concrete work surfaces

ds1980

A friend has had their kitchen done and have had concrete work surfaces. They look amazing and they cost next to nothing.

Ive asked how it was done but still can' get my head around it.

Our lasses dad is a builder of 40 years and has never seen it either.

Basically it was just standard concrete, poured into wooden built trays and put into place on top of the unit/timber. They used metal rods screwed into the walls and put mess in the wet concrete.

All they have done is varnish it and it looks like it cost thousands!!! The concrete was about £90!!!

Any ideas??

John_3:16

Not sure about this I can only think it is polished concrete that helps show the stones etc through!
something like this

http://www.cvdltd.co.uk/surfaceprep/htcsuperfloor.htm

ds1980

thanks for that. No all im saying is that literally they have poured concrete into trays and made them into worktops. Nothing fancy but i hear people talking of £1200 for a few metres for granite tops etc when all people could do would be use concrete.

the same stuff they use to build walls!!

never_enough

I have often seen whole kitchen units made from concrete in places like Turkey & Morocco, the top is usually tiled though. I can't imagine it would be easy to keep the surface clean if it were just concrete, aren't there lots of little holes in it?
It would be interesting to see a pic of it though, do you think you could post one?

Eyesparky

One of the Grand Designs a few years ago did this - the one where they converted a former electricity sub station in the North East. All their surfaces were sealed concrete and they also built an open concrete storage area that fitted baskets for storage. Seems to be the only one I can't find on the Grand Designs site but there is a general write up here http://www.self-build.co.uk/default.aspx?contentid=8fa9ad57-632e-44ad-af9b-6db01cfdc593.
So it can be done ... not sure of the ideal mix though. I am sure a bit of experimentation should come up trumps.

never_enough

Eyesparky wrote: »

One of the Grand Designs a few years ago did this - the one where they converted a former electricity sub station in the North East. All their surfaces were sealed concrete and they also built an open concrete storage area that fitted baskets for storage. Seems to be the only one I can't find on the Grand Designs site but there is a general write up here http://www.self-build.co.uk/default.aspx?contentid=8fa9ad57-632e-44ad-af9b-6db01cfdc593.
So it can be done ... not sure of the ideal mix though. I am sure a bit of experimentation should come up trumps.

I had forgotten about that until I read you post. Their house was fab. Certainly much cheaper than most kitchen choices!