The Value of Concrete Countertops: Modification Increases Aesthetic Appeal and Property Financial Investment for Homeown

1. From top-dollar residences in the San Francisco Bay Area to stretching hill homes in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating homeowners are requiring custom styles and also finishes in their kitchen areas. In particular, they are aiming to reveal their uniqueness as well as unique design preferences with the rapid growing style product of choice-- concrete. In fact, concrete counter tops have actually ended up being somewhat of a condition symbol for kitchen areas, equaling granite as well as various other premium counter top surface area alternatives. Customer Reports Publication (August 2004) ranked concrete greatest for its "customization" and "exclusivity" among high-end kitchen area counter tops. As a custom-made product, the amount of time as well as workmanship needed to create concrete countertops positions them as one of the most labor-intensive and also most expensive among leading countertop materials. However, concrete counter tops are becoming a lot more easily accessible for those on a modest spending plan. The most recent diy (Do It Yourself) trend to mesmerize homeowners and building contractors is developing your own concrete kitchen counter. This phenomenon has actually obtained appeal largely as a result of Cheng's best- selling book Concrete Countertops: Style, Kinds, and Ends Up for the New Kitchen corian countertops colors Area and also Bathroom (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little monetary financial investment in making concrete counter tops, yet the imaginative gains of dealing with concrete abound. THE SHOWSTOPPER Significantly, home owners are relocating far from the dull, manufactured appearance of traditional counter top surface areas and also choosing concrete for its natural, ageless charm. Plus, the options for personalizing concrete counter tops are limitless: one can color, polish, stamp and also tarnish concrete or imbed personal things like stones, seashells and fossils into the kitchen counter's surface, adding view and also personality. Practical features such as drainpipe boards, soap recipes, and trivets can also be incorporated to fit the house owners' very own needs and way of living. Concrete is slowly coming to be demystified as classically cool and industrial. In contrary, this olden material is cozy and also remarkably responsive; people can not aid yet touch their smooth, refined surfaces. Real estate representative Happiness Rasmussen, that has just recently sold her mountain house-- a short-term financial investment property in Steamboat Springs, Carbon Monoxide-- states her visitors' experiences with concrete: "When I had open houses, site visitors was attracted to the concrete counter tops-- lots of people around right here have actually never seen them". Happiness's 2,265 sq. ft. mountain residence was custom develop by her partner, Ken Otterman, together with KJ Otterman, head of state of Standard Special Personalized Houses. They built pour-in-place concrete counters for the house's kitchen area as well as three shower rooms by utilizing Concrete Countertops as their overview. The sand-colored concrete counter tops were brightened smooth, after that coupled with natural slate of varying

2. colors-- like charcoal, corrosion and gold tones-- that creates the backsplashes in the kitchen and also bathrooms. As a design accent, little rectangular slate ceramic tiles were added to the edge of the restroom sinks, which gave an unique detail to the custom-made vanities. When Joy and Ken decided to offer their house, their investment in concrete countertops confirmed its worth. "We were able to detail your home $20,000 over market value, and had no worry selling it," remarks Delight, while going over the long listing of upgrades throughout their house, consisting of knotty pine solid doors, natural slate wall accents and wood floors. "The concrete kitchen counters were quickly one of the most distinct and also impressive of all the surfaces. I think they were a massive part in including value to the residence. Around below, all you see in homes are granite kitchen counters-- and also I truly believe property buyers are obtaining rather numb with granite." " Concrete counter tops are an unique offering to homebuyers that see the exact same coatings utilized in residence after house they see," clarifies Delight, offering her observation as a skilled real estate professional. "Having concrete counter tops nearly offers you bragging legal rights-- you have something various from your neighbors." BREAKING THE MOLD An additional benefit of concrete is its versatility in either contemporary or standard setups, particularly when paired with various other materials like different metals, timber or rock. "Concrete adds so many [possibilities] to stone, and the combination with slate, which is extremely prominent below, offers the mountain residences a total cozy, all-natural touch," claims Happiness. Pleasure and also Ken have actually because built a much larger house (4,000 sq. ft.) that provides large views of the Boat Ski Hotel and is implied to function as a lasting investment for the pair. They've likewise broadened their list of personalized coatings, including hand-troweled wall surfaces, sophisticated oil-rubbed bronze hardware, knotty ache doors that arch on top, cabinets in an all-natural, knotty alder, as well as their preferred-- concrete kitchen area countertops. Unlike in their previous home, KJ and his specialized staff put charcoal-colored countertops making use of the pre-cast approach in the unfinished cellar of the new