Creative Countertops
No two concrete countertops are the same, and these five decorative concrete countertops prove that.
It's All in the Elements
In the fall of 2009, Tom Fischer of Fishstone Studio, Huntley, Ill., created a concrete countertop for a restaurant's outdoor bar. Although the countertop looks simple enough, it did not come without challenges. The precast countertop project took Fischer two weeks from templating to installation, he says. The project involved creating a Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC), custom color countertop that had to be placed around four roof support columns.
Even though the countertop was constructed from a lightweight, GFRC mix, extra supports were needed to reinforce the bar's thin walls. The general contractor on the project created and installed custom metal supports that would be invisible to the restaurant's patrons prior to Fishstone installing the countertop, Fischer explains.
Fischer precast the countertop in five separate pieces that would make up the 85-square-foot bar top. The longest section was 28 feet long, consisting of three pieces, while the shorter sections measured 10 and 5 feet long.
After templating the job to ensure the countertop would fit tightly, Fischer used steel tables and melamine boards to create the molds in shop. The client chose a custom color made of yellow and red iron oxide pigments and white portland-based cement. Prior to applying the backer coat, Fischer mixed the custom integral color into the concrete mix.
Fischer sprayed the GFRC mist coat into the mold and then hand placed the backer coat to create the 3/4-inch-thick countertop. The apron front was 41/2 inches thick, he says.
After 48 hours, Fischer used Flex North America's handheld three-headed interplanetary wet polisher to hone the concrete to a 400 grit and a smaller, single-head wet polisher to polish the edges and details of the countertop. The corners were hand sanded. After curing, Fischer applied a topical sealer using a HVLP sprayer. The sealer was UV resistant, which Fischer had to consider because the countertop is outdoors.
Once complete, Fischer transported the countertop to the site and installed it with another crew member. The pieces were caulked at the seams.
Color and Glass Create a Unique Finish
Carl DeSouge of Cade Construction, Bakersfield, Calif., created this precast 11/2-inch-thick concrete countertop using a combination of integral color, colored glass and yellow serpentine rocks.
Prior to pouring, DeSouge mixed a Solomon Colors' yellow integral color along with yellow, white, amber and beach glass and shells into the concrete mix. The chipped glass measured between 1/4- and 3/8-inch in diameter, DeSouge says. The serpentine rocks were placed in the forms to create the edges and corners of the countertop.
DeSouge added a fine fiber mesh to his concrete mix and aluminum corrugated tile wire mesh to his forms for reinforcement. Where the countertop seams were, he cut and placed rock so when the countertop was put together the rocks would match up at the seams. After pouring, he used a vibrator to remove any air holes and then gave the countertop a hard trowel finish. It was then time to polish the top and route the edges.
DeSouge started with a 100-grit polishing pad on his Intertool 3-wheel grinder. After moving to a 150-grit pad DeSouge applied a densifier to the countertop. He then continued the polishing process moving from 100 to 200 and then 400 grits before slurrying to fill any new voids. The polishing finished with a process from 800 to 1,500 to 3,000 grit. DeSouge also routed the edges during this process. "I used Intertool's router to create a waterfall finish on the serpentine rock edge. It has three little half-inch rounds coming down at the bottom," DeSouge adds.
Finally, DeSouge applied a sealer before buffing the counter with a diamond twister pad and applying a final coat of beeswax.
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