Thanks guys for sticking with us through five yes FIVE posts on concrete countertops. The thing is, this project was BIG. Even with five posts I have probably bored you all to death with my insistence on telling you exactly how we did everything. The thing is, I want you guys to make your own counters too! You CAN do it! Real concrete, solid surface, with professional looking results. So thanks for sticking with me, cause I think it was totally worth it. Wanna see what all our hard work actually looks like?
The counters were done in four pieces, including the single piece waterfall, which is by far my favorite piece! The color we used is “coal” but the color of the concrete can look very different at different times of the day. From a medium gray when the light is hitting it to a deep charcoal in the shadows. The color has so much texture and movement. I just love it! We paired the white cabinets with a pop of bright teal, and black and white accents.
For the back of the peninsula we opted to add a pop of wood. The kitchen already had a lot of white, so adding wood really ties it into the dining room with its wood table & bench. It also matches the floating shelves on the coffee bar.
The waterfall is just sexy! I love how seamless it is. I would never have dreamed that we could do it in one piece. It is simply a work of art.
Speaking of the color varying. Here is one of my favorite spots with a lot of texture. This was produced by adding a slightly lighter color slurry for the middle slurry coat. I heart.
The front of the peninsula has cupboards, and when you open them you can see more of the exposed waterfall.
Sorry, had to throw one of Odin in. I can’t have my camera out and not take a photo (or ten) of him.
Do you remember when we hid a 2013 Loonie? Here’s the Queen peeking out from under the coffee bar counter.
Now for a few of the other kitchen details. El Granto picked me up a couple vintage Bell jars one day at The Junction Flea. I love this one which holds my wooden spoons beside the stove. We also use a small ceramic tray to keep oil and vinegar off the counter (it would stain the tops).
I am still very happy with the wood shelves we added to the coffee bar. Now with the wood clad peninsula, it really pulls the coffee bar into the kitchen.
The inside counter was one piece I worried about a lot, but in the end its imperfectly perfect.
Okay, one more pic of the waterfall! We slightly rounded the counter edges. Littles and dogs wont poke their eyes out, and it makes me swear less when I bump into the counters.
So what do you think?! We’re super happy with them. They turned out better than we ever could have imagined!
I will be back later in the week with a few more kitchen items. Such as the source list, a few more project how to’s, as well as how we installed and sealed the counters. But for now, I am going to go and makeout with my counters. Wha? Uh. I mean stare at them lovingly, and maybe touch them a little. So smooth… and sexy…
We’re getting so close in finishing our concrete countertop project! I am so very very excited to show you the reveal, (next week!) but before the reveal we still have some work to do! When we left off we had “poured” the concrete into our forms, and left it covered, moist and warm.
Now it’s time to unmold the forms and see what we’re working with! We removed the blankets and plastic to reveal a nice moist concrete.
Removing Plastic
We then got started pulling away the forms. Using gentle pressure, and ensuring we were not prying against the (still pretty soft) concrete, we removed the form sides.
Removing the form sidesEl Granto removing coffee bar form sidesRemoving Waterfall Form
You will note a shiny gold object in the bottom of the coffee bar. We inserted a 2013 loonie into the form under one of the edges. I hope that if someone ever takes the coffee bar apart, or renos the kitchen in the future they will find the coin and know when we built it! It also never hurts to have the queen hanging out in your kitchen. She classes up the joint.
2013 Loonie (for all my Americans; this is our $1 coin)
Before we could flip everything over and see what we were workin’ with (remember we poured our counters upside down) we needed to do a bit of house keeping.
Our concrete mentor Jeremy made a very good point about how we interact with objects. When you go to touch and admire a countertop or a table, what so you do? You kind of grab the edge, placing your thumb on top and four fingers around the edge, touching the underside. If the underside of your table or counter is rough, everybody’s gonna know that you were a lazy sod who skimped on the finishing. Do you want to be the lazy sod? Exactly. So let’s sand the bottom edges of four counters so our friends don’t judge us.
Using buddy Rhodes hand sanding pads, we wet sanded the bottom edges and used a chisel to remove any errant blobs of concrete. A few minutes work, that we will certainly appreciate later!
Buddy Rhodes hand sanding padEl Granto wet sanding the undersides of the countertops
After an excruciating 20 minutes (I want to see my counters!) we were able to flip the countertops over.
El Granto seeing the waterfall counter for the first time
I really love that shot, as it is the first moment El Granto saw our waterfall countertop. I think this is the exact moment he realized how freaking awesome these counters were going to look!
Remember from our last post how we hand packed the concrete in, and purposefully left voids? This is what the result looked like:
Close up of the hand pressed technique right after unmolding
I think it looks amazing (and I will definitely have to do some sort of project soon that looks like that) but obviously for countertops, we need to make them smooth.
To do that, we mix up a slurry of bone paste (really fine concrete) and pigment and push it into the voids. It’s actually a lot like grouting tiles.
You can take this opportunity to add some colour, but in our case we wanted to stick with the same dark grey to keep with an industrial concrete look.
We mixed up a batch of slurry. (Two parts bone paste, one part acrylic additive & your color.)
Using a drywall mud knife & tray mix the slurry very well. Pressing out any clumps of pigment by pushing the knife against the tray. Now you will note that I’m not using a drywall mud tray. That’s because I forgot to buy one, and used some plastic bucket from the dollar store. Get a mud tray! We used a 5″ knife and it worked well.
Mixing up the bone paste slurry
Once your slurry is mixed, start pushing it into the holes in your counter. Using a combination of your putty knife and a grout float. The grout float worked very well and shoving that slurry into the holes. You will need to do three coats of slurry, so don’t try to fill the voids entirely. They will get filled, don’t you worry. Thin coats are better, just give it a pass, scrape off any excess and let it dry.
The piece on the left has not yet been slurried, and the piece on the right has had one coat of slurry
After our first coat was dry, we mixed up a slightly lighter version of our color, and did a second (light) coat with that. Our third coat was back to our original darker color. This will result in a bit of a lighter highlight in our cracks and crevices, giving a lot of texture to the concrete.
Slurried Concrete (is slurried a word?! It is now. BAZINGA!)
After three coats of slurry were applied, we left it to dry overnight (and ate some shawarmas.) Hey, hard work deserves delicious shawarmas, and maybe a samosa or two for good measure.
The next day we set to wet sanding everything. We covered the garage in plastic, donned aprons (and in Jeremy’s case, a drop cloth toga, cause we forgot to get him an apron, oops) and got to work. Ideally you would have a wet sander/polisher for this step, but we didn’t, so we used inexpensive orbital sanders and wet sanded away with the Buddy Rhodes diamond orbital sanding pads. We used the hand pads for the edges and areas that were hard to get to with the orbital.
It was a messy mess day, and we didn’t take many photos. However we did make a super awesome time lapse video for you of all our slurring & sanding fun. Here’s two days hard work in two minutes of video.
I leave you with an American Gothic version of exhausted Kristen & El Granto. Covered in concrete splatter and soaking wet.
As the kitchen is starting to become functional again, we are starting to think about decor and other kitchen accessories. One of the biggest changes in the kitchen will be our new DIY concrete countertops. As concrete is rather hard and unforgiving, we will need to use cutting boards for all our chopping. I love a good cutting board, but they can be expensive, and often are not the size you need for your space.
We did a bit of research, and set out to make some easy & inexpensive cutting boards for our kitchen.
Selecting Material: Hardwood is preferred for a cutting board. Maple or Ash is the perfect material, as it has a nice tight grain. Oak is also usable, but not ideal as it is more of an open pore wood.
We decided to make one maple cutting board for everyday use as well as a red oak board more suitable for serving & veggie cutting (we wont be cutting raw meat on the oak).
We headed to the Hardware Store for some simple materials.
Here is what you need:
1 – 1×3 piece of Maple (6′ long)
1 – 1×4 piece of Oak (6′ long)
Saw – Table saw preferred, but a Miter or circular saw will work
Drill bit – We used a 3/4″ spade drill bit
Drill – Cordless or in our case we used a drill press (but that’s not necessary)
3M Advanced Abrasives sandpaper in 80, 120 & 220 grits (palm or orbital sander optional)
Wood Glue
Mineral Oil
We headed to our local lumber store and picked up a piece of 3″ wide Maple, and 4″ wide red Oak.
MapleOak
I also made a stop at my local drug store for some Mineral Oil. Mineral oil is used to protect your cutting board. You can find Mineral Oil at Kitchen Supply stores, Ikea, and your drug store. Mineral Oil is (apparently) used as a laxative, and can be found in the digestive aid section of your drug store. Yep, it’s true!
Mineral Oil – Three bottles to the right of the rectal syringe…eeep
Ignore the strange look the cashier gives you when you purchase your mineral oil while carrying two pieces of lumber.
*It is important to use Mineral Oil or an oil specifically marked as a cutting board/butcher block oil. Do NOT use olive or vegetable oil, as those will go rancid. Mineral Oil is food safe and will not spoil.
Now its time to make some cutting boards!
El Granto cutting the wood to length
Cut your maple into 5, 13″ long strips (does not need to be exact)
Cut your oak into 2, 20″ long strips (again doesn’t have to be perfect, we will be trimming the boards later.)
Make sure to use safety equipment! Eye & ear protection are a must. Cutting hardwood can get very loud.
Hearing ProtectionSafety Glasses
Once all your wood is cut, sand off any imperfections and get ready for gluing.
Wood cut to length
Make sure you have a nice flat surface to glue your boards together. We went inside and laid all our boards out deciding how we wanted them to look. Grain is important in the outcome of your piece. Make sure you take it in to account and lay out your boards to maximize the visual appeal of the grain markings in your wood.
Next up, run a bead of wood glue on the edges of your boards (one board at a time) and glue them all together. When you’re pressing your boards together wiggle them lengthwise to spread the glue and work out any air bubbles.
Applying GlueAttaching boards together
Once all your boards are glued together, clamp them, and wipe off any excess glue.
When you clamp the boards together, sometimes excess glue seeps out. Quickly clean this off before it dries (it is a pain to sand off)
After your boards are clamped, leave them to dry overnight.
Clamped & Drying
The next day, un-clamp your boards, and it’s time to drill & sand!
I like my cutting boards to have a handle or a hole to hold onto. It makes it easier to grip and to store (they can be hung up.)
We added a 3/4″ hole to the corner of each board. To do this we taped off both sides of the board using ScotchBlue Painter’s tape. Applying tape before drilling reduces the amount of tear out (when the wood chips and splinters). Applying the tape also makes a great surface to mark your drilling location. We measured in a 1 1/2″ from either side for our holes.
Next up, ready your drill with a 3/4″ bit, and drill your hole. We have a drill press, so we used that for an even more precise hole, but you can use your cordless drill. Just take the time to ensure you’re drilling straight. Place a piece of scrap wood under your cutting board so you don’t drill into your table! (It also makes the cut cleaner.)
El Granto drilling the holesEl Granto drilling the holes
After your holes are drilled, remove the tape and check out your perfect hole!
Perfectly drilled hole
You may notice that the ends of your cutting board are not perfectly straight. You could spend hours trying to sand them, or the easy way is to head over to your sliding miter saw and trim up the ends. A couple quick cuts and your boards are nice and square and true. (If you don’t have a sliding miter saw, you can use your circular saw.)
See how the ends are uneven? No problem, a quick run through the saw will have everything perfect
Now its time to sand. Using a palm sander or an orbital sander will make this process a lot quicker, but you can do it by hand.
Remember to wear a dust mask while sanding. Aint nobody got time for sawdust in the lungs!
Starting with 80 grit sandpaper, sand off any imperfections, and make sure your board is nice and flat. Once you are happy with how flat everything is, step up to 120 grit and sand the whole piece making everything smooth.
Lastly, take a pass with the 220 grit to make everything perfectly smooth and buttery soft.
Sand the edges by hand, and gently round the corners ever so slightly so that they are not sharp.
Hand sanding the edges
Roll your sandpaper into a tube shape, and insert it into the hole. Rotate it around sanding the inside of the hole.
Roll sandpaper into a tube to sand the hole
Once everything is sanded, wipe your boards off with a dry cloth.
Now the next part may sound counter intuitive, but take a damp cloth and wet your cutting board (don’t saturate it, but get the whole surface damp.) Let it dry, and rub your hand along the wood. You will notice that it feels rough again. The water has raised the grain (better now then after you wash it for the first time!) Take your sandpaper and knock down the grain until it is smooth again, wipe your board again and get ready to oil!
Using a lint free rag or paper towel, apply a generous amount of mineral oil to your cutting boards. Rub it in, and let it sit for an hour or so. Come back and wipe off any excess. Repeat this 2-3 times until you notice your board stops absorbing oil. Let dry.
Applying Mineral Oil
AND YOU’RE DONE! Enjoy your gorgeous new cutting boards!
12 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ Maple Cutting Board & 7″ x 19″ Oak Cutting BoardDetail of Cutting Board HolesOak Cutting Board
Make sure to re-oil your boards when you notice them looking a bit dry. Never put boards in a dishwasher, or let them sit in water. You can also use a mixture of 5 parts mineral oil to one part all natural beeswax, heated over low on the stove, then rubbed into your board for added protection.
***UPDATE: Check out our post on Wood Oil/Wax here***
What do you think? Wouldn’t these make perfect holiday gifts?
One of the most important parts of making a new concrete kitchen countertop is the templates. When starting to tackle our DIY Concrete Countertop project, we thought we would just measure our space, and make the forms from our measurements. Our kitchen looked square and true, but once the old counters were out we realized pretty quick that there was nothing square about our kitchen. Thats where templates come in. They are quick and easy to make, and will ensure your counters fit perfectly.
Your templates will recreate your cabinets and wall shape exactly, and ensure your countertops fit your space. It also makes sure your sink, faucet cut outs and anything else special is done in exactly the right spots. How terrible would it be to completely make your counters and realize your faucet hole is 2″ off. Ouch.
So here’s what you need to make your countertop templates:
1/8″ luan or other easily cuttable material cut into straight strips about 2″ wide. Get your hardware store to cut the strips for you on their panel saw. (We had some 1/4″ mdf strips left over from the guest room board & batten, so we used that. Although it wasn’t ideal, as we had to make a trip to the garage for all our cuts.)
Glue gun & glue sticks
Sharpie
Measuring tape
Bare cabinets free of counters and any imperfections. Ensure your cabinets are secured to the wall and level. Once you make the templates, you cant change your cabinets at all, or your countertops may not fit right.
Sink & any integral items to the counters
We removed our old countertops & sink, and ensured everything was ready for the templates. We had purchased our new sink, and had it as well as its installation instructions ready.
Cabinets ready for templating
To start the templates lay a long piece of your template material along the backs of the cabinets. Then lay strips along the front of the cabinets cutting them to exactly the same length as your cabinet.
Laying out the first pieces of the template and marking how long they need to be
Join the front and the back strips with shorter strips cut to the depth of your cabinet. Make your way around your counters outlining them with your template strips. Once you have everything laid out, go back and hot glue it all together.
Label all pieces with “front”, “back” and descriptions such where all your appliances are. Mark any areas that will require an overhang. The standard overhang is 3/4″ from the front of your cabinet doors. The back of your counters and areas where it hits walls or appliances will not need an overhang.
Template for small portion of the counter between the sink and stove
Read the installation instructions for your faucet & sink, and mark any special requirements on the template. Your sink may come with a template of its own, if so attach that to your template in the proper place.
Dry fit your sink & faucet in place around the templates (and make sure everything is going to fit!)
Dry Fitting our sink in place to build the templates around it
Our Ikea Domsjo sink required two notches on the front of our counters to fit the apron front sink. We marked the areas for the notch.
Note the markings for the sink edge and where the notch needs to goMain kitchen templates
For the coffee bar our counter is 7 feet long and the wall has quite a bow right in the middle. This caused problems for us when installing the coffee bar (it’s actually spaced out from the wall about 1/2″) and we knew a straight countertop wouldn’t be perfect.
To template for the bow in the wall, we cut a bunch of short pieces and laid them against the wall where the curve was. This outlined the curve for us perfectly, and we were able to recreate the bow within the form.
Coffee Bar template. Note all the small pieces forming to the curve in the wall
The entire template process only took us about a half hour, and produced perfect templates to make our forms with. A simple step, but definitely worth the effort for a professional result! You can also use this form of template making for your laminate or butcherblock countertops.
Next up we will be building the forms, and getting one step closer to pouring our concrete!
When planning for concrete countertops, the biggest thing we needed to decide on was the concrete mix.
Not all mixes are created equal, and for a countertop you need a high strength mix. Why? So your countertop doesn’t crack and fall to pieces. Simple enough.
Will the big box store mixes work? Maybe. But it’s a crap shoot. There are a LOT of variables that could send you into a tough place. First up, the big box store mixes aren’t meant for countertops (well except for the Quikrete countertop mix but more on that later).
A few weeks ago I made a test piece knowing that I wasn’t using the right mix, but I just wanted to TRY, see if my mold would work, see if the whole scenario was even plausible. Turns out it is, but I had a lot of room to improve.
Concrete Test
So my test piece came out full of holes, and with a lot of aggregate visible on the sides, a blotchy colour, gouges from my caulking job it and it was HEAVY. It turns out that little test piece was a behemoth. Not only did it change my mind about doing 2″ thick surfaces (gonna stick with 1 1/2″) but it also had me looking at alternatives to traditional concrete mixes.
So I started calling concrete countertop mix manufacturers, and checking my local hardware stores. Not only was there only one mix option at the big box stores, but there were no sealing and finishing products to complete the project, nor where there any direction on how best to build the molds, pour, sand & finish. I am not really one for experimenting on 2000 lbs of concrete. I want a product that I can do myself, have confidence in, and get professional results.
That’s when fate interjected, and I received a comment on my countertop test project from Buddy Rhodes Concrete Products suggesting I check out their product line. After a quick look around their site, and a few YouTube videos later, I had to know more.
Buddy Rhodes has flipped concrete on it’s head. It’s hard to explain, but his product & hand pressed technique isn’t poured like traditional concrete. It’s a thicker product that’s more the consistency of clay, that you don’t pour into a mold, you pick up handfuls of it, and pack it into the mold. Really. Then you don’t vibrate it, or worry about bubbles, and screeding, or even filling the entire mold to the brim.
It’s reinforced not with clunky (and heavy) re-bar or chicken wire, but with glass fibers. It doesn’t require a concrete mixer or 45 of your closest friends to pour, in fact you could do it in a couple weekends with a friend or two. But get this, its JUST as strong (if not stronger) and it’s way easier (and lighter). You can replicate finishes, and get professional results, every single time. Its incredibly DIY friendly and versatile.
They made concrete doable, and replicable, and almost idiot proof. Not only that, but their process makes concrete able to go vertical! Their product can be worked up a vertical surface. So my dream for a waterfall counter wasn’t going to be a feat of engineering and a two piece project. I could build a waterfall countertop in ONE PIECE. Mind blown.
I emailed the person at Buddy Rhodes who had commented on my post, and said I needed to know more! Where can I get this, will it work for my project?! They may have been shocked at my exuberance, or just too nice to say no to a crazy lady, but one of their artisan concrete experts Jeremy emailed me back in a few short hours asking about my project. A few emails later, and we were having a video conference call where Jeremy was convincing me we could pour my whole kitchen in four pieces when I had planned on doing it in 6, and not only that, but anything else I could dream up was essentially plausible.
Jeremy talked us through how their product differs from the big box bagged mix which was my only other option at this point. He pointed out the analogy of baking. You want to bake some bread. Do you just start out throwing things into a bowl and hope for the best, or do you use a tried and true recipe and high quality ingredients?
First off let’s get to know concrete a little more. There’s essentially two parts. Aggregate and cement. Think of a slab of concrete as a slice of raisin bread (gluten free of course). The cement is the bread and the aggregate is the raisins. Together they make toasted buttery goodness… Wait. I think I might be hungry… The bag mixes are short on cement. So they’re like a fruitcake. Lots of aggregate and not a lot holding it together. They are short on cement because it is the most expensive component it is also the reason for the strengths that concrete exhibits. But, it is also the glue that holds everything together, our mix is like proper raisin bread. Lots of cement and not too much aggregate.
The prebagged concrete countertop mix available at your local hardware store is essentially the same mix used in your backyard to set a post, mixed with more cement and less aggregate. Will it make you a concrete countertop? Probably. Will it be the perfect counter you were dreaming of? Umm..maybe. There are a lot of variables that could set things in a tail spin. It may be concrete, but it may not be the best option, especially for a DIY’er. Other possible pitfalls are that you can only make solid surfaces, its a very heavy and unwieldy product, and it has a long cure time. If poured or cured improperly it can crack, be brittle, has a limited color range, and is a mess to pour. It will also require some heavy duty forms, a lot of heavy mixing, some favors called into your buddies, and a lot of headache and hoping and you still haven’t figured out how to seal or protect it either.
I was a bit freaked out, as I’m sure you might be too right about now. Why would I risk a bunch of cash in materials, truck rentals, concrete mixer rentals and forms to possibly have a very large heap of junk that I would actually need to pay someone to take away if this didn’t go right?
So big box mix was out of the running, and Buddy Rhodes mix was the clear best choice.
Jeremy worked with us suggesting the best technique for us to use, how to build our molds, and make it as simple as possible to get a kick ass product. We were over the moon excited, and a lot more confident. I think some of my excitement rubbed off on Jeremy, as he surprised us with saying he might come to Canada to see us do our project. (That and for the maple syrup and poutine of course.)
Now, I assure you I warned this Southerner that fall in Canada isn’t quite the paradise he’s used to. But he booked a ticket, and gave us three weeks to get all our prep done, so he could see us “pour” when he got here. Talk about a deadline. But we did not want to fail our new concrete hero!
So we started measuring, and prepping, and calculating everything we needed and started checking things off our to-do list.
Next up, I will give you a detailed list of absolutely everything you need to buy, rent, procure, beg or borrow to make your project go (relatively) smoothly, and get a great result!
I had epic plans for a kitchen makeover this year. You can see my wish list here, and my “timeline” here. HA HA! Why do I make lists?
Well we have been getting some things done in the kitchen/dining room. The coffee bar got drawers, we made a new dining table and bench, bought a sink, and I have finally made some progress in my plans for a DIY concrete countertops.
Kitchen Pre-Move In
As you can see from the photo above we have laminate counters. They look okay in the pic right? White-ish and nondescript? Yeah except they’re this flecked beige design (bleh), and during the move & renos they got two bashes in them, as well as the laminate started to peel up after I ran the self cleaning cycle on my oven. There’s also a seam that I’m not the biggest fan of.
Bashed corner of our peninsula countertopDent in corner of counter as well as the seam
Awesome, right?
So DIY concrete countertops are high on my want list. Now you may also know that I am a planner. I’m not just gonna head to the hardware store, fill up a rental van with bags of concrete and start making things. I have to research, and plan. Cause if you don’t, projects go astray, money gets wasted, things take way longer than they should, and you may end up with some really heavy junk.
So it was time to research, plan and make some lists.
Project Concrete Countertops TO DO LIST:
Research concrete countertop mixes, techniques, colors and sealers
We have started to prep and calculate, and get our proverbial sh$t together, and THIS WEEKEND is the big pour. I am excited and scared all at the same time. My kitchen is about to get a whole lot less cracked and busted, and a whole lot more grown up!
Don’t worry, we will do the whole process from start to finish with you including a planning guide, all the prep and template making, the mold fabrication, mixing and “pouring”, finishing, installing and sealing. I know its a complex project, so I think we’ll break out some video to help you re-create your own project at home.
In the meantime, make sure to check in on our progress on our Facebook and my Instagram, we will be posting some status update shots and outtakes until we have enough time to post everything here in detail.
We are in the final stages of planning for our concrete countertop project. When speaking with friends and family about our project a lot of the questions we have been getting is “why concrete?”. Most of them haven’t seen concrete countertops before, and thought we were a bit mad for taking on this project. Others thought the concrete would be really rough and look like a sidewalk. I have been breaking out my iPhone to the skeptics and showing them some examples of concrete countertops, and they have been subsequently blown away. So I thought I would show you all some of my inspiration so you think I’m less cray cray and more awesome.
First up, why did we choose concrete?
It goes with our industrial meets traditional asthetic
It’s durable, and customizable
We can do it ourselves. It’s not like we can mix up some marble in the garage
It looks amazingly high end for a reasonable price
Possible cons:
If done incorrectly, or the wrong products are used it can crack, break and/or look terrible
If not properly sealed & waxed it can be stained (like stone) by acids such as wine, vinegar and citrus fruit
It takes a bit more planning & prep to make molds and some muscle to pour, finish and install
I find things on the internet, fall in love, cant afford them, then get sad. I will drool over things for weeks, then finally I will snap, have to do something about it, and get my ass in gear. Continue reading “DIY West Elm Copper Light”
I really want to build concrete countertops for my kitchen. My laminate counters suck, and the coffee bar is curremtly covered in a $20 wood shelf from Home Depot.
I had a bag of concrete hanging around the garage (don’t you?!) and decided it was high time to put all my researching to the test and pour some concrete. I decided to make a “cutting board” as my test run, and grabbed some spare melamine (I’m not a hoarder, I just have stuff in the garage…collecting dust…that might some day get used.) SO the melamine… I had El Granto rip down a few pieces into 2″ strips and then built a little form with some spare screws.
Building the mold (and making sure it’s square)
Next up, sealing the cracks in the form with silicone caulking. I conveniently had a new tube of silicone caulking. I inconveniently could not find my caulk gun. Cause it’s an easy thing to lose. You know, giant red tube thingy that looks like a weapon. Yep, missing. Hardware store? Closed. Dollar store? I may be able to find paint brushes, and tie downs, but a caulk gun was not to be had at Dollarama. My neighbours had been outside working on project as well, and we had passed an air compressor over the fence earlier in the day (true story) so I figured I’d ask if maybe they had one. BINGO! Caulk gun. Except theirs was contractor grade and made for big tubes of caulking, and my wee bitty tube of silicone was too small. So now what? I shoved a piece of wood into the bottom of the caulking tube and hoped for the best.
I started caulking, and I got silicone EVERYWHERE. All over me and the mold.
DIY TIP. Tape your mold or you’ll get silicone everywhere. After about 10 minutes I was covered and sticky and I had done the WORST job of caulking anything in my life. I threw in the towel (this was a test after all!) and left it to dry.
Mold Made (before crappy silicone job)
Next day we moved the mold outside on worktable covered in a plastic drop cloth, and I (with my girly muscles, a shovel and a piece of wood) mixed up a half bag of concrete. In hindsight, it could have used a bit more water, and I could have used a trowel (rather than a piece of wood) to get it well into the mold.
Pour area prepped. Drop cloth & screeding board readyFilling the mold. Don’t you just love my work outfit? Paint covered work shirt and track pants. I really should buy an attractive set of work clothes.
I then (smartly) took the sandpaper off my palm sander, and covered it in a bag, and vibrated the crap out of the mold.
Sander covered in a bagVibrating the mold
Then we screeded the top (which also didn’t go so well, as it started pulling gravel out of the mold, but again I think my mix was too thick.)
Screeding the mold
Then I let it dry, covered with plastic for a day. I didn’t put a wire mesh in it, cause A.) it was a test and B.) I didn’t have any in my garage…
I un-molded, and voila.
Concrete just after de-moldingIt worked!
Things I learned:
Concrete is heavy.
2″ is too thick for our countertop. It just looked too big (that’s what she said). In all seriousness, 1 1/2″ is a much more reasonable size, 2″ was just overkill. Like a Hummer H2.
My mix needed a bit more water.
Counter sink the screws! Or else you can screed it very well.
I will not mix up all the countertops in a bucket. Concrete mixer rental is imperative.
I needed a better concrete mix than the $4 bag of all purpose. It was too rocky and rough. The top of my cutting board was great, but the sides showed too much aggregate.
Next up, I will be filling the holes, adding some feet to my “cutting board” test driving some concrete sealers and waxes, and then putting it to the test in my kitchen. Wish me luck!
Have you ever played with concrete? Any tips to pass on?
I know you’re probably all “tabled-out” with my table talk last week, but I just wanted to give you all some ideas for creating your own dining table.
As you know, we made a new top for our pipe leg table. It was easy peasy. Three boards, some supports, sanding, staining and protecting and its as easy as pie. (Well maybe not pie. Pie is pretty hard to make.) So now I’ve convinced you to make your own table top, but what if pipe legs aren’t your thing… It’s too hipster for you, or too industrial, or not glam enough. So don’t worry, I got your back. I’m your girl.
This is what you need to do. Make the table top. Then pick your stain color and pick your legs. It’s like a choose your own adventure novel, but with FURNITURE!
I know, your mind is blow! (right? maybe? a little bit blown? a spark?)
PICK A STAIN:
Minwax Stain Colors
PICK A LEG:
Ikea LegsWall-o-legs at Ikea
OPTIONAL: Pick a spray paint color to paint the legs:
Ebony top + Oddvald legs spray painted Troical Folliage
Minwax Pickled Oak + Red Nipen legs (which are more pink than red)
DIY TIP! If your idea of DIY & woodworking is watching HGTV in your PJ’s. Consider using a piece of prefab Ikea butcher block countertop as a table top. It comes in a 6’x3′ size (for $269) that would be perfect for a dining table!
Ikea Numerar Countertop. Perfect as an easy table top!
Digital WorkTunes™ Hearing Protector, Holmes Workwear™ Premium Safety Eyewear & 3M tekk Paint Sanding Valved Respirator
sandpaper in 80, 120 & 220 grits (palm or orbital sander optional)
