Concrete Countertops Installed

Many hands made light work this morning as the countertops were hauled over from the garage and into the kitchen. Everything fit just fine and now gravity and a bead of silicone will keep them in place for years to come. Many thanks to Noah, Brad and Mike for the muscles!

Concrete Countertops Progress

The countertops have now cured for a few days and the grinding/polishing has progressed through 50 & 100 grits to expose the glass pieces and aggregate, then 200, 400 grits before a slurry was applied to fill the various holes and gaps in the concrete, then finally a bit more with 400 grit, 800 and finally 1500. All of the grinding/polishing is done wet so a fine spray of muddy water shoots all over the area. The plastic sheets have kept the mess contained to one area of the garage.

With a final few coats of sealer the countertops will be ready to install on Saturday. Luckily we have our nephew Brad and a few of his young, strong biking friends staying with us this weekend which should be very helpful getting the 200 pound countertops over to the house and settled in their final places.

Kitchen Countertops: The Big Pour

After work today, we finally poured the concrete countertops. This involved mixing the high strength concrete mix with the colourant, chopped fibre and some crushed glass. The concrete pretty much had to be placed in the forms by hand, then vibrated, screeded and floated. The whole thing now has to sit for 4 days to cure so stay tuned for the results!

Kitchen Countertops 3

The formwork is now complete for the concrete countertops, so today's job was to crush some wine bottles (empty) the tumble the glass chips which will be added to the concrete mix when the pour happens later this week.

Kitchen Countertops 2

The teak countertop and it's stainless steel sink were installed successfully this weekend, along with the dishwasher.

Kitchen Countertops 1

Now that the lower cabinets are finished and installed work has begun on the countertops. The sink one is made of teak boards glued together with an epoxy made especially for oily woods. The countertops on either side of the stove are going to be cast in concrete so the first step with them is to build a mold of melamine-coated particle board.