There isn't anything better than a great tutorial. We've been checking into pouring our own concrete slabs and in our research, came across a tutorial from everyone's favorite Minnesota blogger and AT reader, Splatgirl. Most tutorials on pouring your own slabs always look unfinished or too "DIY" for our tastes, but not anymore. Our minds have been changed and our sleeves are rolled up! There are step by step photos of her process, great tips and suggestions after the jump!
We love seeing the way other people do their own dirty work before tackling our own. Somehow it gives us this refreshing sense of empowerment that, "if they can do it, so can we!" Which is why we were so excited when we ran across Splatgirl's photo tour of her creative process and visual guide to pouring concrete slabs yourself.
We'd seen it done on home improvement shows... but they always turned out like "something seen on a home improvement show." Close, but not quite to the standard we were looking for.
Check out the full set of photos on Flickr to get the low down on how things are done. Each photo provides you with excellent guides on things you might not have normally thought of (like building in a recessed area for a cutting board). If you aren't interested in the details but want to see their handiwork, you can check out the slideshow instead!
You can check out more of Splatgirl's creative endeavors on one of her two blogs: Modern in Minnesota or Splat Girl Creates.
Thanks Lara!
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It looks great! I wish we would've done that. We have bamboo counters, and they are a pain- very fragile.
counters are gorgeous.
but i secretly just love the simple dishes.
are those crate and barrel?
This looks awfully complicated and expensive. Obviously it's a great accomplishiment to say you've done it yourself, but why in the world wouldn't you let a professional do this? This is a place where I would say "money well spent" to have it done quicly and properly by a specialist.
Very brave..Really best to hire someone highly recommended. I rep a precast concrete line best of both worlds because its made then you or millwork contractor installs. Not all concrete is created equal. I hand it to you for the doing this yourself.
i for one am gobsmacked. what an amazing job you did! and thanks for showing us how it's done.
Concrete, if done by a pro, are just as pricey as granite. My hubby is a civil engineer and I am hoping he can pull some strings to have some contractors (who normally pour roads) do ours. Soooo pretty and it feels so clean and organic to me.
there's also two great books called cheng concrete countertops (or something to that effect) that are positively awesome. really great job!
wow the concrete looks amazing! wonderful job!
i love concrete, but i've researched the diy-ability of concrete... and i think after all i've read i'd still have to leave it to the professionals. there are so many problems that can occur in making the countertops and i'd hate to spend money and waste lots and lots of time on something that could come out with lackluster results- not to mention you never really know how they will look a year after they were finished due to cracking etc.
Dishes, yes Crate and Barrel. Cafeware II. Still available but the bowls are a different shape now. Look in the outlet.
And then, um, not complicated, not expensive. "Professional" concrete coutntertop fabricators charge from $100 a SQUARE FOOT and up, or at least that was the going rate in 2005-6. I cast approximately 110 sq. ft of countertop for around $1000, about half of which went to carbon fiber reinforcement mesh and the tools. I still have at least half a roll of C-grid left and of course, the tools and pads. So, at the very least, I saved $9000. Yes, I said NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Besides, leaving things to a "professional" is boring, and IMO the contractors worth your dime in any trade are few and far between.
If you can read a book and do a little research, follow a recipe and are willing to get dirty and experiment a bit (and you have the space...bonus for being in a climate where you can work outdoors), this is do-able.
And the assumption you'll actually get it done "quickly and properly" for your 9k... that might actually be a touch optimistic, for me.
Hi SPLT,
Here in MN too in the summers winters in NY, anyway questions:
what was the concrete made of bagged? or hired a truck etc.. What was the mixture?
Were the molds topside up, or topside down? meaning is it more important to get the exposed sides perfect or are they the bottoms of the countertops?
splatgirl has been a steady source of inspiration for me since I discovered her blog (through AT of course). I also love her side site "Creates" where she demonstrates her creative prowess in the food arena--which is right up my alley.
Anyhow, when building my entertainment nook I decided to create a work surface out of poured concrete after getting excited about seeing splatgirl's diy concrete work.
I'll say that if you have a very basic working knowledge of cutting wood and screwing/nailing things together, you can do it. To me, creating the form is the hardest part.
One lesson that I learned is, if possible, pour the forms in place rather than pouring inverted forms. By pouring in place you can trowel the surface to make it smooth, by inverting, you run the risk of getting visible air bubbles--like I did. But, depending on the look, the bubbles are not so bad, they lend character to the piece.
Forgive me if this may have been mentioned in the post but last year, Quikrete was in the process of finishing up a new concrete mix specifically for poured countertops.
Here's the pics of my little countertop:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/829822164/in/set-72157603018898056/
and the countertop in place:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/1874086992/in/set-72157603018898056/
thanks splatgirl!
I poured my own concrete slab for a table i made. When you tent the concrete you should leave some room above it (make an actual tent shape) for the moisture to circulate a little.
Also, if you place the curing slabs on a metal table or something held above the floor and clamp something that vibrates onto it and leave it on overnight it will cause the concrete to settle more and eliminate most of the need for filling. Additionally, you can add *literally* anything (metal flakes, glass, recycled plastic, stainless steel pieces) into the concrete mixture and it will show up in random places on the surface. It makes it more difficult to polish the results, but it can look amazing.
I used bagged quickcrete 5000 with water reducer and microfibers added. Any of the Cheng books are a good resource for designing your mix and everything else concrete counters.
Art is right (yo Art!) in that building and prepping the molds is the hardest part. Not that it's hard, it's just tedious and time consuming compared to the rest of the project. The rest is just messy and heavy.
I disagree, however, about casting the slabs in place vs. moulding them. The molding method has much more flexibility and is the only way to get something beyond just a plain, flat slab, and it doesnt' depend on finishing skill to get a nice usable surface. Even a poorly poured and troweled slab from a melamine mould will be very, very smooth, requiring only minimal polishing, whereas your skill, or lack thereof, with a trowel on a cast-in-place slab can mean hours and hours of wet grinding while trying not to ruin whatever the slab is sitting on...
And yes, if you can form your slabs on an elevated surface that allows them to be vibrated from below, do that (if your goal is a more consistent, uniform look). As my photos show, my slabs ended up with lots of voids that needed filling. I love the look, but it is more work.
Wow, I think it looks AMAZING! My husband and I plant to do this ourselves as well, so this was very exciting to see! I'll be linking to this in the Weekend Roundup.
will trial this for our garage counter's so that when i re-do the kitchen i'm ready. :)
What an amazing job! Those are beautiful...and so is the rest of the house. I love how smooth you can get the counters when pouring them in molds but we were too lazy for that and poured in place w/ bullnose edgeforms we bought. Here's how ours went if anyone is interested: http://mydiyhome.wordpress.com/concrete-countertops/
If you are aiming a more personalized look for your kitchen counter tops, blending the concrete by yourself can be very helpful as you get to adjust the color and texture just the way you want it. Handling concrete is not easy especially if you have no experience doing basic home improvement projects but reading blogs such as this and asking help from floor specialists can be helpful to be able to do your kitchen counter top make over right.
These comments made me laugh, as I am sitting reading them with one hand in ice due to a tendon problem developed over years and years of doing just what spazgirl has done--saved myself some money and had a blast! We redid an ancient Florida farmhouse, did the wiring, the plumbing--it had never had an indoor bathroom--the kitchen. Here's how I did one window: I cut it out with a circular saw that was lying there and slapped some screening over it, and did dishes for a couple of years at that window watching baby otters play in the creek below.We finally got a real window to fit the opening. Then we re-did another house. Then I did one by myself, including a fish pond that was the talk of the neighborhood for years. I do not encourage others to follow this path, as they might have to have things perfect. Ours were not. But how we loved them, and I am, at 68, getting ready to put in concrete counters and bath in yet another house, and love this tutorial. Like one comment said, contractors don't get things perfect, either. And you practically have to do it yourself, at least once, to know what you want someone else to do. So just learn to do it, and do it, if you'd, like myself, rather. (I'm researching DIY home funerals, by the way, although I'll have to teach someone else to do it for me--this one time.)
@Puck -- Your post cracked me up. Pouring a concrete ROAD with automated placement machinery has absolutely NOTHING in common with concrete countertops, other than they both have Portland cement and water involved. It's a completely different set of skills required. Concrete counters cost $100/SF when done by professionals for a reason - it takes very specialized skills, and equipment, and a ton of experience, to come out with something that doesn't look completely amateurish. And that's whether you pour them upside down in forms (my preferred method) or try to cast them in place right-side up. Finishing, filling, grinding, polishing is the key to a professional job and trust me - it is NOT a walk in the park. Concrete is a finicky and unpredictable material that never does the same thing twice - which is why multiple experiences are key to a good outcome.
Simple and inexpensive material - yes indeed - but just wait until you try it. I've yet to see a DIY concrete counter that didn't LOWER the resale value of the house. Sometimes we can salvage them by laying tile or something over them - but usually they've gotta be demolished and replaced.
If you really want to build your own concrete counters - I'd recommend attending Cheng's 5-day training. Yes it's expensive, but even with travel and the cost of the course added in you'll still save 50% of the cost of hiring a pro. Next, I'd start with some outdoor counters and benches. That way if they're not perfect, no great loss. Learn from your mistakes and try again. I would not attempt the real thing in a real kitchen until I had built at least two or three previous projects. Finally - don't skimp on tools and equipment. Dime store trowels and such definitely won't cut it. Good luck.