Concrete countertops
I’m giddy just thinking that I will have real countertops installed in the next couple of weeks. Nick and his dad have made great progress. I’m sure Nick will explain the process in more detail when he’s recovered from all the work this week. After measuring and making templates, they built the molds. To create the bullnose on the edge, they used pvc pipes that they cut. Here they are putting together the last of the molds.
Nick ended up buying a grinder for this, but we rented a concrete mixer and concrete vibrator the day they poured the concrete. Here is one of the molds with the rebar ready to go, and then the concrete being put in.
While they cured for a few days, Nick and his dad worked on the cabinet trim in the kitchen (I’ll post about that later in the week).
Today was the big day- the countertops came out of the molds. They all look great & the only imperfection that needs to be ground out is on the underside of the overhang of one of the counters. The counter tops will be ground and then polished using 50 grit, all the way to 800 grit sandpaper during the process. As they are ground down, the color darkens a bit and the aggregate is exposed. Right now they look like stone.
They started with the hose on low, and have now shifted to using a full bucket of water that has a small hole in the bottome to drip water while they are grinding. It seems to be working well.
8 Comments
Todd·April 8, 2007
Nice job on the countertops! Where did you learn about the details for all this? What type of concrete mix did you use? How much reinforcing? You’ve really got my interest as I’m a structural engineer that LOVEs concrete.
Also if you’re interested, I’ve started a home improvement blogroll for folks with blogs. It’s another great way to meet other people and increase traffic, check it out if you’re interested. http://homeimprovementblogroll.blogspot.com
donutboy·April 8, 2007
that is awesome that you are doing concrete! I did mine over a year ago and LOVE them! if you are doing any overhang at all be sure to sand / grind down the undersides.
on a side note. if your grinder isn’t approved for wet polishing, be careful! The least you HAVE to do is use a GFCI outlet.
I can’t wait to see the finished product.
Nick·April 8, 2007
Todd -
We used Sacrete 5000 PSI concrete, from Home Depot. Each counter has a couple sticks of 3/8” rebar tied to some remesh that spans the piece. Check out the Concrete Countertops book by Cheng, and his website at www.concreteexchange.com.
Aaron·April 8, 2007
Wow, you guys have all the cool projects. :-) Seriously, we’ve got friends with concrete countertops and they’re so smooth and well done they actually feel more like high quality leather than concrete.
Good job on keeping the projects going with Atticus around, too. I’m always amazed by that even after a year with Grace…
Deena·April 9, 2007
Wow the photo looks gorgeous - we can’t wait to see them in person! I really like the rounded top edge.
Lissa·May 2, 2007
nice job on countertop
cheri·June 18, 2007
Hi! What did you use to seal the countertop, and how is it holding up? We are planning to pour ours this weekend. thanks!
Nick·June 19, 2007
Hi Cheri - We used the Cheng Sealer product, purchased from concreteexchange.com. Here’s the link: http://www.concreteexchange.com/catalog/4/#90669FEE013E33AC766527D571D82F2B