DIY Concrete Countertops For DUMMIES

what's going on guys Alex and zyk and here from mr. bilder welcome back to another week in my workshop today's project is concrete slab so the whole idea behind is we have a washer and dryer in a very very tiny laundry room and we need some surface area on top to actually do this unfolding grant it's kind of expensive I don't want to do Formica and I don't want to put wood in there I feel like let's do something different out of the ordinary let's do concrete apart for mixing in the backyard patio slab this would be probably my actually official furniture piece or a tabletop countertop slab work so I'm a little nervous I'm at the same time pretty excited so the product we're using is a probably that's found on your local hardware store it's a blue bag by quick creats called 5500 PSI Maximizer it's intense it's intentionally does that work that's something is it it's intended for concrete countertops specifically so it's strong and it's easy to work with as well this is your first time working with concrete don't stress at all follow the video let me know any kind of questions down here below in the comments section I'll be more than happy to answer it so without wasting the time let's Cuba intro let's go [Music] one of the first things we need to do is create a nice detailed thorough form a mold some people might call what we're using is a three-quarter inch particle board that's covered with a top surface of melamine you can find your local hardware store there about a four by eight sheet for about thirty bucks shouldn't be a deal-breaker you will need a 100% silicone or a caulk you'll need like a credit card or a cooking tool to help work the edges you'll need some kind of degreaser alcohol rubbing alcohol acetone that's what I use and a vacuum to make sure that area is clean [Music] lost track of time way late for lunch grabbing a quick bite getting back to work I should be a nice end a little bit better than yogurt but it's hot hi boys and girls we've heard this before prep work as everything said don't be a dummy spend your time use a vacuum and suction out any of the dust particles that are still left in the mold from your dirty dirty workshop then take a razor blade and scrape off any of the glue any of the gunk in this position it's gonna be the sticker take rubbing alcohol or an acetone wipe the area down make sure there's no residue to make to really make this area clean come on there's no need to explain this then take a caulk and use the caulk to cover every seam every bead every joint that's there creating that rounded over edge the seamless rounded over edge that our concrete is gonna have now to really ensure the proper consistent round over edge we're gonna use an end of a credit card an old credit card that has that like three-eighths rounded over edge and scrape off all the excess caulk from the area this will ensure that everything is symmetrical and continual through the entire slab once that's done all I'm doing is using my finger and pulling away any of the leftover residue making sure that there's no voids left in the area then we're gonna create our reinforcement I bought this four by eight sheet from my local hardware store it's an eighth inch thick I just use some shears to cut it off the trick is to bring it as close to the edges of the mold as possible without it actually being shown out of the edges the more it comes out the more protection that you will have as the granite is or concrete is suspended on the two by fours or whatever you have it I'm going to use Maximizer it's a fifty five hundred psi concrete specifically made for countertops it works really well mix it with the water follow the directions no issues at all they're the best piece of advice I'll give you when it comes to working with concrete is mixing it to base of the directions that says on the back don't go more than the water that they're advising you to do because it's gonna take away from the tensile strength of the granite don't want to do that so I found that mixing it into a pudding form is gonna give you the nice consistency that you're looking for a lot easier to work with then apply the first inch throw the entire mold pushing it on the little nooks look crannies little edges it's gonna make it so much easier to fill in some of the voids ahead of time so I'm gonna give you guys the bullet points when it comes to reinforcing the concrete the whole idea is for concrete countertops you don't want to make them any less than two inches so in our situation we did about two and a quarter of an inch that's number one number two the whole thing is not if your concrete cracks the story is when your concrete cracks it just does it's like part of this natural cycle now the only you can control is the type of fracture or the crack it has it could be either the sidewalk or sub-disciplines break away or it could be a nice hairline fracture that actually adds to the character of the slab that's totally up to you now because we're working with 2-inch thick material they say do not put the or steel reinforcement the rebar in it because you won't have enough of the concrete to actually cover the surface area to be as strong so in our situation I went down to my local hardware store and I picked up this four by eight sheet of eighth inch wire great and now they sell for about ten bucks a sheet really cheap just use any kind of shears or anything you have to break it apart my advice to you is this when you install it make sure it covers the edges of your mold at least an inch around the closer you gets to the edges the better keep in mind the closer you get to the edges the more chances that you'll actually see the reinforcement we don't want to do that all right once the first inch of concrete layer is laid down bring your enforcement slap it on top and then fill in with the rest of the concrete pushing it in all to little nooks crannies in the sides then once that's done take a long two by four a one by three anything like that they'll reach from one side of the mold to the other and shimmy it from side to side like sawing it back and forth pushing the high spots into the low spots adding more concrete to fill in the low spots and then once you're ready now we're gonna focus on getting the air bubbles out you can use different tools you can use anything you want but I found that just moving a thing and wobbling the thing for a longer period of time tends to do a pretty good job about it so what I'm doing right now is as all the fluid is being written right the reason while all the food is rising up you know all the little voids are being filled in the air bubbles are coming out I'm using a float at the fishing crowd and you just you're just allowing for it to glide on the moisture if you carry it or dip it too much it will pull some rocks out so just be gentle floated you're creating a smooth surface you're getting rid of Duff excuse me you're getting rid of the water that's coming out and it's gonna give you a lot better finish here look at this other side compared look at that just glazing beautiful and these are still coarse and bumpy so we're gonna glaze that out as well to match that once you feel like you've done all the work that you can to get all the air bubbles out as well as finishing off the top of the slab what you want to do is leave it alone for three days and let the concrete cure the best thing you can actually do is put a plastic bag or a tarp over the slab to help it cure evenly it'll release moisture and at the same time absorb that same moisture to hydrate and condition the slab to be ready for use all right so after three days are done take the screws off keep in mind be very gentle around this concrete right now it takes 20 days to fully cure so use a small mallet very lightly very carefully try to pry off or whack off some of the side molds again very very delicate if you hit a corner it will chip on you now since the bottom of the slab in the mold is actually the top of our slab we are gonna flip the slab over very gently very carefully and spend the rest of our efforts trying to make sure that the finished product the top is as pretty as possible oh yes at this point you probably notice not all voids were filled but don't worry don't freak out there's a way to fix this pick up a bag of Portland cement from the hardware store it's like five or ten bucks mix it up into the consistency of pudding and start applying like you would wood grain filler a slim thin amount on top pushing it into all the little holes all the little voids do that a few layers I found that just doing the entire slab just helps you speed up the process once it's dry then scrape it off then apply another amount and spray it off then take like a six inch finer finishing drywall knife and scrape all the dry stuff off the top this will really help ensure that you don't pull any of the stuff out of its pores you know first I'm not a fan of wet polishing countertops simply because I feel like it opens up far more pores and creates these voids you got to go back and patch instead the simple solution that for me was to get a sanding block with some wet sanding sandpaper 1500 grit and then a spray bottle and do my own manual version of the wet sanding on the countertop keep in mind it's now gonna create it to be that glass slippery smooth granite feel but this is concrete it's supposed to have some of the rough textures and the voids and with the sealer it comes out really well so I guess it's a perfect segue for the sealer the sealer uses the sealers gold choice from Home Depot it worked just fine I didn't have any issues with it I haven't had too many experiences using sealer so I don't really have much to compare to but it applies very well once the granite is dry just pour it on top leave as much on top as you can for the granite to actually absorb it it works like a sponge the more pours that are absorbed and soaked then the more sealant is there and protected [Music] well that is it for me this week guys I had so much fun with this project I learned a ton I am now more excited to actually try and taking this project to the outdoors and create maybe this big industrial style maybe like a farmhouse concrete table for the backyard the possibilities are endless and of the day I did learn that the more shaking you do the better concrete will look spend your time on the prep work it all turns out great this is one of those projects like always I'll remind you guys tools don't make a difference but as you saw we didn't have too many expensive tools to be used make sure you guys believe in yourself make sure you go out there and try stuff pick up a small concrete project concrete it's very inexpensive five bucks will get you a bag or so mix it up pour the mold and see what happens and then take what you've learned from there and then take it to the next level do not be afraid to try tuning out this week we'll see you guys next week oh and make sure don't forget to subscribe if you're new welcome see ya bye