Cogburn Creek Cinema (Phase 2) - Page 2

I totally forgot to add sand to this top... oops. Although it's so small it won't matter. I haven't even begun to think about how to do the actual counters. I'm thinking three pieces for the lower counter since there's a sink involved. The upper bar top will only be about 15-18" wide which worries me since it'll be long and skinny.

I beat on the form for a solid 10 minutes with the mallet, I guess we'll know in three days how well that worked. The sad part is I had a broken orbital sander that I was going to screw into the form and let run for 30 minutes. I guess I tossed it at one point, figures I finally throw something away then lo and behold I need it. I need to come up with plan b now, I'm not going to beat on an 8' form to remove the bubbles.

Here's the first pictures of the first test "slab". Can't tell much other than it's a black square of concrete.

The mallet did a good job on getting the air bubbles out of the center. However, I didn't pound the sides as much as I had thought. The mallet may work, but it's a lot of effort and this was a small mold.

The corners didn't come out as sharp as I had thought, and were still quite soft. I think I need less water in the mix next time.

Going to wait until Saturday to start grinding and polishing. I guess that's where I'll find out how well this turned out.

I think it was a side effect of too wide of a bead of silicone to seal the corners. I had intended to grind the edges down for a rounded effect, but I unintentionally did it easier.

My next top I'll do this weekend, and I think I'm going to experiment with different mouldings to see what I can make for edge details.

I'm undecided at this point. Part of me wants to provide visual interest at the seam, the other part of me says just keep the edges square and silicone them together. I checked the Granite counters in my kitchen, and they are just siliconed together.

I have been thinking of inserting something like the following picture on both sides of the seam to help mask the seam. I'm thinking that I do a three tile row on one seam, and a two tile row on the other side, then grout the center together to hide the joint.



My sink counter will have three sections since it's about 8' long and the sink is center of the counter. Although I'm contemplating doing the actual bar top (also areound 8' long) as one piece. It's going to be skinnier (15-16") so not quite as heavy as a typical counter. If it breaks then I'll have more stepping stones or a bench for the garden, and I'll remake the bar top as two sections.

Yeah I think you silicone the pieces to the bottom of the mold and pour the concrete over the tile.

Ok so this brings a question immediately to mind. Could you create one mold the full length of the counter top but run a divider at an angle in the mold to create two seperate tops? Obviously I'd have to add the thickness of the divider to the overall length. My thinking is that placing the divider into the mold would ensure the angle would be correct on both sides so they fit back together correctly.

Here's a pic of the sink I'll eventually include in the counter. It's an undermount as well. I'm wishing I had gone slightly smaller than the 22" now...

Ok, here's the test top after a couple hours of grinding and polishing. I haven't sealed it since I apprently ran out of paste wax... Kinda like the reason I have so many bubbles in the top, I had a perfectly fine broken random orbital sander I was going to screw to the mold and let run for 30 minutes. That is until I needed it and realized someone threw away a perfectly broken sander...! (grrr) So for the real top I'll be purchasing a sawsall, which I've always wanted anyway so this is my excuse to buy one.

Ok so here's the pictures of this mornings effort.

50 Grit Diamond pad to expose the aggregate and shape the corners.



100 Grit to start smoothing the top



200 Grit smoothing and light shaping still



400 Grit time for some serious polishing and smoothing



800 Grit.. wow, I can't believe how smooth the top is getting at this point



Finally the 1500 Grit... feels like glass



My supervisor checking out my work.. (he approved of Daddy's rock)




I do have more bubbles than I exected, however, last minute plan change to beat on the mold with a mallet I'm pretty happy. Besides this was my first test and while there are a couple of things I'll do differently this was way easier than I had ever imagined. Another test top and I think I'll be ready to go.

The counter came out lighter in color than I had hoped. But thanks to some rusty red colored stones, I discovered I really like the coppery additive look versus the white. Also I spent too much time with the 50 grit pad, and I don't think I'll expose the aggragate nearly as much on the next top. If the weather hold's I'll be pouring my second top tomorrow afternoon / evening. I still need to polish this top with some wax to see how much the color deepens, but just polishing with the pads gives it a nice shine and I could see the sky and clouds reflecting in the dry top.

The wife is thrilled and loves it like it is, I think I surprised her!!

Thanks for the great comments everyone!! I appreciate it very much.

I've never worked with concrete either, so this i very much a first for me. It's really pretty simple, I have to say I have impressed myself

The process of mixing water into the concrete causes air to get trapped inside the mix. Those bubble result in small divits or imprefections in the top. I guess it's personal preference, but you can mix a "slurry" and work that into the void to remoe them, or you can leave them. I'm thinking I'll leave them as long as they are small and aren't too numerous. However, once I make the actual top I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I have as few as possible. I think if it was a kitchen counter I'd use the slurry to remove them as it's really disgusting to think of raw chicken or meat leaking into the pockets...

I'll take a picture of the wood pile in the morning... The mold are made of wood so I have a small pile

Yeah thank my wife for that mental image... We're just planning it as a bar so if I get a few bubbles, I'll probably leave them.

If you're thinking of doing this the book mmeister suggested in his thread is the step-by-step bible of this process. Cheng does a wonderful job of explaining the process and all the options. The one I purchased came with a DVD that provided videos of the process as well. Well worth the $23 investment, IMHO.

http://www.amazon.com/Concrete-Count...9230319&sr=8-6

Thanks for the reply! I found the section in the book about how to divide large tops. I think I'll go with the plexiglass and just rabbit a slot in the form for it to fit into.

Great idea on starting with the 200 grit pad. I'm also thinking when I do the actual bar top that I might insert frosted glass squares every 6" or so. Then put christmas lights under each square to light them up. I was thinking I could make the recess under the counter large enough to hold 4 bulbs I could cycle through colors, or replace the bulbs with the same color in each.... I want to do something that make's it mine, I mean beyond just making them to begin with

Here's the closest thing to a wood pile I was able to accomplish...

Just a quick update. We're meeting with the custom cabinet maker on Friday to go over the configuration and look at other options. We're doing the bar in two phases (yes there's that phase word again) the first step is getting the bar useful. So phase 1 will be the front bar (bar top and sink area). At this point we have the dishwasher, sink. The back bar area will come next year (sometime around March). I still have to finish the shower in the bathroom as well. Permits here are only good for 1 year, after that you have to pay a renewal fee.

Just got back from the cabinet shop. Man that's what I want to do for a living when I grow up (ok retire). Unbelieveable craftsmanship, and due to the economy we're getting them for a little more than stock cabinets at lowes or hd. I'm just blown away by how amazing his work is...

The downside is now that I've been to his shop we're probably going to upgrade the doors/drawer fronts in both shape and adding a detail glazing. Stupid budget making me wait till Feb/Mar to do the backbar, oh well cash is cash and I'm not buying anything on credit.

The other downside is that thanks to poor planning on my wife's part (WAF biting me in the behind), is that we have limited space behind the bar. I wanted to close off the doorway closest to the bar and bring the bar area out another two feet. She wouldn't budge on that, and now wishes she had listened. Oh well... ANYWAY, due to the limited space we're going to do a clipped corner cabinet to give us a little more room walking behind the bar. What this all means is that I can't start the countertop for the front bar until the cabinets are in place. So two to three weeks from now I may start the actual countertops.

In the meantime I'll make one more test top and perhaps next weekend I'll go ahead and pour the "Bar top". I wanted to wait and pour that the same time as the sink counter to save on the cost to rent the mixer. However, I really want to get the first top complete!!!

Ok time to resurrect the thread from the 4th page. It really doesn't take long to disappear into obscurity. I was expecting three cabinets to be delivered and installed yesterday, however, I now have one big cabinet. This causes me a problem since I had planned on taking out one of the cabinets and replacing it with a dedicated ice maker in the future. I'm not complaining though, this one cabinet is gorgeous and I can't imagine it being done any other way now.

I don't think I could have planned this any better with this weekend being a holiday weekend. Time to start building some molds and start mixing concrete for the counter tops. Although I still have to find a faucet for the bar sink....

Here's the pictures of the cabinet, the camera really didn't do it any justice, but I absolutely love it!!!