DIY Concrete Countertops: part 1
Thu 10 April 2014In December 2011 I demolished my funky cabin kitchen, and set out to build a more modern kitchen that will last. We spent time over a few days to pack up the kitchen items, move appliances, and general preparations for not having a real kitchen for a while.
Bill of Materials
These are the tools and materials I purchased throughout, and at the
time of build.
- $158 : Hardin HWV5GRIN 5" concrete and stone wet polisher with diamond pads
- $105 : 4 sheets of 3/4 x 49 x 97 S11 White Thermally-fused
Melamine
- $85 : Chicago Electric Concrete Vibrator (july 4th 25% off). There are numerous options for vibrating the concrete. reciprocating saw, orbital sander, hammer. Get creative! :)
- $72 : 2 day rental of wheel barrow cement mixer from A Toolshed.
- $60 : 4x boxes of 5lb. Charcoal Sakrete cement color
- $58.50 6x microfiber mop pads from Tommy The Gnome.
- $56.50 : 1 Quart of Miracle 511 Porous Plus Acrylic Sealer.
- $43 : 10x bags of 80lb Sakrete 5000psi Cheng approved bag mix
- $38 : 19x bags of Rapid Set Flow control water reducing additive. If I could do this one over I would do this over and get the liquid stuff from Granite Rock for $0.25/Liquid ounce. Would have been a lot less, even if I bought a gallon of the stuff!
- $28 : 5lb. box of 2"-1/2 screws
- $28 : 4x8x2" sheet of XPS Foamular 150 XPS rigid closed cell insulation
- $17.64 : Box of 3M Scotch Bright maroon pads to get rid of any swirl marks that might apear.
- $15 : Fu-Tung Cheng book
- $13 : Large 20.9 gallon mortar tub.
- $10? : 1lb. of PVA fibers from Graniterock in Santa Cruz. Thanks Mike!
- $5 : 10oz. tube of DAP Dynaflex230 caulking
-
Total: $792 and some change for tax.Tools & materials I already had in my garage used for this project:
drill
level
shovel
5-gallon buckets
12" paint mixer drill attachment
caulk gun
painters masking tape
garden hose
extension cord
rubber boots
rubber gloves
safety glasses
Dimensions of the molds
the peninsula slab nicknamed "Bertha": 50" x 36" x 2"
Sink / Dishwasher / Spice rack: 70" x 25" x 2"