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From top-dollar houses in the San Francisco Bay Location to stretching hill homes in the Colorado Mountain ranges, differentiating home owners are demanding personalized layouts and also surfaces in their kitchens. In particular, they are looking to express their uniqueness and also distinct layout choices with the quick growing style material of option-- concrete.

Actually, concrete countertops have become rather of a condition icon for kitchen areas, rivaling granite and various other premium counter top surface alternatives. Consumer Reports Publication (August 2004) placed concrete highest possible for its "modification" as well as "exclusivity" amongst high-end kitchen area countertops.

As a personalized item, the quantity of time and also workmanship required to produce concrete kitchen counters places them as one of the most labor-intensive and also most expensive among leading countertop products.

Nevertheless, concrete countertops are becoming much more available for those on a moderate spending plan. The latest diy (Do It Yourself) pattern to captivate homeowners and also builders is building your own concrete kitchen counter. This sensation has actually obtained popularity largely due to Cheng's very successful publication Concrete Countertops: Style, Forms, and also Finishes for the New Kitchen Area as well as Bath (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little monetary investment in making concrete counter tops, yet the imaginative gains of collaborating with concrete are plentiful.

THE SHOWSTOPPER

Significantly, homeowners are relocating far from the tedious, manufactured look of traditional countertop surfaces and also selecting concrete for its natural, classic charm. Plus, the alternatives for customizing concrete kitchen counters are countless: one can tint, gloss, stamp and also discolor concrete or imbed personal items like stones, seashells and also fossils right into the countertop's surface, including belief as well as personality. Useful attributes such as drain boards, soap dishes, and also trivets can additionally be integrated to fit the property owners' own needs as well as way of life.

Concrete is gradually coming to be demystified as classically cool and also industrial. In contrary, this age-old material is warm as well as surprisingly tactile; individuals can not assist yet touch their smooth, sleek surfaces. Real estate agent Joy Rasmussen, that has actually lately sold her hill home-- a short-term investment home in Steamboat Springs, CO-- recounts her visitors' experiences with concrete: "When I had open residences, visitors gravitated to the concrete counter tops-- many individuals around right here have never seen them".

Happiness's 2,265 sq. ft. mountain house was custom develop by her husband, Ken Otterman, along with KJ Otterman, head of state of Classic Special Custom Homes. They developed pour-in-place concrete counters for the home's kitchen and 3 washrooms by utilizing Concrete Countertops as their guide. The sand-colored concrete countertops were brightened smooth, then coupled with natural slate of differing shades-- like charcoal, rust and also gold tones-- that develops the backsplashes in the kitchen as well as bathrooms. As a style accent, small rectangular slate ceramic tiles were added to the rim of the bathroom sinks, which gave a distinct information to the customized vanities.

When Pleasure and also Ken determined to market their residence, their financial investment in concrete counter tops proved its worth. "We were able to note your house $20,000 over market value, and also had no worry marketing it," comments Happiness, while reviewing the lengthy checklist of upgrades throughout their home, including knotty ache strong doors, all-natural slate wall surface accents and also wood floorings. "The concrete countertops were quickly one of the most one-of-a-kind as well as excellent of all the coatings. I think they were a substantial part in including value to the residence. Around below, all you see in homes are granite countertops-- and I countertops for bar stools truly think property buyers are obtaining quite numb with granite."

" Concrete counter tops are an one-of-a-kind offering to property buyers that see the same coatings used in house after residence they check out," describes Joy, offering her monitoring as a seasoned real estate agent. "Having concrete countertops almost gives you bragging rights-- you have something various from your next-door neighbors."

DAMAGING THE MOLD AND MILDEW

An additional benefit of concrete is its versatility in either modern-day or conventional settings, especially when coupled with various other materials like diverse metals, wood or stone. "Concrete includes numerous [possibilities] to stone, and the combination with slate, which is widely prominent right here, gives the hill homes an overall warm, natural touch," claims Happiness.

Joy and also Ken have considering that built a much bigger home (4,000 sq. ft.) that uses expansive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort and also is indicated to serve as a long-term financial investment for the couple. They have actually additionally increased their checklist of customized coatings, including hand-troweled walls, stylish oil-rubbed bronze equipment, knotty pine doors that arch on top, closets in an all-natural, knotty alder, as well as their favored-- concrete kitchen area countertops.

Unlike in their previous residence, KJ and also his specialty crew put charcoal-colored kitchen counters using the pre-cast approach in the unfinished cellar of the new house. Prior to pouring the concrete, they sprinkled a variety of semi-precious stones in the mold and mildew including Leopardskin, Moonstone, Mother-of-Pearl as well as Turquoise. After the surface was ground as well as lightly polished, the finished outcome was an outstanding blend of colors, "By far, the Mother-of-Pearl was one of the most extraordinary," says Joy.

The L-shaped concrete countertop has a rough, rustic rock appearance, enhancing its rugged country environments. An indispensable drainpipe board and trivets offers function as well as added passion to the concrete kitchen counter. Natural slate backsplashes, distinct wall surface accents, as well as a butcher block countertop at the kitchen island all reverberate with the traditional warmth as well as earthiness of the concrete counter tops.

Joy as well as Ken's particular backgrounds in realty and custom homebuilding, and as investment buyers, have actually helped them realize that concrete kitchen counters can include tremendous visual and economic worth to a home. Concrete's personalization as well as "show-stopping" charm is like no other counter top surface area. Cheng is a supporter of psychological appearances and also developing houses that catch these emotions, as in the case of Joy as well as Ken Otterman. Cheng ends: "People actually want differentiation, something individual, something personalized-- as well as concrete can do that for them."