The Worth of Concrete Countertops: Customization Rises Visual Appeal and also Property Investment for Homeowners

1. From top-dollar homes in the San Francisco Bay Area to sprawling hill houses in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating homeowners are demanding custom designs and also surfaces in their kitchen areas. Specifically, they are wanting to reveal their uniqueness as well as distinctive style preferences with the fast expanding style material of choice-- concrete. Actually, concrete kitchen counters have come to be rather of a standing icon for kitchens, measuring up to granite as well as various other high-end kitchen counter surface area alternatives. Customer Information Magazine (August 2004) rated concrete highest for its "customization" as well as "exclusivity" among high-end kitchen area counter tops. As a personalized product, the quantity of time and also workmanship needed to produce concrete kitchen counters puts them as the most labor-intensive and most expensive among leading kitchen counter products. Nevertheless, concrete countertops are coming to be a lot more easily accessible for those on a moderate spending plan. The current do-it-yourself (Do It Yourself) pattern to mesmerize homeowners and contractors is constructing your own concrete countertop. This sensation has obtained popularity greatly as a result of Cheng's very popular publication Concrete Countertops: Design, Forms, as well as Completes for the New Kitchen and also Bath (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little monetary financial investment in making concrete countertops, yet the creative gains of dealing with concrete are plentiful. THE SHOWSTOPPER Increasingly, home owners are moving cost effective kitchen countertops far from the monotonous, manufactured look of traditional countertop surface areas as well as selecting concrete for its earthy, timeless appeal. And also, the alternatives for personalizing concrete countertops are endless: one can color, gloss, stamp as well as tarnish concrete or imbed individual things like rocks, seashells as well as fossils into the counter top's surface area, adding belief as well as character. Practical features such as drain boards, soap meals, and also trivets can likewise be integrated to match the property owners' very own needs as well as way of living. Concrete is gradually becoming debunked as characteristically cold and industrial. In contrary, this olden product is warm as well as remarkably tactile; individuals can not assist however touch their smooth, polished surfaces. Property representative Joy Rasmussen, that has actually just recently marketed her mountain residence-- a temporary financial investment residential or commercial property in Boat Springs, Carbon Monoxide-- recounts her site visitors' experiences with concrete: "When I had open residences, visitors moved to the concrete countertops-- many individuals around right here have never ever seen them". Pleasure's 2,265 sq. ft. hill residence was customized build by her spouse, Ken Otterman, in addition to KJ Otterman, president of Classic Unique Customized Residences. They constructed pour-in-place concrete counters for the home's kitchen area as well as three shower rooms by using Concrete Countertops as their guide. The sand-colored concrete counter tops were brightened smooth, then coupled with all-natural slate of differing

2. shades-- like charcoal, corrosion and also gold tones-- that forms the backsplashes in the kitchen area as well as baths. As a style accent, tiny rectangle-shaped slate ceramic tiles were contributed to the rim of the bathroom sinks, which provided a special detail to the custom vanities. When Delight and Ken determined to market their home, their investment in concrete kitchen counters showed its value. "We had the ability to list your home $20,000 over market price, and had not a problem offering it," remarks Joy, while talking about the long list of upgrades throughout their residence, consisting of knotty want solid doors, all-natural slate wall surface accents and hardwood floors. "The concrete countertops were conveniently the most distinct as well as excellent of all the coatings. I believe they were a huge part in adding worth to the home. Around right here, all you see in homes are granite counter tops-- and I truly assume buyers are obtaining quite numb with granite." " Concrete countertops are an one-of-a-kind offering to buyers who see the exact same surfaces utilized in home after home they check out," explains Joy, providing her observation as a skilled realtor. "Having concrete kitchen counters almost offers you boasting rights-- you have something different from your next-door neighbors." BREAKING THE MOLD AND MILDEW An additional advantage of concrete is its flexibility in either modern-day or conventional settings, particularly when combined with other products like different steels, timber or stone. "Concrete adds many [opportunities] to rock, as well as the mix with slate, which is hugely popular here, provides the mountain residences a total cozy, all- natural touch," claims Joy. Joy as well as Ken have actually considering that built a much bigger residence (4,000 sq. ft.) that offers expansive sights of the Boat Ski Resort as well as is implied to work as a lasting financial investment for the couple. They've likewise broadened their list of custom-made coatings, consisting of hand-troweled walls, sophisticated oil-rubbed bronze equipment, knotty ache doors that curve on top, cupboards in a natural, knotty alder, as well as their preferred-- concrete kitchen countertops. Unlike in their previous house, KJ as well as his specialized staff put charcoal-colored countertops using the pre- cast technique in the unfinished cellar of the brand-new house. Prior to putting the concrete, they sprayed a selection of semi-precious rocks in the mold and mildew consisting of Leopardskin, Moonstone, Mother-of-Pearl and also Blue-green. After the surface area was ground and also lightly brightened, the finished outcome was a remarkable blend of shades, "By far, the Mother-of-Pearl was one of the most extraordinary," states Happiness. The L-shaped concrete kitchen counter has a rough, rustic rock look, enhancing its rugged country environments. An important drainpipe board as well as trivets gives feature and also included passion to the concrete counter top. All-natural slate backsplashes, distinct wall accents, as well as a butcher block counter top at the cooking area island all resonate with the traditional heat as well as earthiness of the concrete counter tops. Delight as well as Ken's respective histories in real estate and personalized homebuilding, and also as investment homebuyers, have actually aided them understand that concrete countertops can add incredible aesthetic as well as economic value to a house. Concrete's customization as well as "show-stopping" appeal is like no other kitchen counter surface. Cheng is a proponent of emotional aesthetic appeals as well as constructing residences that capture these emotions, as in the case of Delight as well as Ken Otterman. Cheng ends: "Individuals actually desire differentiation, something individual, something customized-- as well as concrete can do that for them."