Does anyone have a good source for edge forms for a pour-in-place concrete countertop? I’ve looking for disposable foam / 2″ thick / with a half-round or capstone profile.
I’ve looked at Mortex and Stegmeier but find you have to buy in 32′ increments, I need 48′ so I’d have to get 64′. And am quoted $180 per 32′ plus $20 shipping. Hard to stomach paying $400 for something I’m going to throw away.
Buddy Rhodes offers reusable forms but at $104 per 8′ they’re even less attractive for my 1 time use.
Thanks!
Replies
When you say pour in place do you mean cast upside down, or trowel finish?
Either way there are options for edging that are cheaper.
We used a diamond edged router bit (usually for granite) for a roundover. It exposed the aggregate, but we like the look.
I have made wooden moldings for forms in the past, chamfers are easy, and anything your router can make you can reverse into the concrete. I have thought of using a thin gauge sheet metal for the bottom (finished top) and curving it into a bullnose for the front, or even cutting pvc pipe lengthwise for a bullnose or eased edge. Even pre-formed melamine countertops could be used as a form.
If you are casting right side up, you can use a piece of plastic held between your hands to finish a roundover after you use your edging tool and the form edges are off (carefully)
By pour-in-place I'm referring to a right side up, trowel finish.
2 seperate counters, 1 of which is an island where the router idea might have some merit. But the other counter has an opposing wall at each end and the router wouldn't be able to make it all the way to the end before it was running into this wall.
I agree that chamfers would be easy to do with a wood form but was hoping for 1" radii which is larger than any bit I currently have. Though this might be an excuse to get the larger bit and then a larger router with sufficient torque. I'd half thought about ripping a piece of pvc in half and using the I.D. as the form. Thanks for your ideas.
Try a foam products distributor. Not only do they stock and make a variety of foam mouldings for stucco trim applications but they could make a form with any profile you choose.
If you want to save a lot of fabrication cost you could do it yourself.
Buy their precut square edge foam, it comes in 2x4, 2x6, etc. Very inexpensive.
Make a hot wire foam cutter. Slide it over the foam strips and you have your molds in a few minutes.
When I did mine I used ordinary solid wire I got at Home Depot. Maybe 24 ga. Comes on a 100 ft roll. Used an old battery charger at the lowest setting to supply the juice. The wire would get hot instantly and slide throught the foam without a hitch. What I didn't do was place a resistor in the circuit so the internal overload clicked on and off and I had to start and stop while the wire cooled and then reheated. If I needed a long smooth run I would work up a better control system.
When you bend or form your cutting wire to the profile you want, capture it in a non-metallic guide that will hold the wire exactly where you need it as you run the guide along the edge of the foam. I used 2 pieces of 1x at right angles and ordinary screws to hold the wire ends to the wood. Then just pushed the wire along the edge of the foam.
You could also place the hot wire in a fixed position and push the foam by it. Sort of like a router table setup.
If you do this, take some pics for all to see.
This idea has my curiousity piqued. As making these forms would be a seperate job, long before I'm actually pouring the concrete, I'd already know whether they'd worked out to my satisfaction. Or whether I'd have to resort to simpler wood forms.
I will try this and have camera in hand and will post the pictures if I'm successful.
As with any concrete forms, but especially with styrofoam, be sure to have adequate hard bracing behind or you will end up with a wavy edge. (You probably already knew that).<G>