after sealing it), with the voids mostly filled.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Demoana/9-3-1.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Demoana/9-3-2.jpg
I know many people don't care for concrete tops, but I'm really liking ours. Just thought it would be interesting seeing feedback, comments, or if anyone was even interested in this subject.
Oh and I found these forums totally by accident today, but am really enjoying them. There's a lot of information, advice, that's just incredibly helpful, and I'm really glad I happened upon them :D
Hmmm why am I posting this? I don't really want a whole lot of advice. It's been a learning experience....we started with the guest bath, and it's passable. Not great, not bad, kind of cool. Our master bathroom countertop, though, really turned out nicely. Surprisingly so, considering we really screwed up when we were making it. The concrete was a quick drying one, and after the first batch was made (a bit too dry to start with in the first place) and he poured it in the mold and I was trying to spread it nice and even while it was setting under my hands....the belt on the cement mixer broke. So we were both running around, looking for anything to use as a belt, while the cement was drying in the mold, finally got it fixed, but it was too late to 'save' what had already been spread from one end of the mold to the other. We figured it was pointless, but finished the countertop anyway, and it turned out better than we'd ever imagined. The voids that were everywhere looked like veins in rock/marble. It definitely does not look like concrete. So.
We're planning on doing part of our kitchen similarly. We have a long run, and an island, so we want to do the long run with a non-aggregate cement mix, so there are no rocks, no pebbles, no voids, nothing. That mix uses a type of sand in it, which doesn't take color well, so when we put the black color in with it, the sand will look like little white specks distributed everywhere in it. Our island...well we want to do it the same way as our bathroom tops, with the veins, only make it black with white veins instead of brown with black veins. And we have an assortment of ammonites to put in both tops as inserts, enough for a few patterns and random scatterings.
Anyway, just sharing. Really excited so yeah, hehe I may go off a bit.
So here are a few pics, these first two of our bathroom top just out of the mold. Looks pretty messed up, yes?:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Demoana/PICT0302-1.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Demoana/PICT0300-1.jpg
And these are about halfway done, all wet & shiny (like it will be after sealing it), with the voids mostly filled.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Demoana/9-3-1.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/Demoana/9-3-2.jpg
I know many people don't care for concrete tops, but I'm really liking ours. Just thought it would be interesting seeing feedback, comments, or if anyone was even interested in this subject.
Oh and I found these forums totally by accident today, but am really enjoying them. There's a lot of information, advice, that's just incredibly helpful, and I'm really glad I happened upon them :D