I am getting ready to attempt my first concrete counter top, which will be a small vanity top for a half bath. It looks like Quickrete has several product offerings and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a specific product. Is it better to use the fiber reinforced, the Quickrete 5000 etc. It looks like Quickrete is coming out with a countertop mix, but that it may not be available yet.
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I also want to make the countertop white in color if that makes a difference. Can anyone recommend good pigment, etc?
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Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide.
Replies
I think I'd look into sack mixes specifically for counters from Cheng or Buddy Rhodes. Maybe surf to concreteexchange.com and see what they have for sale.
I've ton a bunch of counters with the Quikcrete 5000 and it works well. However, if you want a white countertop, you will probably have to mix your own mix with white sand and white portland since you can't dye grey to white...you can only go darker.
Unless there are new dyes on the market I am not aware of...which, of course, is entirely possible.
Almost ditto what alexpesta said in his response. The Quikrete 5000 is a good mix, but it uses grey cement. You need to use white cement or maybe a mixture of the two. The cement is the primary "coloring" ingredient when a dye isn't used. I like the whiteness of a mix that uses normal aggregate (not white sand), 75% white cement, and 25% grey cement. All white cement looks too pasty to me. Buy Chengs book, it will help you immensely. I wouldn't buy his concrete mix, it seems terribly overpriced. Make a color sample before you commit to the final casting. Oh, one more thing..... Don't use fiber despite what Cheng says. There will be little tiny fiber ends sticking up that don't get ground off. They will eventually wear away, but it takes awhile. You can't see em, but you can feel them.
I've used fiber in two kitchen remodels, I have never had any problem with feeling them. Both projects came out great, and Cheng's book was quite helpful. I do like his new sealer, which I used for my second project.
As for the concrete itself, I have also used Buddy Rhodes' mix for a bathroom vanity we poured around the same time as the first kitchen remodel. I like the color a lot, but it has had some cracking. I think fibers help a lot in preventing this. Not sure if his mix had them, I don't think it did.
If I were you, I would buy white cement if you can find it. You really want to have a bunch of portland cement on hand to slurry coat any small holes, etc... With white, you could use epoxy, but I don't recommend that except for cracks or really large holes. With small ones, using the cement + pigment mix then wet polishing flat to the concrete comes out really nicely.
The one "issue" I have with Cheng's book is that his recipes for concrete don't produce quite as much volume as stated. Or at least, next time I will use +10% to allow for a +10% overage. (I mixed what should have been 22 cu feet for 20 cu feet of counters, and was literally scraping the mixer and praying I would have enough at the end. I did, barely).
I'd only use Sackrete - or any 'ordinary' concrete- for utility and practice runs. Indeed, there is a LOT to be said for making a few practice runs ahead of time ....
Here are my thoughts .... keep in mind that I have NOT made such a counter, but from the little I know, this is what I'd do ....
First of all, forget regular steel for reinforcement. Use stuff that is either plastic coated, or stainless. Why? Because water will enter the concrete, steel will rust .... and rust takes up more space than iron. End result: the slab breaks, and bits chip off.
Second, fiber added will go a long way in preventing the small cracks and chips at the edges.
Third, I would use quartz sand (the pure white stuff) rather than ordinary sand. This will give you a harder surface, tend to make the surface seem to glitter, and lend a more pleasing color. If you've ever seen the B'Hai temple north of Chicago, you've seen the difference quartz sand can make.
Finally, I'd look for some different stones to use as the aggregate. Ordinary aggregate is too large and bland for my liking. Perhaps aquarium gravel? Let the stones give you the color ... set in a matrix of white sand.
Just a few wild thoughts ....
sacker,
I have used the 5000 mix. It worked just fine.
White concrete requires white sand and white cement. Not available in premix that I am aware of.
It also requires STAINLESS trowels if you are finishing the surface. using carbon steel trowels will leave black streaks and marks in the finish.
I've done a few tops now and like everyone else has mentioned the Cheng book is a bible when it comes to concrete countertops. If you have the time and patience and want white concrete you can get white portland at the local masonry supply house. It only comes in type I. Whereas gray Portland comes in type I-II, and type III.
I saw the Quikrete countertop mix in stock the other day at Discount Builders in San Francisco.