How to install a Live Edge Slab Countertop

another on a side note my wife's gone some of you may know that I tore out the countertops couple years ago I poured all brand new concrete countertops put a brown leather like finish over them they were absolutely gorgeous but then I didn't like them anymore she's gone away guess what I'm doing tearing them all out going to rebuild them maybe you like it maybe I'll like it maybe I won't if I don't like it I'll tear it out again in a couple years poured these concrete countertops a few years ago and although I like the top count countertop I hate the bottom one this weird semicircle thing drives me insane I can't do this like that okay drive this that drives me crazy either way I can't stand that odd weird little lip so it's gone I'm getting rid of it something Bugsy you just got to move on to the next step took us forever to pour these things but because of this it's gone done was in Alaska and I a b like that i' be having a Facebook all right so we're getting the countertop removed we going to leave the base from the old one in place so this is the base right here this stays we're going to set the new countertop on it now this countertop was poured with a concrete countertop special mix and reinforced with rebar so it does not want to go but little convincing with a sledgehammer and a crowbar and a couple car jacks and it's out right it's all I anything ever needs little little persuasion we have Tim uh breaking stuff up randomly putting dents in my floor slaming me for the day tr get and Drew Drew persistently cleaning up after him cuz he keeps dropping everything on the floor you see that Captain dribbles over here look there's a trail of driblets Captain dribbles cuz we know he doesn't live here so show show them the cameraman's D the cameraman gr the floor I don't think so I don't think that's the cameraman's then I think that's Captain dribble then so we'll show you how it goes when we start to get the new one in place okay we've got the Bottom Live Edge Walnut slab cut and in place this end came like this we have to figure out what we're going to do with that it's not ideal but it is what it is so the bottom one this is going to be the countertop we got to polish it sand it uh we're not going to stain it we're we're going to clear coat it and then we'll put the top one on so that's it take it from there technical Tims working the saw the master of the blade Captain dribbles here's the corner that'll be covered up by rocks the stones will go down there so there you go there she be here it is from over here it's what she's going to look like again so when we got the rough boards there were clear band lines because these were Mill look like zebra stripes going clear across it this way we had to get rid of those so we spent the day with a belt sander with a 50 grip from there we then went to a palm sander with a 60 grit we moved from the 60 grit up to 100 from 100 we went to 150 from 150 we started to use the 220 and now it's in the final stages I'm going to use an acry polishing kit and I know that sounds dramatic but this is A500 this is 24 or 18 24 and finally 3200 that should give it that shine after we get it just polished to the tea then I come in and I apply a bar top finish it's like a glaze coat not just coat not just coat after coat but this is a I actually pour on and use a squeegee to get it to fill into all the gra the cracks then I'm also going to seal the bark because this is a Live Edge it does have this bark on the side and I've got to get that sealed as well and I'm going to use a spray on poly because it's the only way to get in there I may try to dab it in with a brush but we'll see I'll bring you through that process when we get to one quick thing I'm doing in between each course is I'm using a dry Shamy no moistured nothing and I just go over it and I rub it down with a dry Shamy because what a does is it picks up a very fine layer now you can't see that very well but right in here where I just rub that you can see there's just a tiny bit of dust that's how much we're trying to get this we want to get this to as high a buffer as possible because that is the difference between having something that is amazing and having something that you look at and go I wish I would have put a little bit more time into that for the rest of your life because once the top coat is on the deal is done story's over unless you feel like stripping all that off and using a heat gun and trying to raise it and trying to get all that off which I'm not going to do that I'm going to take a little more time right now I'm going to get this sucker the way I want it so little trick dry shammy not a wet one wet one raises the grain of the wood there you go okay next step in sanding these two countertops down we've hit it with a 3600 grit we did the dry shammy on it picked up all the dust now we're going to take this as a tack cloth just a sticky cloth we're going to rub over it try to get all the teeny tiny fins out of it then tomorrow before we do the finishing coat we'll do it again so we're just going to scrub this down real good so it's ready to go this removes the bubbles this two tiny surface bubbles can't Trel this stuff out so you got to just heed up the surface before it smooth all right first coat has dried it's a titch uneven if you get right down to it you might be able to see that there's not as much coating right here as there is right next to it that's just a glaze coat that's just the first coat that seals Walnut especially Oak they're an open grained wood they allow air to escape so you just got to seal those air bubbles that's all this is now we're going to apply a heavier second coat which is going to make it the more of the bar top style finish so um we used the torch that got all the little fine bubbles out of the um epoxy resin itself and step two here we go so here we have the finished product here's some tips and tricks I applied this epoxy coat bar resin finish when you apply it or you do something similar like this pour heavy if you go too light you're going to get an uneven settling it won't level out it just will not selflevel so I poured it four times before I finally got it right if you mess it up the first time don't panic don't worry you can you can fix it it's all you do is let it cure and then put another coat over the top of it but again it took me four tries to get it right now the bar backing material the back splash itself this is like a brushed nickel finish in between the the two layers uh you would think that would be a pretty expensive material but really all I did is I went to Menard's and I bought this flexible material I can cut it with the scissors and it looks like the real deal now because my um electrical sockets right here were pushed out for tile what I had to do was I had to either recess these which you know what that's too much work I'm not going to go through all that instead I built the backsplash out a little bit what I did there is I just found some old beer boxes yeah my wife likes to drink drink michelo Ultra and in honor of her I cut up one of the beer boxes and I use that as backing material to to push it out a little [Music] bit um couple things to take note of is I also um poed both the top and the bottom uh to seal it in be a little bit careful dust free environment completely must be dust free or you're going to be in trouble um and then right here you can see it just T white and what that is is that's when the moisture's coming out uh it won't won't allow the epoxy to bond to it so hooked the lights up on the bottom side there we go this is what happens when my wife leaves me alone for a week without adult supervision I tear out our countertop and put a new one in 150y Old Oak countertop slabs [Music] [Applause] [Music]