The Worth of Concrete Countertops: Customization Boosts Visual Appeal and
The Value of Concrete Countertops: Customization Increases Visual Appeal and Property Financial investment for Homeowners
From top-dollar homes in the San Francisco Bay Area to stretching mountain homes in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating homeowners are requiring customized designs and surfaces in their cooking areas. In specific, they are looking to reveal their individuality and unique style choices with the fast growing design material of choice concrete.
In reality, concrete countertops have ended up being rather of a status sign for kitchens, matching granite and other high-end countertop surface area options. Consumer Reports Magazine (August 2004) ranked concrete highest for its modification and exclusivity amongst high-end kitchen countertops.
As a custom-made item, the quantity of time and craftsmanship required to produce concrete countertops puts them as the most labor-intensive and most costly among leading counter top materials.
However, concrete countertops are becoming more available for those on a modest budget plan. The most recent diy (DIY) pattern to captivate homeowners and contractors is constructing your own concrete countertop. This phenomenon has actually gained popularity largely due to Chengs best-selling book Concrete Countertops: Style, Forms, and Completes for the New Cooking Area and Bath (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little financial investment in making concrete counter tops, yet the creative gains of dealing with concrete are plentiful.
Increasingly, house owners are moving away from the tedious, manufactured appearance of traditional counter top surfaces and picking concrete for its earthy, timeless appeal. Plus, contact Fix-It Right Plumbing for blocked drains the options for customizing concrete counter tops are limitless: one can color, polish, stamp and stain concrete or imbed personal things like stones, seashells and fossils into the counter tops surface, including sentiment and character. Practical features such as drain boards, soap meals, and trivets can likewise be integrated to match the homeowners own requirements and lifestyle.
Concrete is gradually becoming debunked as typically cold and industrial. In contrary, this age-old material is warm and remarkably tactile; people can not help but touch their smooth, sleek surface areas. Realty representative Happiness Rasmussen, who has just recently sold her mountain home a short-term investment property in Steamboat Springs, CO recounts her visitors experiences with concrete: When I had open houses, visitors gravitated to the concrete countertops lots of people around here have never seen them.
Joys 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home was customized construct by her husband, Ken Otterman, together with KJ Otterman, president of Classic Unique Customized Houses. They built pour-in-place concrete counters for the homes kitchen area and three restrooms by utilizing Concrete Countertops as their guide. The sand-colored concrete countertops were polished smooth, then paired with natural slate of differing colors like charcoal, rust and gold tones that forms the backsplashes in the cooking area and baths. As a design accent, little rectangular slate tiles were added to the rim of the restroom sinks, which provided a special information to the custom vanities.
When Pleasure and Ken chose to offer their house, their financial investment in concrete countertops proved its value. We were able to note your home $20,000 over market price, and had no problems selling it, remarks Delight, while discussing the long list of upgrades throughout their home, including knotty pine solid doors, natural slate wall accents and wood floors. The concrete counter tops were quickly the most special and excellent of all the finishes. I think they were a big part in adding value to the home. Around here, all you see in homes are granite countertops and I really believe homebuyers are getting quite numb with granite.
Concrete countertops are a distinct offering to homebuyers who see the same finishes used in home after home they check out, explains Delight, using her observation as a skilled realtor. Having concrete countertops practically gives you bragging rights you have something different from your next-door neighbors.
BREAKING THE MOLD
Another advantage of concrete is its adaptability in either contemporary or traditional settings, specifically when coupled with other products like varied metals, wood or stone. Concrete includes numerous [possibilities] to stone, and the mix with slate, which is extremely popular here, provides the mountain homes a general warm, natural touch, states Delight.
Joy and Ken have actually since built a much bigger home (4,000 sq. ft.) that offers expansive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort and is implied to work as a long-lasting investment for the couple. Theyve also broadened their list of customized finishes, including hand-troweled walls, classy oil-rubbed bronze hardware, knotty pine doors that arch at the top, cabinets in a natural, knotty alder, and their preferred concrete kitchen countertops.
Unlike in their previous home, KJ and his specialized team poured charcoal-colored counter tops using the pre-cast technique in the incomplete basement of the new home. Before pouring the concrete, they sprayed a selection of semi-precious stones in the mold including Leopardskin, Moonstone, Mother-of-Pearl and Blue-green. After the surface was ground and gently polished, the finished outcome was an excellent blend of colors, By far, the Mother-of-Pearl was the most incredible, states Pleasure.
The L-shaped concrete counter top has a rough, rustic stone appearance, matching its rugged nation environments. An important drain board and trivets supplies function and included interest to the concrete counter top. Natural slate backsplashes, unique wall accents, and a butcher block countertop at the kitchen island all resonate with the traditional warmth and earthiness of the concrete counter tops.
Joy and Kens respective backgrounds in real estate and customized homebuilding, and as financial investment property buyers, have helped them realize that concrete countertops can include significant visual and monetary worth to a home. Concretes customization and show-stopping appeal is like no other countertop surface area. Cheng is a supporter of psychological aesthetics and building homes that record these feelings, as when it comes to Delight and Ken Otterman. Cheng concludes: People really desire differentiation, something individual, something custom and concrete can do that for them.