Concrete Counters & Surfaces

[Greg Cole]

Any Creekers made their own concrete surfaces such as counters, table slabs........??? If you have, mind linking or posting pics? Any pics of the process would be great as well, I learn/discern as much from a photo as I do an article.....
I've been discussing it with LOML for the final step in the kitchen remodel, but she's not on board yet. I have some of the high end DIY kinda books showing alot of nice options etc etc etc. Have to have the glossy pics to show the LOML more than the slabs in the driveway.:D
I made a form yesterday for a table slab for my newly finished brick patio that I am itchy to knock the form down and see what I've got (used type 3 concrete with a little water reducer and decorative aggregate & dark charcoal dye). I plan on building a wood frame -base for it depending on what comes out of the form. I will hopefully become a "coffee table" for tha patio, to kind kick the feet up on and set a nice beverage (most normally NOT coffee on the patio! LOL)
Thinking maybe a trial of a few other pieces to build up to MAYBE taking on the kitchen....:rolleyes:
So, have any of you done your own? Likes-dislikes.... good-bad... tips-pitfalls & the all important if you had to do it over, would you?

Thanks in advance.

Greg

[sascha gast]

I have a concrete countertop in my kitchen, love it. love it even more as it gets older, it develops a nice patina from using it, unlike granite, which I hate, it's just too perfect. concrete seems more alive.
I didn't do mine myself though, had it done. there was a show on DIY network and they showed how to do it, easy enough if you have the space and the tools.
next one I would do myself.

[Dave Sabo]

If your going to attempt this you should go to your bookstore and buy or order a book by Fu Tung Chang. He has one of the best "bibles" on the subject out there.

[John Viercinski]

I agree with Dave... pick up the Fu Tung Cheng DVD and book and watch it at least two or three times. I'm in the process of making a countertop for our vacation home now and its tricky. Its time consuming, but much cheaper than granite or soapstone. I used the black or charcoal dye in mine and its come out great so far... I'm still grinding it... I'll post pictures once they're done.

[David DeCristoforo]

And don't forget to visit Cheng's web site at:

http://www.concreteexchange.com/?referrer=Google&gclid=CJfQu6TriY0CFSnKggodoRgIpA

Where you will find a plethora of resources, how-tos and ideas.

[Denise Ohio]

I've been working with concrete for about a year in preparation for our new house. It's been messy and fun. And heavy. Anyway, I made a bunch of concrete paver tiles for the interior of our house that I'm laying now, and I'll be doing some thin-set terrazzo next week.

Anyway, this friend of mind asked me to go to a friend's house to see if I could help him with a little project he had going on in his kitchen.

Okey-doke, no problem. I go over and see a 7'x3'x3" concrete countertop poured in place on his kitchen island...

Me: Wow.
Guy: Yeah.
Me: Did you reinforce the floor before you poured this?
Guy: What?

I backed carefully out of the kitchen on tip-toe and told him I'd be back after the kitchen floor had been reinforced.

T went back to solve the original problem. See, the problem is that another friend of the guy's had helped him with this pour. The form work was great (the entire counter had these great curves in them), but the guy's friend hadn't been paying attention to the mix. They poured the wet concrete---in the kitchen, mind you---and waited so they could trowel.

And waited.

And waited.

The guy had to go to work, but when he got home, the concrete had set up too hard, so it was like a big pile of very hard oatmeal. Which is why I got involved.

I tented off the kitchen, then proceed to use some tinted concrete overlays (dark gray and black), and started grinding and polishing. 25-grit stone, followed by 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, and 800 grit diamond pads. I had carved the edges to get it sort of rounded and even ground the underside so when you pulled yourself up to the counter, you didn't have a gritty concrete-y feel on your fingertips.

It took a day to do each of the overlays then another day to grind and polish. The edges alone took 3-hours.

We had to wear all this protective gear because of the tent---there was no where for the dust to go, even with the shop-vacs going full-blast. Even then, my face was terrifyingly black---so dark, light could not escape.

But we cleaned up everything, took down the tent, used blue tape to pull any dust left on the now-polished and swirly gray and black countertop. I told him he would let it sit for a month to see if we'd get any efflorecense, then we'd seal it up.

He went ahead and did the sealer (it's an easy-to-use and safe product that looks and lasts great). Four coats of a dark gray.

The countertop is gorgeous.

Helpful websites (I find Fu Cheng a bit on the expensive side):

www.concretenetwork.com (http://www.concretenetwork.com) (all things concrete)
http://www.buddyrhodes.com (inspiration and materials)
http://www.kemiko.com (inspiration and materials)
http://www.theconcretist.com (inspiration)

For sealers, I use Lasti-Seal from Radon-Seal/Nuvion. http://www.radonseal.com. I've used both their tinted sealers and have custom-tinted the sealers myself. They're very very easy to work with and really penetrate the concrete. In fact, we used Radon-Seal to seal our new concrete slab, though radon isn't an issue here, since the product does so well controlling moisture.

Have fun.

[Jim Becker]

Taunton has a reportedly good book on the subject. This Old House Magazine just did an article on concrete counter tops that I found very interesting.

[Greg Cole]

Thanks for the info & comments everyone. I've read Cheng's book numerous times as well as the Taunton one, I haven't seen The TOH about concrete surfaces yet but will keep an eye open for it. I think I have the principals & how to's down.... now it's time to play a little more. There are soooooo many different options for this material and it's dirt cheap. I think I will make a sample form to pour some pieces in to examine a few more different aggregates and inlay looks.
My first attempt came out better than expected in some ways, but not in others... the pour was silky smooth and there are no voids-holes or efflourescence. My attempt at mimicking slate (including a natural edge on the sides & that kind of wrinkly look on the top) was well an attempt that was a little less than desired, not a failure by any means, but none the less I think I can tweak it now to where I know will succeed. So, $40 and an afternoon chalked up to learning... and I still might use the slab I have sitting in the garage now.
I am pretty sure I am going to try to proceed with a vanity top for an upcoming bathroom remodel for which I will build the vanity base, medicine cabinet & storage for all the girly girl stuff.

Cheers,
Greg

[Jim Becker]

Greg, I hope you'll keep us posted on your efforts and please, if you can, post some pictures of your attempts. I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to do for counter tops on my three vanities and I'd not rule out concrete at this point, based on what I've been reading. It could be an interesting project.

In the TOH magazine article, they were using simple melamine for the forms and even without yet reading a book on the subject, I kinda have the idea about how things work. Interesting idea...especially 'cause it can be any color you want! BTW, it's the July/August issue and should be on newsstands.

The one downside to the concrete is that the curing time is LONG...each counter is effectively going to take about a month to produce.

[Greg Cole]

Jim,
My first piece (patio "coffee" table top) was formed in 2X6's and I lined the form with some wrinkled up plastic sheeting (trying to emulate the slate surface, being from Vermont I've seen enough slate!).
The "wrinkling" was the look I wanted, but the sheen of the plastic is emulated in the concrete as in it's too smooth.... under bright light it kind of looks as though I have a layer of plastic on it. It really won't need grinding or polishing, I might try to rub down the gloss a little actually. I used a charcoal tint and tried to NOT mix it 100% evenly to make it a more natural look too. I might use some more of the dye and a slurry of concrete to rub on sort of like grout to accentuate the "wrinkles" and add more of a natural look.... there are just options and ideas popping up like mad here!
I also put some wadded up rags in the corners of the rectangle form to make more natural edges like on a piece of slate from a quarry.
Maybe I need to not try to emulate a natural stone and go more "standard" for my first few attempts. I think I've found another skill to home a little and add to the repertoire, per say.
I subrcribe to TOH, so I should have mine in the mailbox anyday?

Happy 4th...

Greg

[Darren Duchi]

Greg- these guys have given you great information. I used the book by fu tung cheng and came out with this. A few things that I can warn you about.

1)Vibrate heavily
2)spray your Sealer. the stone sealer that i used on the first slab that i did I wiped it on. after leaving streaks in the concrete I found i had much better results spraying the sealer on.

3) make sure all your surfaces are completely level when you pour.

I used melamine forms and poured in the garage.
Here are some pics of the finished project.
hope this helps

[Susan Andrews]

Let me first say that I love this site, and I am associated with Buddy Rhodes, so I'm putting that right out there. But I am also interested in woodworking. Alot of the people I talk to who are excited about and successful with concrete countertops are woodworkers, because they are among the most successful at making concrete countertops. Why - I'm sure you know - it's about the molds! You make good molds and that's not the hard part for you.

I don't want to sell you anything, but I do suggest you check out www.buddyrhodes.com if you're interested in finding out more about concrete countertops. You should find it interesting.