ShareThisArtist and designer Fu-Tung Cheng has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1978, when he bought a 1,200-square-foot home in Albany. He embarked almost immediately on a remodeling project that led to the construction of his first experimental kitchen counter -- a disaster.
"I had more time than money," he said. He knew nothing of molding forms and little of the alchemy of concrete and its near-magical properties: It solidifies within hours but continues to harden as it ages over 100 years. But he knew he could afford it.
It's relatively inexpensive -- six $6 sacks of Quickcrete or Sakrete concrete and water can make about a 3- by 8-foot kitchen counter. Concrete is mostly rock, sand and a little cement, which is high-fired crystallized lime that hardens when water is added. You can add colors to it when it is wet, or stain it later.
Cheng still lives in the same home and is now the author of three show-and-tell books from Taunton Press on the subject of pouring concrete counters. His latest, "Concrete Countertops Made Simple," is both a book and a 25-minute DVD for $21.95.
When Cheng started, he could have used a teacher like himself to understand just how easy yet complex it would be.
"Hand troweling a smooth finish is virtually impossible," says the veteran of countless concrete counters. Pouring concrete into a smooth upside-down mold made of cheap laminated plywood, he discovered, was the way to go. The top would be nearly flawlessly smooth. Judging by his weekend seminars on the subject, which at $500 a person are always filled to capacity (Cheng's Web site lists hundreds of concrete contractors he has trained), it is a craft many might try at home in belt-tightening times.
"One of the things I like about concrete for counters is that it ties into the idea of a 'locally grown' material," Cheng said. "While the production of concrete is energy-consuming, it is also heavy to transport, so it is almost always made locally and sent over very short distances. It is often composed of gravel in local quarries."
"Compare that to stone from India, Brazil and China, and concrete's carbon footprint looks very good," Cheng said.
And concrete lasts as long as stone, he said. Three decades later, "I still have the same counters, and people still go 'wow!' "
At a glance
The expert opinion: Three cubic feet of concrete are made with a gallon of water. When it gets runny, like oatmeal, it is time to pour it into a mold. A fully polished, integrally colored concrete counter will have to be sealed, especially in the kitchen and bathroom. Good sealers will cost about $20 a pint and they have to be poured liberally until they saturate the well-cured counter before being wiped off. Food-grade wax adds a nice sheen and another layer of protection.
Cons: There is no bulletproof sealer. If a kitchen counter gets etched by acids from food, fruit, wine or vinegar -- and it will, says Cheng -- you can gently polish off the etched area and reseal and wax. It's a nuisance, but it is just like taking care of a good hardwood floor.
If the concrete is not cured properly it can develop hairline cracks, which can be filled with epoxy. If the form is handled too soon after a pour, if there is too much water or if the foam form for a sinkhole is placed too close to the counter edge, it will develop more serious cracks. You will have to start over. Cheng also discourages making concrete counters with an integral sink because water will quickly pit and erode it. "You don't want it for a primary sink. In a powder room where it gets little use, it's fine," he says.
Costs: For do-it-yourselfers with a rented mixer, vibrator (to push out bubbles) and a polisher with about three diamond pads that cost about $20, a concrete kitchen counter can cost as little as $8 per square foot, installed.
Where to find it: For Fu-Tung Cheng's online resource guide, Web store for making countertops, and for the Cheng Concrete Training Academy, go to www.chengconcrete.com.
(E-mail Zahid Sardar at zsardar(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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