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From top-dollar residences in the San Francisco Bay Location to stretching mountain houses in the Colorado Mountain ranges, discriminating house owners are demanding personalized layouts as well as finishes in their cooking areas. Specifically, they are aiming to share their uniqueness as well as distinctive layout preferences with the fast growing layout product of selection-- concrete.

In fact, concrete countertops have become somewhat of a standing sign for cooking areas, equaling granite and other high-end kitchen counter surface area choices. Customer Reports Magazine (August 2004) ranked concrete highest possible for its "customization" and "exclusivity" among premium kitchen area counter tops.

As a custom-made item, the amount of time as well as craftsmanship needed to produce concrete kitchen counters puts them as the most labor-intensive and also most expensive amongst leading kitchen counter products.

However, concrete countertops are ending up being extra available for those on a moderate budget. The most recent diy (DIY) fad to mesmerize house owners as well as building contractors is building your very own concrete kitchen counter. This sensation has gotten popularity largely due to Cheng's very successful book Concrete Countertops: Design, Types, and also Ends Up for the New Kitchen Area and also Bathroom (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little monetary investment in making concrete kitchen counters, yet the imaginative gains of collaborating with concrete are plentiful.

THE SHOWSTOPPER

Increasingly, house owners are relocating far from the tedious, manufactured look of standard counter top surfaces as well as selecting concrete for its earthy, classic appeal. And also, the options for individualizing concrete countertops are limitless: one can color, polish, stamp as well as discolor concrete or imbed personal things like rocks, seashells and fossils into the countertop's surface, including sentiment and personality. Practical functions such as drainpipe boards, soap meals, as well as trivets can additionally be included to fit the house owners' very own requirements and also way of life.

Concrete is gradually coming to be demystified countertops las vegas as typically chilly and commercial. In contrary, this old-time product is warm and remarkably responsive; people can not assist however touch their smooth, polished surface areas. Real estate representative Delight Rasmussen, that has recently sold her hill residence-- a short-term financial investment building in Boat Springs, Carbon Monoxide-- states her visitors' experiences with concrete: "When I had open houses, visitors moved to the concrete kitchen counters-- many people around here have never ever seen them".

Pleasure's 2,265 sq. ft. mountain residence was custom-made construct by her other half, Ken Otterman, together with KJ Otterman, president of Standard Special Customized Residences. They constructed pour-in-place concrete counters for the home's kitchen area and three bathrooms by utilizing Concrete Countertops as their guide. The sand-colored concrete countertops were brightened smooth, then paired with natural slate of varying shades-- like charcoal, rust as well as gold tones-- that develops the backsplashes in the kitchen and bathrooms. As a layout accent, tiny rectangle-shaped slate ceramic tiles were contributed to the edge of the bathroom sinks, which gave an one-of-a-kind detail to the custom vanities.

When Happiness and also Ken chose to sell their home, their financial investment in concrete counter tops showed its worth. "We were able to note the house $20,000 over market price, as well as had not a problem offering it," remarks Pleasure, while talking about the long list of upgrades throughout their home, including knotty pine solid doors, all-natural slate wall surface accents and also hardwood floors. "The concrete counter tops were quickly the most unique as well as impressive of all the finishes. I think they were a massive part in including worth to the house. Around right here, all you see in houses are granite counter tops-- and I actually assume property buyers are getting fairly numb with granite."

" Concrete counter tops are an unique offering to homebuyers who see the exact same finishes made use of in residence after home they check out," explains Joy, providing her observation as a skilled real estate agent. "Having concrete kitchen counters nearly gives you bragging rights-- you have something different from your neighbors."

BREAKING THE MOLD AND MILDEW

An additional benefit of concrete is its flexibility in either contemporary or traditional setups, specifically when coupled with various other products like different metals, wood or stone. "Concrete includes so many [opportunities] to stone, and the mix with slate, which is extremely popular here, offers the hill residences a general warm, natural touch," claims Joy.

Happiness and also Ken have considering that developed a much bigger house (4,000 sq. ft.) that uses large views of the Boat Ski Hotel and is implied to function as a long-lasting investment for the couple. They've also increased their list of custom-made surfaces, consisting of hand-troweled walls, elegant oil-rubbed bronze hardware, knotty pine doors that curve on top, cabinets in a natural, knotty alder, and also their favored-- concrete kitchen area countertops.

Unlike in their previous residence, KJ as well as his specialty team put charcoal-colored counter tops utilizing the pre-cast technique in the incomplete basement of the brand-new home. Before pouring the concrete, they sprayed an array of semi-precious rocks in the mold consisting of Leopardskin, Moonstone, Mother-of-Pearl and Blue-green. After the surface area was ground and gently polished, the finished result was an excellent mix of shades, "By far, the Mother-of-Pearl was one of the most unbelievable," states Delight.

The L-shaped concrete kitchen counter has a harsh, rustic rock look, matching its sturdy nation surroundings. An essential drain board and also trivets gives function and also added rate of interest to the concrete counter top. Natural slate backsplashes, unique wall accents, and also a butcher block counter top at the kitchen area island all resonate with the standard warmth and earthiness of the concrete countertops.

Pleasure and also Ken's respective backgrounds in real estate and also custom homebuilding, and as financial investment property buyers, have actually helped them realize that concrete kitchen counters can include remarkable aesthetic as well as economic worth to a house. Concrete's customization and also "show-stopping" appeal resembles no other counter top surface area. Cheng is a proponent of emotional aesthetics and constructing residences that capture these emotions, as in the case of Happiness and also Ken Otterman. Cheng wraps up: "Individuals actually want distinction, something personal, something custom-- and concrete can do that for them.