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concrete
countertops
madeEn*imple
Y
concrete
coun rtops
mad imple
A step-by-stegpu ide
Fu-TunCgh eng
Photographbyy MatthewM illman
ffi
The Thunton Press
ToM om Sung YuanC heng,a gain and ogoin
TextO 2008b y Fu-TunCgh eng
Photograph@s 2008b yM atthewM ilLmaunn lesso theMisen oted;p hotop . 2 @ RichardB arnes
DVDO Fu-TunCgh eng
lllustrationOs 2008b yTheT auntonP ressI,n c.
AILri ghtsr eserved.
Tl*.t**onpress
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TauntonP ressl,n c.,6 3 SouthM ainS treetP, OB ox5 506,N ewtownC, T0 6470-5506
e-martlp: @taUnton.com
EditorS: teveC ulpepper
Jacket/Covdeer signL: oopD esignJ,a sonC arreiro
Copye ditor:C andacBe . Levy
lndexerC: atherinGe oddard
lnteriodr esignC: aroPl etroC, hikaA zuma
LayoutC: aroPl etro
lllustratorM: arioF erro
PhotographeArl:l photographbyy M atthewM illmanu nLesost hen/isen oted.
DVDT: oddo sborn
Libraryo f CongresCsa taloging-in-PublicaDtiaotna
ChengF, u-Tung.
Concretceo untertopms ades imple: a step-by-stegpu ide/ Fu-TunCgh eng; photographeMr,a tthewM illman.
p.c m.
Includesb ibliographicrael ferenceasn di ndex.
ISBN9 78-1-55518 -882-(4a lkp. aper)
1. Concretceo untertops-Desiagnnd c onstruction2,. Concretceo nstruction-Formwo3r.k C. ountertops-Materiall.s T.i tle.
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2008022508
Printedin the UnitedS tateso fAmerica
10987654321.
Thef ollowingm anufacturers/namaepsp ea ng in ConcretCeo untertopMsa deS implea r et rademrak s:A lphaP rofessionl Tao ols@,
BasaliteoB,u ngee@Co,n creteD ecorlMm agazineC,o ntractorDsi rectsMFo, rmica@lde, alTilesKMit chen& BathD esignC enterl,m erU SA,
Inc.oI,n terstar@Ma, kita@M,a sonite@M,e tamine@My, lar@P,C -7@Ph, ittips@Pl,e xiglasoP,o tyteDk evelopmenCto rporationS@a,k rete@,
Sharpieo5,m ooth-OnoS,p eed@Sq uareT, apconoV,e lcrooV,i bco@.
Constru€tionis inherentldya ngerousU, singh ando r powerto olsi mproperloyr ignorings afetyp racticecsa nl eadt o permanenint juryo r
evend eath.D on'tt ryt o performo perationyso ul earna bouth ere( ore lsewhereu)n lessy ou'rec ertainth eya res afef ory ou.l f something
abouta n operationd oesn'tf eelr ight,d on'td o it. Lookf ora nothewr ay.W ew anty out o enjoyt he craft,s o pleasek eeps afetyfo remost
in yourm indw heneveyro u'rei n the shop.
acknowledgments
Muchg ratitudteo T oddO sbornv,i deographfeorr,h is
friendshiapn dc ommitmetnot q ualityM; attM itlman,
longtimec ollaboratopr,h otographearn, dn owp lumber
extraordinairCe;la yL ai,w hoc nftedt he perfecst et;
andM ikeH eidebrinka, p artnerf,o rg reati deass, tead-
fastnessa,n de quanimity.
Alsot hankst o AnnK im,a rchitectf,o r designing
aroundth ei mpossibwlei thouct omptainSt;t eve
CulpeppeTr,a unton'esx ecutiveed itorf,o rt oterance
andf orbearanocfe m e,h isr ecurrinngig htmaraen, d
thew isdomo f introducinmg et o ScottG ibsonw, riter
anda uthorw, hos o adroitlyd ancedm yt exta round
that I couldn'tte ll hisv oicef romm ine.A ndt hanksto
myw ife,L ilaL ukf,o rh anginign t heb alancea,n dt o my
daughterA, n-YaC hengf,o r climbinga boardC atB usf or
thew ild ridet o the bathroome achm oming.
contents
Preface j Step2 : Makingt he mold 34
Starwt itha drawing 35
lntroduction:W hy use concrete?
4
Cuttinga nda ssembling 37
Concrecteh aracteristics 7
Roundinagn ds ealingthee dges 43
Prosa ndc on s 8
Considemr akinga n instanfto amm old 46
Whyd o-it-yuor setf? 72
Makingy ourc ountertoepv ens tronger 48
Whatis c on c rete? 1.2
Thp inn l< vnrr 'll npad L4
Step3 : Mixinga ndp ouring 52
Whaty ouc ana ccompl ish 1,7
Understandtihnegb asicm ix 53
Admixtures 55
Step1 : Makinga template 22
+^1.^ -1"^^^ 59
rr >rarL) Lu LaNE r||aPe
Theb asicso f tempLatme aking 23
Screeidn ga nds moothin gt he
VisuaLsubstance z) wetc oncrete 67
Wherey ourc ountertobpe gins 27 Trrinor rn lnnca and< 63
Alla b outk nockouts 29 Curing 63
Creatinygo uro wnh omemade
pour table 32
Step4 : Outo f the mold 64 Step6 : Sealing 82
Removintgh es ideso f them old 65 Applyintgh es ealer 83
Removinfga ucekt nockouts 67 Applyintgh ew ax 89
Turnintgh em oldo ver 70
Nowl eaveit alone 70 Step7 : Instatllng 90
Howto moveit 9"t
Step5 : Polisha nds lurry 74 Beefinugp a cabinet 9)
Makinigt shi ne 7\ Dry-tftii ngt hec ountertop 94
Addintgh es lurry 79 Gettinrge adfyo rt hes ink 96
Ther epolish 81
FAQs oo
Maintainiynogu rc ounterpto:
cnme orr i.lpl inoc 101
Resources 1.02
Index 105
preface
I madem yf irstc oncretec ountertopa sa do-it-myself Thisk indo f projecits morea kint o cookingth ant o
projecfto rm yo wnk itchenin 1985.T housandosf m eals buiLding-andit 's no accidentth erea rel otso f refer-
later,m yf amilys tillu sesi t everyd ay.W et ovei t, ands o encesto cookintgh roughoutht isb ook.C ookinggo t
doese veryonee tsew ho seesi t. mes tartedd esigningm yk itchenin the firstp lace.lf it
Myg oalb ackt henw ass imple:t o creates omething weren'tf ort hat,l 'd probabLsyt iltb e butteringm yt oast
speciaal nds avem oney.L ittled id I realizeth ata ffluent on a Formic a@co untertop.
homeownerws oulds omedayc ovetc ountertopms ade Wheny ouf irstt akea n interesitn cookingy, ou're
of concreteO. rt hat myf irstb ook,C oncretCe ounter- probabtyn ot readyto tacktea 1o-courslet aLianb an-
tops:D esign,F orms,a nd Finishesfo r the NewK itchen quet.B uti t's satisfyingto preparey ouro wnv ersiono f a
andB oth,w oulde ncouragseo manya rtisansto make famiLyre cipea nds ervei t up to friendsT. hat'sth e same
concretec ountersfo rt he luxurym arketth ats oond evel- senseo f personasl atisfactioann dc reativeg ratificatlon
oped.B utt he biggesst urprisew ast hatt herew eres o thaty oug etw henm akingy ourf irstc oncreteco untertop.
manyf earlessh omeownerws illingt o makec ountertops Thi nko fc ements,a nd,a ndr ocka st houghth eyw ere
fort he mselves. flour,b akingp owdera, nds alt.A ddw atert o the right
Manyp eopLfein dt hec osto fa professionacuLs, tom blendo f dryi ngredientsa,n dy oug etc oncreteb atter.
countertotpo om uchf ortheirr emodelekdi tchens. Countertompa kingis l ikeb akinga n upside-dowcna ke
ConcreteC ountertopsM adeS implei s my attemp t to re- in a woodenp an.Y ous implym ixa ndp ourt hec on-
solveth isd ilemmab yh etpingh omeownecrsre ateth eir creteb atteri ntot he smoothm old.Y oue veng ett o stick
ownc ountersth ata rea ffordableg,r eena, nd unique. yourf ingersin the batter( butn o licking!)Y. ourh ands
Witht hisb ook,m akingc oncretceo untertopcso mes getd irty;i t's a bit of a messY. oul et lt bake( noo ven
fullc ircle,b ackt o its originsa sa creatived o-it-yourself requiredI)n. 4 dayst o 5 daysp, opi t outo fthem olda nd
projectth at'sa lot of fun andv erys atlsfying. (withs omeb eefyh elp)t urni t over.T of inishi t out,y ou
Takey ourt imea ndf ollowt he instructionsa,n d polishth ea lreadfyL ast urfacwe itha handp otishearn d
youw iltg eti t rightt he firstt ime.l fyou'ren ots urey ou seali t.
wantt o jumpi ntoa full-sizek itchenc ountery, ouc an Thep rocessis fun anda ffordableU. singth e instruc-
startm odestlyw itht he bathroomv anityc ountertopw e tionsi n thisb ooky, ous houldb ea blet o comptetae
demonstraitnet hisb ook. counteirn aboutt wow eekendsN.o to nlyw ilLthere suLt
What'sf un aboutc oncretec ountertopiss thata ny- bea sb eautifuals a nythinygo uc ouldb uyb uty ouw ill
onec anm akeo ne:f romt hea mateurwitthh es imptest havec reatedit yourselfY. ouw on'tb e ablet o keepy our
oft oolst o thee xperwt hoh asa fullye quippesdh op. handso ffo fi t,a ndn eithewr ilLa nyonee lsew hos eesit .
