anybody ever make concrete countertops?

I made a small one. http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?19181-Concrete-Counter-Top

It was a fun project. But it was just for a utility sink in a bathroom. It's still holding up well with no cracks.

1) Be ready, it will be heavy.
2) Make sure to really vibrate the heck out of it to get the airbubbles out. I had some little voids in mine I filled in
3) Get a real polisher. I used some little disks with an air grinder and it worked out, but if you do something larger, you might need something bigger.
4) It will probably be thicker than the normal counter, so make sure you figure out how to attach the sink to it before you start.
5) I used the crack resistant concrete and a lot of iron oxide powder and it worked fine. If you are doing a real kitchen, you might want to check out the special counter top additives.
 
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I knew someone here had done one. Brent, that's right!!
Take a bunch of pictures and take all of us along on the journey if you decide to do this! Also, for large counters, will the cabinets need to be reinforced?
 
Also, for large counters, will the cabinets need to be reinforced?

My stuff is so over built I'm not remotely concerned with how much weight is on them.

I can't go thicker than 1-1/4. I have a window that sits really low and the top will be going back to it and act as the jamb, then the casing and jamb extensions on the side will die into the counter top.

I'm debating whether to pre-cast them, or to pour them in place. I won't be able to polish them well on site without destroying everything else in there. A buddy poured his own a bunch of years ago and his had a bunch of texture, it was kinda cool, but......
 
Mine are pretty much at exactly 2" thick. Overkill I think. You could always do a test run of a 2'x2' slab at 1 1/4 to see how it works for you.

After polishing with the diamond pads and putting a coat of gloss poly on mine, they have a similar texture to the silestone we have in the kitchen. The different rock grits give it a very interesting appearance. I actually really like the way it looks and turned out, even if it spends all it's time as just a slop sink counter.



My stuff is so over built I'm not remotely concerned with how much weight is on them.

I can't go thicker than 1-1/4. I have a window that sits really low and the top will be going back to it and act as the jamb, then the casing and jamb extensions on the side will die into the counter top.

I'm debating whether to pre-cast them, or to pour them in place. I won't be able to polish them well on site without destroying everything else in there. A buddy poured his own a bunch of years ago and his had a bunch of texture, it was kinda cool, but......
 
I'm going to try the island top and see how that goes.

The worst part is going to be polishing it out. I may have to buy a polisher, or see what is available for rent. Building the mold will be fairly straight forward I think.
 
I've got a box of glass scraps from my stained glass stuff. I'd like to try some tops too sometime and bust some of it up into frit to sprinkle into the mould and pour around it. I've seen that and use of fiber optic cable that gets polished out in the final finish that looks really good, especially when they lit up the good end of the cable with a color wheel.
 
i used granite tiles for a couple of tables that i made for a friend of mine. here is how they turned out.
 

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I made some samples for a friend that wants to do his kitchen, I used 3/4" melamine for the forms which worked well. I used regular quickcrete from lowes and the dyes for it, also from lowes. Quickcrete makes a mix for counters that you can order at lowes or HD. My friend got a bag or 2 to try but we didn't get to that yet. There are some books on this and I would suggest getting one or more of them if you are going to do a whole kitchen.
http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines/CountertopMix.asp
http://www.amazon.com/Concrete-Countertops-Design-Finishes-Kitchen/dp/1561584843
 
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