The Worth of Concrete Countertops: Modification Boosts Visual Appeal and
The Worth of Concrete Countertops: Customization Increases Visual Appeal and Realty Investment for Homeowners
From top-dollar homes in the San Francisco Bay Location to stretching mountain homes in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating homeowners are requiring custom designs and surfaces in their cooking areas. In specific, they are looking to reveal their individuality and distinct design preferences with the fast growing style product of option concrete.
In fact, concrete countertops have actually become somewhat of a status symbol for kitchens, rivaling granite and other high-end counter top surface alternatives. Consumer Reports Publication (August 2004) ranked concrete highest for its modification and exclusivity among high-end kitchen countertops.
As a custom-made product, the quantity of time and craftsmanship needed to produce concrete counter tops places them as the most labor-intensive and most costly amongst leading countertop materials.
However, concrete countertops are becoming more available for those on a modest budget. The latest diy (DO IT YOURSELF) pattern to captivate homeowners and builders is constructing your own concrete countertop. This phenomenon has actually acquired appeal largely due to Chengs very popular book Concrete Countertops: Design, Forms, and Finishes for the New Cooking Area and Bath (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little financial financial investment in making concrete counter tops, yet the imaginative gains of dealing with concrete abound.
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Increasingly, property owners are moving away from the dull, manufactured look of traditional counter top surfaces and choosing concrete for its earthy, timeless appeal. Plus, the alternatives for customizing concrete counter tops are endless: one can color, polish, stamp and stain concrete or imbed personal things like stones, seashells and fossils into the counter tops surface area, adding belief and character. Functional features such as drain boards, soap dishes, and trivets can also be incorporated to fit the house owners own needs and lifestyle.
Concrete is gradually becoming demystified as typically cold and commercial. In contrary, this olden material is warm and remarkably tactile; individuals can not help but touch their smooth, refined surface areas. Property agent Delight Rasmussen, who has actually just recently sold her mountain home a short-term financial investment property in Steamboat Springs, CO recounts her visitors experiences with concrete: When I had open homes, visitors gravitated to the concrete counter tops lots of people around here have actually never ever seen them.
Joys 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home was customized build by her other half, Ken Otterman, together with KJ Otterman, president of Classic Unique Custom-made Residences. They built pour-in-place concrete counters for the homes kitchen residential plumber services and three bathrooms by using Concrete Countertops as their guide. The sand-colored concrete counter tops were polished smooth, then coupled with natural slate of varying colors like charcoal, rust and gold tones that forms the backsplashes in the kitchen and baths. As a design accent, little rectangular slate tiles were added to the rim of the bathroom sinks, which offered a special information to the custom vanities.
When Happiness and Ken decided to sell their home, their financial investment in concrete countertops proved its value. We were able to list your house $20,000 over market price, and had no problems selling it, comments Happiness, while talking about the long list of upgrades throughout their house, consisting of knotty pine solid doors, natural slate wall accents and wood floorings. The concrete counter tops were easily the most unique and outstanding of all the surfaces. I think they were a substantial part in adding worth to the home. Around here, all you see in homes are granite counter tops and I really think property buyers are getting quite numb with granite.
Concrete counter tops are a special offering to property buyers who see the very same surfaces utilized in home after house they check out, describes Pleasure, offering her observation as an experienced realtor. Having concrete countertops almost provides you bragging rights you have something different from your next-door neighbors.
BREAKING THE MOLD
Another advantage of concrete is its adaptability in either modern or conventional settings, particularly when combined with other products like different metals, wood or stone. Concrete adds numerous [possibilities] to stone, and the combination with slate, which is hugely popular here, provides the mountain homes an overall warm, natural touch, says Joy.
Joy and Ken have considering that developed a much bigger home (4,000 sq. ft.) that uses expansive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort and is suggested to act as a long-lasting financial investment for the couple. Theyve also expanded their list of custom surfaces, consisting of hand-troweled walls, elegant oil-rubbed bronze hardware, knotty pine doors that arch at the top, cabinets in a natural, knotty alder, and their favorite concrete kitchen countertops.
Unlike in their previous home, KJ and his specialty crew poured charcoal-colored countertops utilizing the pre-cast method in the incomplete basement of the brand-new home. Before pouring the concrete, they sprinkled an array of semi-precious stones in the mold consisting of Leopardskin, Moonstone, Mother-of-Pearl and Turquoise. After the surface was ground and lightly polished, the completed outcome was an excellent mix of colors, By far, the Mother-of-Pearl was the most unbelievable, says Happiness.
The L-shaped concrete counter top has a rough, rustic stone appearance, matching its rugged country environments. An integral drain board and trivets offers function and added interest to the concrete counter top. Natural slate backsplashes, unique wall accents, and a butcher block countertop at the cooking area island all resonate with the traditional warmth and earthiness of the concrete countertops.
Joy and Kens particular backgrounds in property and custom-made homebuilding, and as investment property buyers, have helped them understand that concrete countertops can add tremendous aesthetic and monetary value to a home. Concretes personalization and show-stopping appeal resembles no other countertop surface area. Cheng is a supporter of emotional aesthetics and developing homes that capture these emotions, as in the case of Pleasure and Ken Otterman. Cheng concludes: People actually want differentiation, something personal, something customized and concrete can do that for them.
