is a cement counter top right for you?
I was asking myself this very thing not too long ago. With all the talk about marble and quartzite and quartz and everything in between, where does cement fit in? First of all, what are the benefits -- if any -- of a cement countertop? What are the drawbacks?
aesthetic qualities
I know -- we're all in love with marble. It's so posh and polished and celestial and beautiful and just sexy. There's a reason why Michelangelo's "David" is carved out of marble and not wood or cement or glass -- marble lives and breathes and has soul beyond its physical attributes.
And quartzite -- whoa quartzite. Quartzite can blow you away with its powerful and dramatic movement. Its like the a symphony in stone, right? All crashing cymbals and soaring French horns. And you can get it leathered!
I've also recently started liking granite again. Yes, good ole granite. Don't believe me? Google Patagonia granite. It'll forget your mama's early 2000's kitchen just like that.
But cement. Cement is not the celestial work of art, the dramatic symphony or even the unexpected surprise of cool granite. Cement is everywhere -- on the street, in the playground, the parking lot. There is nothing exuberant about cement except for this -- it's texture. Like marble or any of the interior design darlings right now, Cement has an unparalleled texture that I love. Especially if you don't cover it in a bunch of coloring agents or smooth it out. It feels like a WORK surface. A place to get actual WORK done, without pretending it's something that it's not. And somehow it is more earthy than the actual stones pulled from the earth like marble and granite.
Just like with most things, the reason why we love certain things is because we've seen a thousand pictures of it. Cement gets lumped in with the farmhouse / industrial / modern crowd, but I think it's so much cooler than that. In my opinion, interior design aesthetics tend to run very feminine. Everything is soft, curvy and pastel nowadays. I love interiors with a little bit of edge and rough hewn surface. Love pairing really old, worn in things like giant floral wallpaper with steel accents. It just seems to balance everything out in my head a little better. Like a baby doll dress with combat boots (I still think this is a good look, so sue me).
So let me posit this: cement is sexy, too, like a great pair of broken-in jeans or Brad Pitt. Or even better -- Brad Pitt in well-worn jeans. Shirtless. Sorry. Again very sorry.
cost and installation
Perhaps the coolest part of the cement counter is the cost and the installation. First off, it's not inexpensive. It's just merely less expensive. It's about equal with quartz when it comes down to it, minus quartz fabrication, but quartz does not give you the Brad Pitt feels. Maybe more Tobey McGuire. I don't think anyone is passionate about quartz except for the fact that it is "indestructible" and "does not stain". News flash. It's not. And it's boring. Sorry. But it's boring.
So back to cement. First, I would not recommend you DIY it unless you are really good at DIY. I am not unfortunately, so my contractor Marco built the frame and mapped it out. Next came the actual pour. And let me tell you -- I've never birthed a child, but I imagine that is somewhat close to that experience. Right? Maybe not, but I certainly cried tears of joy when I witnessed it.
Next, my contractor's teenaged son blowtorched it. And anything that includes blowtorches indoors has got my vote. Then they take the forms off and assess the damage. I got lucky with mine, and I opted to leave in the minor imperfections around the edges. Because --you know -- I'm wild.
It then takes three to four days to cure and then you can seal it. And that's the fun part.
different finishes
There are lots of options when it comes to your cement sealer. And you can even color the cement if you really really want. But... ask yourself:
Do you want the weathered Brad Pitt in weathered jeans look?
Yes? Then go for the clear, matte finish. No wax. No polish. No epoxy. And if you want extra protection, seal it twice. This will give it that fresh cement look for sure. Every time anyone sees my new counter tops they ask "Oh, so did you want to put sealer on it?" And I simply respond "I already have. Go ahead. Spill something on it and see what happens." And then they do and then I scream "What have you done?!!!" and laugh manically when they realize I'm just kidding. Everything is fine.
But everything is not fine with cement. In fact, if you are a neat freak or need everything to be spotless, then you should have stopped at "Hello". But I am not a big believer in perfect anything. I want my space to feel LIVED in but not dirty. Just lovingly used and beat up and not precious. Not like the precious marble everyone is so crazy about.
Am I crazy to love these very, very rough cement countertops? I will have more pics later, but so far I just love laying my face against it and think of Brad...
