I was wondering if anyone had experience making these? In what seems to be my never ending hurricane house remodel, I decided to cast my own concrete countertops. Something different, and also a way to stretch the insurance $$ over granite, etc... Poured them last week, planning on removing them from the molds today (before some Irish day drinking), then get down to grinding and polishing. First time trying this, and already wouldve done a couple things differently (little details left out while I was rushing) We'll see...
Aloha my braddah! I do a shit ton of concrete work but never counter tops. One thing I really hate is grinding concrete tho. Silica is death, just be sure to wear a good respirator when doing so and also when pouring! Good luck with it let us know how it goes.
No experience myself, I have only seen a few completed jobs but yes, keep us updated. We close on our next remodel end of the month and this one is a complete gut job. This time the flooring I am going with vinyl plank, waterproof and lifetime warranty, and white shaker cabinets but was tossed up on countertops. Been wanting to try something different so if yours turn out good may be able to sway the wife instead of having to go granite or solid surface. A little bit of stuff to clear out first but I get a project bike out of the deal
A bit of stuff?!? You buy a horder house? Yeah, some of the vinyl plank is really nice, feels good under foot and easy to install. I saw some stuff I really liked (9'x36") but It was after I was already installing tile and had another pallet in the garage (over 1000') With the concrete.... popped them from molds and they look good. Have LOTS of grinding to do to expose aggregate stones, any air bubbles and polish. I will say if you go that route it'll be 1/3 - 1/4 the cost of granite (or less if if the area is large... plus of course all the granite I saw and liked was Gucci $$$ ) but it's ALOT more work.
Yep, hoarder house but getting a great deal. Part of our agreement was to help her clear it out. So far 7 full truck loads to donation drop off, twice that many loads to her storage units and house, no food products or things like that so not that bad really. Rebuilding my camera collection, which I had sold off, so far she has given me about 15 cameras dating back to turn of the century. One camera actually took a picture of the Hindenburg as it was taking off. Being we are going to be gutting basically the entire house the added work may be a non starter with concrete tops, guess it depends how quick we get it gutted and get the floor down. Reconfiguring the kitchen but looking at a 10'X6' L shape on one side which may be too big for me to take on with concrete top.
10x6 will be too big for one solid slab (you can butt joint them with silicone though) My kitchen's small 6x8 but the 8' includes the stove, so I poured a 6x4 L.... that piece will prob be 300# I also bought prefab cabinets (That I had to assemble myself) that saved $$$ (solid wood with plywood boxes though)
Yeah, I went over to do an actual measurement, last size I gave was off memory. It's actually 7 1/2 X 10 1/2, then the island and the 6 1/2 X 3 nook that had washer dryer but moving those to garage and using nook for small appliances. Don't think my 50+ year old back would be happy with me doing that much heavy lifting. Make sure to post some pics when done.
i sell diamond tooling and equipment to grind, polish and restore concrete. big giant 36 inch whoppers all the way down to 5 and 7 inch hand grinders. you have to use a shroud on your grinder, and yes Hayn is on the money with the respirator. if you want some tips, email me at tommy@procreteresources.com concrete countertops, and concrete in general, are hot as a pistol right now
Thanks man.... I have a polisher with the 4" pads from a buddy (wish they were the 7" ones).... guess I let the 50 grit get too dry. Tore that thing up fast. Spent my sunday grinding away my St. Patty's hangover to expose the aggregate underneath. I always use a 3M respirator, but looks like it may be time for a new one, after all the sanding and drywall work I've done on this house. Cartridges are about toast by now.... still have the big 6x4 piece to do
do you want a salt pepper look or some big rock exposed? i have to run some equipment up to L.A., ill be back in the offcie around noon my time, email me some pics and ill have my guys dial you into whatever you want to achieve, they're wizards for sure
Thanks man. I'm going for the deep grind. I added some aggregate before I poured (including some glow stones ). Grantd I'm flying by the seat of my pants (like everything I do) but I think I got it figured out. Grinded down to 400 on the smaller pieces yest. need to fill the holes with some slurry (prob didnt vibrate enough) then polish down to 1500. Already have some sealer. (added some of Cheng's pro-mix to the concrete... Didnt come out as light as it was supposed to though) Ordered 2 new pads (50&100) for the big piece (that one's getting done in the garage so it'll have to be wet for sure)
To me, concrete in the kitchen looks like marble in the garage. But if you're going to do it, at least do it artful. Do some ingrains like leaves and patterns or something. Cover it with a flat gloss that doesn't feel like a sidewalk. It's a cool idea I guess but if you just do it basic, you will probably regret it later. Like the 70s.
Polishing to 1500 and sealed with fossil and stone aggregate (labrodite & tiger eye) inlays... with some secret surprises..... whether or not it turns out how I hoped remains to be seen although, I had my first tragedy yesterday. I was filling some pinholes in a matching windowsill piece I made for the window over the sink with a slurry...(after grinding it down to 400) it slipped off the table and met the ground.... and of course broke in the center (narrow cutout to make room for the faucet) The neighborhood heard language taken to a new level (and volume).... and my respirator is now in 1312353 pieces. Of course rt before this happened the garbage men took all the forms I left out on the curb
ive got a really cool decorative topping called aggretex, it goes down at 3/8ths over new concrete, custom colors and you can put any aggregate you like in it, mirror, glass, stone etc. its badass. they call it terrazzo for the concrete contractor, and its not expensive, juts need to have a good trowel hand and you're in business
Thanks, but I cast these in molds..... so the aggregate gets sprinkled in first as the bottom of mold becomes top of the counter Just have to do a bit of grinding and polishing to expose them
unfortunately a 4" variable speed polisher...... but it's a loaner from a friend so I'm not complaining I have a makita 4 1/2" grinder, but I put a hard diamond wheel on it, and it's way too heavy duty for this
the right tooling and equipment is essential to a great finished product, i give you alot of credit for winging it like you are, pretty impressive
