Friday, August 22, 2014

Taking It for Granite . . .


The kittehs were appalled. Actually, so were we, on discovering that the wooden underpinnings of our sink were being gnawed on by larder beetles, dropping a powdery residue, as well as grubs and beetle bodies into the drawers and cabinets in the vicinity; 

DIY guy to the rescue! John decided to replace the wood and formica with an un-gnawable concrete countertop. After a lot of careful study of various DIY books on the subject, he built  a form down in his shop and poured the concrete mixture. After it had hardened, there was grinding the surface flat and polishing and sealing. (This was a slow process, over a period of weeks.)


At last it was ready. Drawers and cupboards had to be emptied and the sink removed (we had an interesting few days without it -- washing dishes and garden produce in the bathroom.)

And here it is!

No one wants to drop this on a toe . . .
  
Once it's on the hand truck,  tensions abate.

But then there are the steps . . .

Justin pulls: John pushes . . .

Yep, this endeavor involved a lot of tools . . .


Easing it into place . . .

Yes!


And there it is. Now John is casting  some long narrow bits for the backsplash.

Thank you, John! You are a man of many talents!


I'm pretty impressed with how nice concrete can look . . .
  

Even if the kittehs aren't.


16 comments:

Ms. A said...

It looks FANTASTIC!!! Good job, John!

Thérèse said...

I simply love the sentence "Is it what all the fuss was about?"
Congratulations John!
Are you thanking the beetles too? :-)

Brian Miller said...

hahaha kittehs, polished concrete can look pretty cool...i need to do some upgrades myself...

Kath said...

Well, if the kittehs approve, then it's not just us humans who think it looks great! And kitteh stamp of approval is of course all you need.

Barbara Rogers said...

That's amazing, especially considering how granite counters cost, and look just about the same!

Novice Naturalist said...

It looks like granite to me. Such lovely work. I admire folks who can--and will--do things!

Wayfarin' Stranger said...

I'm impressed. Good job, John.

Frances said...

Vicki, please do pass my compliments on to John. He is a very talented man! Looks as if those beetles have now met their match.

xo

NCmountainwoman said...

Amazing! I've never heard of concrete countertops before. And I don't know anyone talented enough to build the form and pour the concrete to fit. Wow!

dannie said...

Great job. My neighbors made their counters and I can appreciate the amount of work that goes into it.It really is beautiful and definitely permanent.

Jime said...

Wow John you did great. Hope there backs are ok. Them kittens are so critical. Get um some catnip

Geri F. Brewster said...

Such a great job and looks so nice. You have a wonderful inviting kitchen..

Victoria said...

Wow, I'm impressed by how great concrete can look, too! You're so lucky to have a husband who is such a talented DIY guy.

Vicki Lane said...

DIY guy got offered a job doing countertops for someone else's kitchen and he politely refused. It's a LOT of work and something could always go wrong.

Deanna said...

GREAT Job. Anytime work is done in a kitchen, it is a lot of work, but this was over the top. I do like it a lot!

Darla said...

I'm in awe…totally.