Replies

1. 
   peedee | May 31, 2007 05:12am | #1

   I haven't done this with concrete but with other fillers you usually leave them proud (high) and then grind/ sand/ etc. down flush later.

2. 
   PaulBinCT | May 31, 2007 05:15am | #2

   At a semi educated guess...

   Some voids are unavoidable. I've filled them with a fairly thick grout. Don't work it too much, I think the bleed water makes it prone to pull out of the void if you do.

   HTH

   PaulB

    

3. 
   FastEddie | May 31, 2007 05:57am | #3

   Maybe your knife is too flat.  Try getting is closer to vertical, more of a scraping action than smoothing.

   "Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

   "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

4. 
   ponytl | May 31, 2007 07:02am | #4

   i've poured/cast   maybe 100 in the last year or so...   I love take'n em out of the mold or remove'n the mold... because i never know what i'll get even when casting the same thing out of the same mold... i have one that i've been casting that it takes the bobcat (forks) to get it out of the mold and onto a pallet...

   but... on the voids i use a grout float (rubber) and a fine sand/portland mix... on the very small pin hole type voids i use a portland paste... sometimes i like the surface damp and my mix/filler on the dry side... dryer it is the more it seems to want to stay proud of the surface

   even when i'm casting upside down with what will be a the unseen side up... i still hand finish that side... just so.... i have an option incase the other side looks bad... plus... i just like to finish concrete... goofy i know... but on these small areas i get to play and test different trowls and ways to finish to a very slick finish... timing is everything but... it's good to know how to bring it back... ..

   p

5. 
   oak | May 31, 2007 07:09am | #5

   wondering if any of you have tried filling the voids with an epoxy grout?

   read about it, but never have tried it...

   any thoughts?

6. 
   neilpuck | May 31, 2007 04:41pm | #6

   I've done several concrete countertop jobs by now.  Not calling myself an expert, but I've tried a few tings.  In the bathroom, I used a sanded grout of a contrasting color to the tinted counters to get some color variation and did end up with some slight divoting.  Which I didn't mind.  In the Kitchen, I did not tint the counters at all.  I tried several things in order to fill bugholes, and even repair one which had too dry a mix and didn't settle very well at all.  For one top, I bought a bag of mortar and used that to fill.  Filled decently well, but a color variation.  For another top, I sifted the pebbles out of the concrete I had used to pour the tops.  Color, of course, matched perfectly, but I ended up with the same issue you did.  Slight divots.  The material that worked the best was the Henry Universal PAtch and Skimcoat.  547 unipro.  Smooth as all get out, filled the holes perfectly without divots, and cured quickly so I could polish the same day.  The color came out darker.  I don't know if the 547 comes in white that can be tinted to match, but check it out.