2nd Most Visited Post of 2012 – Concrete Countertops on a Budget
The Second Most visited post of 2012 our
Concrete Counter Tops on a Budget!
“This Is How We Made Our Concrete Counter Tops“
First we formed the counter top out of plywood. The plywood will stay under the concrete forever. This is a pour in place method.
Tape off all the cupboards underneath with plastic. This is a very messy job, and since we had the concrete company add black dye to the mix, it may stain the cabinets.
Pour the concrete into the plywood frame. We had the concrete truck pull up to our front door, and we used a 5 gallon bucket to transport the concrete into the house. (At this point we only had plywood floors and didn’t have to worry about the mess. Just wait for the concrete to dry and sweep it up.) It took about 30 minutes to have it all in the frame.
Hubby used his concrete tools to smooth the top of the concrete (who wants a bumpy counter top) and a vibrating tool to get any air bubbles worked out. Vibrating is a must. When the forms are removed from the edges you don’t want a honeycomb effect, you want a solid edge, and vibrating ensures that.
This is where the waiting game starts.
Everything is smooth and looks great. Now we are patiently waiting for it to set up enough to pull the forms from the edges so they can be tooled, and made smooth.
Concrete is dry and all the form and plastic are removed.
At this point we wet sanded all the surfaces.
Here the edge of the sink was sanded to expose the stone.
Wait 30 days for the concrete to completely cure.
Again tape off the cupboards and apply the sealer.
We used a roller to apply it and a heat gun to remove any air bubbles.
Once again we wet sanded the sealer to take away some of the shine. It was like a looking glass before the sanding.
The look we wanted to achieve was more of a matte finish.
There you have it, how we saved big bucks. This project cost $400.00. (This would have been a $7,000.00 project to have them precast.) Good thing I have a talented, hard working hubby.
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Wow, Dawn, I forgot you had concrete counters. They are really beautiful and yes, always good to have a handy hubby. Saves lots of money.
They are really nice looking. Your hubby is a keeper! 🙂
Farmhouse hugs,
Cindy
Oh yes! I will be using this in the new year! We are moving and I swear this is one of the first things I want to do !!
I’ve always been fascinated with concrete counters and yours turned out amazing!
Hi Dawn,
I just found your blog! What a beautiful rustic log home you have! I’ve been browsing and enjoying! I love anything country and rustic. We hope to build a cabin in the near future, so I found you while browsing for ideas. Love your concrete countertops! I may be interested in that when the time comes!
Anyway, had to stop by and tell you how much I enjoyed it!
Happy New Year!
Blessings,
Tammy
Love it! And so brave to trust that the cabinets would not get damaged! Handy husbands are wonderful!
My floors are concrete. Years ago homes in our area were built this way and stained because it was cool and it hid dirt. Good thinking in the past! Someone in the late 60s or 70s came along and covered them up with vinyl, carpet, and ugly tile. We removed all that. Some rooms were in great condition, a couple less so.. So we picked a custom concrete paint color and then epoxy. Looks amazing for two rooms and garage for 300 dollars.
And to think that people pay high dollar for concrete these days! It’s an awesome look.
Handy husband would be nice. I love your counter tops.
Hugs,
Laura
Wow! This is great. They look amazing. I wonder if my husband could do this for me. I have title….someone help me! This looks fantastic! Great tutorial! I want these! Do you still love them?
Karen
I’ve always been amazed at the beauty of your concrete countertops. What an awesome choice for your “green” log home! I can’t imagine not having a talented — make that multi-talented — hubby. For us it means having some extra nice things that we would otherwise have to do without. We are lucky!
Carol
It is beautiful. I was wondering how you did the sink.
It looks wonderful- what a great kitchen!
Hi just wondering how your countertops look shiny we did concreate as well but isn’t shiny we also sealed what brand sealer did you use they look great!
Curious what concrete you used.
Those are gorgeous!
Jamie, its a designed mix. You can call your local concrete company and tell them the mix needs to be for countertops and they will design what you need. We also added the color to the mix to get black countertops.
We stumbled over here different web address and thought I should check things out.
I like what I see so now i am following you. Look forward to looking at your web page for a second time.
Hi Dawn, I was showing my husband your countertops, because I would LOVE to do this, and he’s wondering how you covered the plywood on the sides? He said if you out the concrete on a plywood base, the plywood would show on the sides/edge. Can you explain how you covered that up? Thanks!
Sandra it was all framed in so there was an area that dropped down to create the bull nose of the countertop, if you feel your existing countertops you will understand. It is actually faced lower than the top itself.
Thanks! Also, did you add in stones to your concrete? Or did th concrete company add them?
Sandra Concrete is a mixture of stone already but you need to ask for concrete counter top mix, it is specific. We also had them add the black coloring.
Hello!
I love the look and budget friendly idea. Could you please provide details about how you worked around your sink? I am assuming the sink was in place and not placed afterward?
Also, how are they holding up and how do you clean them? Are they easy to maintain?
Thank you!!!
Beth the sink is an undermount so hubby built a frame around it and the concrete has a rolled edge around the sink. I clean them with anything and they are the same as the day we installed them.