concrete worktops

[brjames]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone had any experience making thier own concrete kitchen worktops? Is it possible, what do you need, process etc.

cheers

Ben

 

[justlooking]

I remember seeing this on an American prog. on Sky. As best I can recall they made a former out of wood and poured in concrete, there was a paper (?) that was put next to the wood so that it could be pulled away cleanly when everything was set. I know the question of weight came up and also keeping it clean.
It was becoming quite popular in that part of the states (south west), so will be interesting to see if you get any feed back, there must be people here that have done it.

 

[brjames]

Thanks for the reply.

I have seen a couple of sites on the web detailing the process, it looks quite complicated. I would be concerned with the issues you metnioned, weight and maintaining it. I can imagine getting the concrete mix right is very hard.

Not sure I want to take on a project like this!

 

[justlooking]

I would also think you would have to be careful with the selection of style & colour of units, don't think they would look good on something too modern.

 

[brjames]

I have the Ikea faktum (sp?) glossy white units, I imagined a super cool concrete urban style, slightly polished worktop look? Doesn't have to be perfect like granite, just needs to look cool. You know when you go to the Tate modern or somewhere like that, that sort of concrete?

 

[justlooking]

Sorry I'm an old *art sounds too funky for my tastes.

I never thought about it before but can you polish concrete?

 

[brjames]

I don't know if you can polish concrete, I think so...

I am having so much trouble finding a nice worktop, its either really expensive or that nasty chipboard covered stuff. Going to do a new post, but I need to know where to go to see a selection.

 

[PTH]

I considered making concrete worktops when building my kitchen cupboards - the problems come down to:

1 - getting the right mix; you need to use quite fine aggregate if you want to polish without grinding the surface first. I was going to use crushed quartz and marble dust.

2 - getting the air out; to make sure you don't get air bubbles in the mix which look terrible when polished and just become dirt traps. To get a good smooth finish you need a vibrating table, to make full size worktops you need a very large vibrating table.

3 - reinforcing; unless you are planning to make small sections (in which case paving slabs are the best option) you will need to introduce some reinforcing, otherwise you will find that the sections are to fragile to support their own weight when you try to position them. The reinforcing can be steel, as used in structural concrete or mesh, which is lot easier to handle.

When I had researched all this I decided that I didn't want to make them myself. I found a local concrete products company (look in yellow pages) who would quite happily make them to my design. They make them slightly larger to allow for shrinkage then cut the edges.

In the end I changed my mind and used slate slabs....call me fickle....

 

[brjames]

Thanks for the reply, that's the conculusion i'm coming to. Seems like a hell of a lot of work. Out of interest what kind of costs were you quoted to get them made? What company or what sort of company did you go to?

Thanks again for the detailed reply.

Ben

 

[PTH]

Ben,
I got a budget cost of £250 - it was about 6 years ago - from a local concrete products firm Castacrete near Bristol - I think they are now part of RMC so they may not be as happy to do one-offs.

You could just but ready made paving slabs and grind, then polish them, (some hire shops keep concrete grinders and polishers for floor finishing). Alternatively, fireplace shops and monumental masons are good sources of marble, granite etc. I bought 2 large but slightly damages hearth pieces which were easily transformed into a kitchen worktop for a friend.

Good luck with whatever you choose to use!

 

[brjames]

I've given up on the idea, I think it is going to be too expensive and lots of stress. One day maybe....

Thanks to everyone for the help.

btw: I found lots of info here http://www.concreteon-line.com/forum/default.asp

 

[2scoops0406]

Yes, you can most definitely polish concrete.