Counter tops and flooring - what do you have

[LarryPQ]

I love it!

We got most of the bubbles out with an orbital sander with no pad. It jiggled them all up--like making a soda flat.

 

[Msbear]

Thanks so much for the pics. Did you make the tables? It looks like they are handmade then braced for more support. I guess plywood on the driveway would work, huh? I do like the holes but, I'd be afraid they'd get food in them. Im starting a small business called Dinner2go where I make meals for commuters to bring home on their way from work. ...so, I'll need everything to be health dept. approved.

 

[LarryPQ]

We put a coat of 2-part apoxy resin on ours. The texture on mine was REALLY pronounced. Now, very little. There was one place the sand all washed out, and was a pencil eraser deep. Now it is completely flat. No dips. (it was what we were going for)

 

[OrpingtonManor]

There are many ways to do concrete countertops. Some methods use forms. Some use pour-in-place. Some dye the concrete. Some apply the dye to the wet concrete, if you pour in place.

I just happened to use the Cheng method, so I'm including the link.
http://www.concreteexchange.com/

I know the Cheng design people make countertops for restaurants, so it must meet health dept req'ts.

eta - yes we made the tables. I needed 20 feet of perfectly level tables, so we bought 4 of those burro sawhorses, added some nice, sanded plywood, and screwed the plywood to the sawhorses. Then, we levelled the whole thing. A note: start at the highest point and bring everything up to it. We did it backwards first.

eta - Laree, do you have to worry about hot pots and pans damaging the epoxy?

 

[LarryPQ]

No- the apoxy has "give". Some restaurants coat their tables with it. It CAN scratch, so no cutting directly on the countertops! We will probably have to re-apoxy the "high traffic" areas in 2 years, but no big whoop. It only takes a few days to dry--so we will probably do it when we re-seal the tile floors and then go on vacation.

OR--we may be tired of it by then. We still have all the forms, so maybe we will do something different. Having done it once, and having a big open space to keep the drying tops in (the shed or garage) makes the WHOLE thing less of a hassle. I doubt this house will ever be finished. But what then? Get llamas as a new hobby?

I looked at the Cheng technique extensively, and considered staining with the stencils. Alas, I was voted down by the menfolk, but still fancied it up.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Here is our kitchen... Laminate countertop, tile backsplash, tile floors...it was like this when we moved in, so I didn't pick the style or color.

One thing I would suggest is that you choose neutral colors for the more permanent aspects of your kitchen. This house was built in the mid-90s when teal and paisley and mauve were in vogue, and I'm not really a fan of the blue countertop in the kitchen, but there's not much I can do to fix that without going through a lot of trouble and expense.

Tile floors are nice and they look great, but if you have young children with a tendency to drop heavy items on the floor, you might want to consider another type of flooring. Ceramic tiles can break easily when things are dropped on them. We have a tile near the fridge and another one in one of the bathrooms upstairs that are cracked.

 

[Legs]

Thanks for the advice.....
We are looking at some maple unfinished flooring. Is maple a good hard wood to put in? Would it hold up? We would ofcourse varnish and then cover with an epoxy before installing. I have done that sort of stuff before, easy peasy. But just wondering if that wood is something I would be sorry afterwards. Its super super cheap - hubby found it on a local auction site and so far $50 for around 200 sq. feet. I already have the varnish and the expoxy no problem there. He bought alot of that stuff afew years ago too. I will never run out of paint and stains LOL.

Edit: Oh and would you go super light with the stain on the floor or darker with my oak colored cabinets? I am so not a interior designer, give me a barn and I can tell you exactly what to do, but forget the inside of a house!!