The Value of Concrete Countertops: Customization Boosts Aesthetic Appeal and
The Value of Concrete Countertops: Personalization helpful home tips Boosts Aesthetic Appeal and Real Estate Investment for Homeowners
From top-dollar homes in the San Francisco Bay Location to sprawling mountain homes in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating homeowners are demanding custom-made styles and surfaces in their cooking areas. In particular, they are seeking to express their uniqueness and distinct design choices with the fast growing style product of option concrete.
In reality, concrete counter tops have ended up being somewhat of a status symbol for kitchens, matching granite and other high-end countertop surface alternatives. Consumer Reports Publication (August 2004) ranked concrete highest for its customization and exclusivity among high-end cooking area countertops.
As a customized product, the amount of time and craftsmanship needed to produce concrete counter tops puts them as the most labor-intensive and most expensive among leading countertop materials.
However, concrete countertops are ending up being more available for those on a modest spending plan. The most recent diy (DIY) pattern to captivate house owners and builders is building your own concrete countertop. This phenomenon has gained appeal mainly due to Chengs best-selling book Concrete Countertops: Design, Forms, and Ends Up for the New Kitchen and Bath (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little financial financial investment in making concrete countertops, yet the imaginative gains of dealing with concrete abound.
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Increasingly, homeowners are moving away from the tedious, manufactured look of traditional countertop surfaces and choosing concrete for its earthy, timeless appeal. Plus, the options for customizing concrete countertops are limitless: one can color, polish, stamp and stain concrete or imbed personal objects like stones, seashells and fossils into the counter tops surface, including belief and character. Practical features such as drain boards, soap meals, and trivets can likewise be included to match the house owners own requirements and lifestyle.
Concrete is gradually becoming debunked as characteristically cold and commercial. In contrary, this olden product is warm and surprisingly tactile; individuals can not assist but touch their smooth, refined surface areas. Realty representative Pleasure Rasmussen, who has recently offered her mountain home a short-term investment property in Steamboat Springs, CO states her visitors experiences with concrete: When I had open houses, visitors gravitated to the concrete countertops many people around here have never ever seen them.
Joys 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home was custom-made build by her spouse, Ken Otterman, together with KJ Otterman, president of Classic Unique Custom-made Homes. They built pour-in-place concrete counters for the homes kitchen area and three bathrooms by utilizing Concrete Countertops as their guide. The sand-colored concrete counter tops were polished smooth, then paired with natural slate of differing colors like charcoal, rust and gold tones that forms the backsplashes in the kitchen and baths. As a design accent, little rectangle-shaped slate tiles were added to the rim of the bathroom sinks, which provided a special information to the custom vanities.
When Delight and Ken decided to offer their home, their investment in concrete counter tops proved its worth. We were able to note your house $20,000 over market price, and had no issues offering it, comments Happiness, while discussing the long list of upgrades throughout their house, consisting of knotty pine strong doors, natural slate wall accents and hardwood floorings. The concrete countertops were easily the most distinct and remarkable of all the surfaces. I believe they were a huge 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 counter tops are a special offering to property buyers who see the very same finishes utilized in home after house they go to, discusses Happiness, using her observation as a seasoned realtor. Having concrete countertops practically offers you bragging rights you have something different from your next-door neighbors.
BREAKING THE MOLD
Another benefit of concrete is its flexibility in either modern-day or conventional settings, specifically when paired with other products like diverse 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 Happiness.
Joy and Ken have because built a much bigger home (4,000 sq. ft.) that provides expansive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort and is meant to serve as a long-term financial investment for the couple. Theyve likewise broadened their list of customized surfaces, including hand-troweled walls, sophisticated 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 specialized team put charcoal-colored countertops utilizing the pre-cast method in the unfinished basement of the new home. Before pouring the concrete, they sprinkled 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 result was a remarkable mix of colors, Without a doubt, the Mother-of-Pearl was the most incredible, says Pleasure.
The L-shaped concrete counter top has a rough, rustic stone look, complementing its rugged country surroundings. An integral drain board and trivets supplies function and added interest to the concrete counter top. Natural slate backsplashes, unique wall accents, and a butcher block counter top at the kitchen area island all resonate with the conventional heat and earthiness of the concrete countertops.
Joy and Kens respective backgrounds in realty and custom homebuilding, and as investment homebuyers, have actually helped them realize that concrete countertops can include remarkable visual and financial worth to a home. Concretes modification and show-stopping appeal is like no other counter top surface area. Cheng is a supporter of emotional looks and constructing read this homes that record these emotions, as when it comes to Pleasure and Ken Otterman. Cheng concludes: People actually want distinction, something personal, something customized and concrete can do that for them.