The Value of Concrete Countertops: Personalization Boosts affordable plumber Canberra Aesthetic Appeal and
The Worth of Concrete Countertops: Modification Increases Visual Appeal and Realty Investment for Homeowners
From top-dollar homes in the San Francisco Bay Area to stretching mountain homes in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating property owners are demanding custom-made designs and surfaces in their cooking areas. In particular, they are wanting to reveal their individuality and unique style preferences with the fast growing design product of choice concrete.
In reality, concrete countertops have actually ended up being somewhat of a status symbol for kitchens, matching granite and other high-end countertop surface options. Consumer Reports Magazine (August 2004) ranked concrete greatest for its customization and exclusivity among high-end kitchen area countertops.
As a custom item, the amount of time and workmanship required to produce concrete countertops positions them as the most labor-intensive and priciest amongst leading countertop products.
However, concrete countertops are becoming more accessible for those on a modest budget. The current do-it-yourself (DIY) pattern to mesmerize property owners and builders is constructing your own concrete counter top. This phenomenon has actually gotten popularity mostly due to Chengs very popular book Concrete Countertops: Design, Kinds, 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 are plentiful.
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Increasingly, property owners are moving away from the tedious, manufactured appearance of traditional countertop surfaces and choosing concrete for its earthy, classic appeal. Plus, the alternatives for individualizing concrete countertops are endless: one can color, polish, stamp and stain concrete or imbed individual objects like stones, seashells and fossils into the countertops surface area, including sentiment and character. Functional functions such as drain boards, soap meals, and trivets can also be included to suit the house owners own needs and lifestyle.
Concrete is slowly becoming demystified as typically cold and commercial. In contrary, this age-old material is warm and surprisingly tactile; individuals can not help but touch their smooth, refined surfaces. Realty agent Pleasure Rasmussen, who has just recently sold her mountain home a short-term financial investment property in Steamboat Springs, CO states her visitors experiences with concrete: When I had open houses, visitors gravitated to the concrete countertops lots of people around here have never ever seen them.
Joys 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home was customized build by her spouse, Ken Otterman, along with KJ Otterman, president of Classic Special Custom-made Residences. They constructed pour-in-place concrete counters for the homes kitchen and 3 bathrooms by using Concrete Countertops as their guide. The sand-colored concrete countertops 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, small rectangle-shaped slate tiles were contributed to the rim of the bathroom sinks, which offered an unique detail to the custom-made vanities.
When Delight and Ken chose to offer their house, their financial investment in concrete countertops proved its worth. We were able to list your house $20,000 over market price, and had no issues offering it, remarks Happiness, while going over the long list of upgrades throughout their home, including knotty pine strong doors, natural slate wall accents and hardwood floors. The concrete countertops were quickly the most distinct and impressive of all the finishes. I think they were a substantial part in including worth to the home. Around here, all you see in homes are granite counter tops and I actually believe property buyers are getting quite numb with granite.
Concrete counter tops are a distinct offering to property buyers who see the same surfaces used in home after home they check out, describes Joy, offering her observation as a seasoned real plumber Canberra estate agent. Having concrete counter tops nearly gives you boasting rights you have something different from your next-door neighbors.
Another advantage of concrete is its versatility in either contemporary or standard settings, especially when combined with other products like varied metals, wood or stone. Concrete includes numerous [possibilities] to stone, and the combination with slate, which is hugely popular here, gives the mountain homes a total warm, natural touch, states Joy.
Joy and Ken have actually given that built a much larger home (4,000 sq. ft.) that provides expansive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort and is suggested to work as a long-lasting investment for the couple. Theyve also broadened their list of custom finishes, consisting of hand-troweled walls, stylish oil-rubbed bronze hardware, knotty pine doors that arch at the top, cabinets in a natural, knotty alder, and their favorite concrete kitchen area countertops.
Unlike in their previous home, KJ and his specialized crew poured charcoal-colored counter tops using the pre-cast approach in the unfinished 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 area was ground and lightly polished, the finished result was a remarkable blend of colors, Without a doubt, the Mother-of-Pearl was the most extraordinary, says Pleasure.
The L-shaped concrete counter top has a rough, rustic stone appearance, complementing its rugged nation environments. An important drain board and trivets provides function and included interest to the concrete countertop. Natural slate backsplashes, unique wall accents, and a butcher block counter top at the kitchen island all resonate with the traditional warmth and earthiness of the concrete counter tops.
Joy and Kens respective backgrounds in realty and customized homebuilding, and as investment property buyers, have assisted them recognize that concrete countertops can include tremendous visual and monetary worth to a home. Concretes customization and show-stopping appeal resembles no other countertop surface. Cheng is a proponent of emotional visual appeals and constructing homes that capture these feelings, as when it comes to Delight and Ken Otterman. Cheng concludes: Individuals really desire differentiation, something individual, something custom-made and concrete can do that for them.