by matt walker » Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:39 am
Well, there's a few ways people go about it. I've never heard of anyone doing it the way I'm doing it. I'm different! Lol. Mine weigh around 60lbs each, so they're pretty easy to handle by myself. I also opted not to do any finish work, other than the wax/oil sealer. Most methods involve a finishing stage that typically includes wet sanding, grinding, and polishing to create a smooth, blemish free surface. I am able to get it pretty good with the gel coat mold surface and vibration.
But, to back up, most people do it one of two ways;
- Pour in place, which has the advantage of not having to move 'em, but the disadvantage of needing lots of finishing to make a smooth surface.
-inverted mold. I basically did a modified version of this with my composite mold. Most folks use melamine and rigid foam board to make molds for each section of counter top. Pour off site, finish, and install. Most people will use the MDF or melamine for the face of the mold, which leaves a fairly smooth surface, but still typically people will spend time grinding and polishing these to final finish as well. One downside is you will probably need help to install these, and may have to have seams when the area is too great for a monolithic pour.
As you noted, my method does allow for the shape to be a bit more complex. That was one of the main reasons I wanted to explore the idea of composite molds for concrete counter tops. I originally built the mold with the intention of building a small "set" of them. The design has side flanges of composite to which I fastened the side boards of the mold. I intended the molds to be able to be fastened together with the flanges so one could conceivably build any size counter top with only a small set of molds, say three 24" sections and a 12" and a 6". I thought it would be a great business to offer the sets to contractors, since a large part of the cost of concrete counter tops is in the set up, labor, and materials in the molds, which are typically custom for every job. Not only that, but one could offer many profiles not available in concrete currently.
Then, in typical me fashion, I got into other things and haven't built any more molds. Then I just decided to do 'em piece by piece, so I ended up with this "tile" system. I dunno, it's not conventional, but I'm kinda liking it. It feels finished, yet flexible in layout if I keep changing my kitchen the way I seem to be doing every couple years.
What was the question? Lol. Well, my method is cool, but did require a bit of composite experience. The biggest advantage is the profile. If you don't mind flat counter tops, there's easier methods. For flat tops, I'd pour off site. This guy has a really easy mold technique, and made some amazing counter tops.