Concrete Countertops

I don't even remember where the idea came from... maybe just something that had been in one of our minds for awhile, but we knew we wanted new counters, and neither of us were terribly impressed with much on the market.  I think Sarah brought home a sample chip that looked a little like concrete to me and the project went from there.  It took awhile to pull everything together, but come together it did.  Here's a quick tour of the process.  Skip to the end if you just want to see the new counters.

Making the forms in front of the old white house... boy does it look horrendous now that we're used to the new colour (green?  I've been told a few times, but I can never remember... it's definitely an earth tone... like green or brown).  I've written it before, but it bears repeating, loving to work with the person you love is a blessing that should never be taken for granted.  We're lucky enough to enjoy working together AND have skills and traits that compliment one another (Sarah may or may not feel the same way... it's possible my traits don't compliment hers, but that she is compensating for me).

Tools of the trade.

Lots of sketches.  Lots of math.  LOTS of measuring and remeasuring.  If memory serves, this page is a combination of my sketches and Dad's.  It's pretty great to get to share ideas and learn with him.

One day, while working on the counter tops, I turned around to see Sarah looking at paint chips.  (That's a little hyperbole, but the point stands)

So, somewhere along the line, I lost the pictures of pouring the concrete, or maybe we didn't take any because we were so engrossed in the chore.  But it did happen, and we eventually wound up with big slabs that looked pretty much like sidewalk.

Getting ready to grind and polish.  We did most of our work in the front lawn, which has its advantages and disadvantages.  It was certainly nice to work outside on sunny days.

This is what the slabs looked like fresh out of the mold.



We had to buy a specialty tool for this job, a wet grinder.  If it hadn't been for that investment, the countertops would have come in well below $300.  The wet grinder is pretty fun to use on warm sunny days.  I could not figure out any way to do this work without getting soaking wet.  I guess I could have bought a rubber apron, but I already own a bunch of axes and knives, so that seemed like just a bit too many checked boxes on the serial killer survey.

Demo was pretty fun and straight forward.  Plus we got to clean up all the mold and nasty from under the old sink.  It was super gratifying to bust out the Sawzall and chop out the stained crappy counters and cabinets.

There was a lot of framing and support to do.  Concrete is heavy.  That is probably why one usually finds it on the ground.  The counters need to stay ~3' above the ground, so... bracing and support.  I LOVE it when the little bubble is between the two lines!

Grandpa Cressman's circular saw saw heavy rotation (get it); which was a great reason to spend a bunch of time thinking about him and grandma.

1/2" off!  We had to take the counters back off, unscrew the cabinets, and move them 1/2" to the right! 1/2"!  Oh well.  Live and learn.

Where is the water running?  No where!

Lots of little scraps of wood.  Thanks to a couple friends, we had all the scrap 2x4s we needed and didn't have to buy any!  Reduce, REUSE, then recycle.  Lots of supervision, too.

"Slow down.  Take breaks." -Pat Harrington.  Yessir.

Voila! Ignore the unpainted cabinet.  We need to install a backsplash, then decide on new wall and/or cabinet colours, but this is a pretty good start.  Sarah waxed and polished the concrete like Ralph Macchio, 'til we could see our reflections.

I did some problem solving (of course) and got the sink cobbed together in a way that holds water.

And it works!  Holds stuff off the floor with a bit of flare.  Look to the comments for the inevitable oversights or exaggerations that Sarah will correct.  Come on over for dinner.

This is why I run...

Things I should remember

 When I wrote the last post, I forgot to include our incredible day of blacksmithing!  Our monthly meeting was held at the historic Benjamin Patterson Inn in Corning NY, right next to the glass museum.  Our friends, Leon and Henry, are both involved with the historic society and do demos in the Charles Cooley blacksmith shop.  This meeting felt reminiscent of the early ones we fell in love with.  We carpooled with Steve, who is a source of much hilarity and also puns, and Nathan, who is a source of much hilarity and blessedly few puns.  The shop was set up when we got there, but we were able to help set up additional anvils and forges outside under a canvas tarp that Leon had brought.  Adding to the enjoyment of the day, there were fewer participants, which allowed for more room and more time on with the forges.

The atmosphere of this shop is just perfect.  The long history of smithing permeates the shop.  There were no gas forges, which are effecient, but, in my opinion, far less fun, and no power hammers.  All in all, it felt quite traditional.

Sarah and Nathan helping with set up.  It's kind of funny, I think because Nathan is so tall of body and broad of shoulder, he got asked to do a lot of carrying.  Sarah on the other hand had to insist that she was able to help.  It continues to be obvious how few women are involved in this pastime, and the effect that a lack of exposure has on the minds and prejudices of the practitioners.  How's that for diplomatic?

Steve and Henry outside the Cooley blacksmith shop.  The building was moved from another property in the area.  The roof had to be rebuilt, but the majority of the shop is original from 1870.

I like this table.  As the hobby develops, we'll need to make something like it.

Sarah is getting to be a real pro.  She is careful and thoughtful about her approach, which makes her work slow compared to mine, but her precision is unarguably developing faster.  It's obvious, also, that Leon in particular appreciates her attention to detail and interest in how to do things the right way.  I hammered out a couple trinkets that I'm pleased with, but Sarah's work on making two pieces of the shelf bracket uniform and precise was really inspiring.  We were thrilled to get to work together at the historic forge inside the shop.  There are two blowers, and we enjoyed working in sync with one another.

Sarah worked with a diagram of the finished product to be sure that she had metal in the correct places and holes that would line up precisely once the metal was shaped.  There are no allowances for imprecision in metal working; either everything lines up and it works perfectly, or it doesn't line up and you have a paperweight.

The scene out the window.  Steve and Nathan at the forges.  Lots of advisers.  The gentleman in the red bandana and shirt is the smith who crafted the campfire cooking rack you see to the right.

We got to eat our lunch in the dining room of the Benjamin Patterson Inn!  That added even more to the experience of the day.  In the end, we each went home with something we'd made by hand and determination.  More importantly, we went home with new knowledge and skill.  And now for something completely different...

Fig. 1

I'm sure you'll all be surprised to hear that the patch job depicted in fig. 1 did not hold.

So, I'm sad to report that the camping trip had to be called off on account of my truck (the 5 days of rain and thunderstorms preceding, throughout, and postceding our planned adventure didn't help either.  But I really couldn't drive 4 hours with a car leaking coolant, so on the morning of departure, I had to call Vinnie and tell him to abort the mission.  He came over, we reorganized, and went canoeing and fishing on a lake nearby instead.  It was a nice day, but certainly not the adventure we'd hoped for.  He stayed the night at our place, and we managed to get a very respectable fire going by splitting wet logs and carving out the dry wood from inside.  Sarah joined us by the fire and we all sat around and swapped stories, as one is like to do around a campfire.  The next morning, Vinnie left for Boston, Sarah left for work, and I headed, once again, over to Erik's to work on the truck.  Fortunately, the collection of tools in the picture above were not used on the radiator, but I couldn't help snapping the shot.  It seems that Erik and I were destined to find one another.  Who else uses the same tools to work on a bookshelf and on a car!?  Or on their sewing for that matter!

Erik.  Applying drill to car. 

Anyway, we got the radiator replaced and things look good.  I'll keep you posted.  Anyway, for the cost of the alternator, radiator, hoses, and clamps, we're still well below the cost of taking the truck into the shop and both the wiser for the work.  Now if the truck will run well for a couple months, I'll call that a success.

I should get going, now.  Lowes finally has our cabinets in, and I need to return Steve's canoe.  If all goes well, we'll be back to work on the concrete countertops this afternoon!  With luck, you'll finally get to see pictures of our new counters and sink by the weekend!  Sit vis vobiscum!

Happy summer vacation!

This is a hodge-podge from the past week's events. School finally ended on the 25th, about two weeks later than appropriate.  The kids were absolutely bonkers by the end of it.  Last Monday my truck broke down on the way to school.  Fortunately, Sarah had already gotten to work (her care was in the shop for new brakes), but that left me stranded on a school day.  Erik, being the chivalrous young man that he is, came to my aid and we got to work in time to take the kids to Taughannock park for a field day.  AAA towed my truck to Erik's so that we could work on it later.

Wednesday was a half day.  We spent the first part of the day dealing with chaos at school and the second half dealing with the truck.

 

The good old Hayne's book.

Oops.  New alternator had to be snaked down through all kinds of crap.  We had to remove a bunch of hoses, which went find, but when we reattached them, this one got tightened too much.  The plastic on the top of the radiator cracked right off like it was designed that way.

New radiator: $135.  Plastic pipe and epoxy: :$10.  Will it hold?  Time will tell.

While Erik and I worked on the car and made some grappa, Vinnie dug the dead woodchuck out from under Erik's stoop.  Truly yeoman work.  I was very impressed... also gagging.

So, for some time, I've wanted to have a way to carry my axe and saw and coffee all at the same time.  Obviously, that is one more tool than I have hands.  As usual, google had the answer.  And, as usual, someone else had already done something cool.  Ray Mears sells something like this on his website, but after looking at it, I figured with Sarah's help, this wouldn't be an impossible project.  After making a guard and a mask for the axe, the only thing left to do was to make a backpack.

Fine sewing and carpentry by Keith.

Looks good, but it's supposed to rain all week and rusty tools are no good.

Beeswax from the Farmer's Market.  Next year we'll just go to the back yard and harvest our own.

Mix linseed oil and beeswax, melt and paint on.  Use a hairdryer to melt it into the fabric, and let it dry.

Hands free axe carry.

Oil cloth will keep it all dry.

That's 50' of paracord woven into a strap.

Happy guy.  New toy.  Home made.

Another happy guy with his tools.  This is Erik's kid, the Bandit, with his new hammer and apron.

Vinnie and I are heading out on a canoeing trip tomorrow, so I took the canoe down to the swamp this morning to make sure it floated.

Jonas came along, too.

It was rainy, but beautiful, anyway.

The swamp looks like a rice paddy and reminds me of images of Vietnam.

Just a couple days too early for this flower.

Self portrait.

All packed up and ready to go.

Sit vis vobiscum.