Concrete Counter Tops:
Mixes, How-To & Tips
Concrete counter tops are more than a trend. As more and more homeowners and designers specify concrete counter tops in new homes and in remodeling projects, concrete is making a permanent place for itself as a material of choice for counter tops across the country.
by Susan Brimo-Cox
, but if you compare concrete to other popular products what you would probably find is this: A typical tile countertop is less expensive than a concrete one. Solid surface materials run about the same or a little less. Granite and marble often cost more.
The advantages of concrete as a countertop material range from its physical characteristics to aesthetics — from its durability to its flexibility. As Michael Karmody, a founding partner of Stone Soup Concrete in Northampton, Mass., points out, "With concrete, you can have any shape you want. Concrete is a structural material; you can vary textures. We can grind it to expose the aggregate or leave it as it comes out of the mold. … It's easy to inlay [and] emboss textures. It's a really good sculptural material."
Creative potential aside, there are some who may wonder about the weight of concrete countertops. However, weight really isn't an issue any more than natural stone. Karmody explains that a granite countertop weighs about 22 pounds a square foot. Concrete 1.5 inches thick weighs about 18.5 pounds a square foot; at two inches thick it weighs about 25 pounds a square foot.
Concrete has some disadvantages, such as its vulnerability to staining and it not being as rock-hard as granite. As Fu-Tung Cheng, principal and chief executive officer of Cheng Design in Berkeley, Calif., philosophically observes, "I frequently tell people that you have to be objective about concrete. You have to play to the strengths." Fortunately, the contractors who have enjoyed the challenges of creating concrete countertops for many years have worked out many of the "bugs," and the results are more reliable and consistent.
Concrete countertops are not for everyone, though. "Concrete has an earthy aesthetic — mottled color, some crazing. It's OK for it to have some patina," Cheng says. If people want "slick," concrete is probably not the material for them.
"There are criteria people use in selecting countertop materials — granite is a typical standard," Cheng explains. It boils down to the issue of what constitutes what's acceptable, he adds. "Contractors who experiment or push the envelope will help set the standard of what's acceptable."
|
