The Worth of Concrete Countertops: Personalization Boosts Visual Appeal and
The Value of Concrete Countertops: Personalization Increases Visual Appeal and Realty Investment for Homeowners
From top-dollar homes in the San Francisco Bay Location to sprawling mountain homes in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating house owners are requiring custom-made designs and surfaces in their kitchen areas. In specific, they are looking to reveal their individuality and unique design choices with the quick growing style material of option concrete.
In truth, concrete countertops have actually become somewhat of a status symbol for cooking areas, equaling granite and other high-end counter top surface options. Consumer Reports Publication (August 2004) ranked concrete greatest for its customization and exclusivity amongst high-end cooking area countertops.
As a custom-made item, the amount of time and workmanship needed to produce concrete counter tops places them as the most labor-intensive and priciest among leading counter top products.
However, concrete counter tops are becoming more accessible for those on a modest spending plan. The latest do-it-yourself (DO IT YOURSELF) pattern to captivate property owners and contractors is building your own concrete countertop. This phenomenon has actually gained popularity largely due to Chengs very popular book Concrete Countertops: Style, Types, and Completes for the New Cooking Area and Bath (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little monetary investment in making concrete counter tops, yet the innovative gains of working with concrete are plentiful.
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Increasingly, homeowners are moving away from the boring, manufactured look of traditional countertop surfaces and selecting concrete for its earthy, ageless appeal. Plus, the choices for personalizing concrete countertops are limitless: one can color, polish, stamp and stain concrete or imbed personal objects like stones, seashells and fossils into the countertops surface, including belief and character. Functional functions such as drain boards, soap meals, and trivets can also be integrated to fit the property owners own needs and lifestyle.
Concrete is gradually becoming demystified as characteristically cold and industrial. In contrary, this age-old material is warm and remarkably tactile; people can not help but touch their smooth, polished surfaces. Real estate agent Joy Rasmussen, who has just recently sold her mountain home a short-term financial investment home in Steamboat Springs, CO recounts her visitors experiences with concrete: When I had open houses, visitors gravitated to the concrete counter tops many individuals around here have actually never ever seen them.
Joys 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home was custom develop by her husband, Ken Otterman, along with KJ Otterman, president of Classic Special Customized Homes. They constructed pour-in-place concrete counters for the homes kitchen 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 area and baths. As a style accent, little rectangular slate tiles were added to the rim of the bathroom sinks, which provided an unique information to the custom vanities.
When Happiness and Ken decided to sell their home, their investment in concrete counter tops proved its worth. We had the ability to note your house $20,000 over market value, and had no problems selling it, remarks Happiness, while talking about the long list of upgrades throughout their home, including knotty pine strong doors, natural slate wall accents and wood floorings. The concrete countertops were quickly the most special and remarkable of all the finishes. I believe 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 countertops are an unique offering to property buyers who see the very same surfaces used in home after house they visit, discusses Pleasure, providing her observation as an experienced real estate agent. Having concrete counter tops nearly provides you boasting rights you have something various from your neighbors.
BREAKING THE MOLD
Another advantage of concrete is its versatility in either modern or traditional settings, specifically when paired with other materials like different metals, wood or stone. Concrete adds many [possibilities] to stone, and the combination with slate, which is hugely popular here, gives the mountain homes an overall warm, natural touch, states Joy.
Joy and Ken have because constructed a much bigger home (4,000 sq. ft.) that offers extensive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort and is implied to work 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 cooking area counter tops.
Unlike in their previous home, KJ and his specialized team put charcoal-colored counter tops utilizing the pre-cast method in the unfinished basement of the brand-new home. Before putting the concrete, they sprayed 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 result was an outstanding 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 nation environments. An important drain board and trivets provides function and added interest to the concrete countertop. Natural slate backsplashes, distinct wall accents, and a butcher block fix hot water heater thermostat counter top at the kitchen island all resonate with the traditional heat and earthiness of the concrete counter tops.
Joy and Kens particular backgrounds in property and customized homebuilding, and as investment property buyers, have assisted them recognize that concrete counter tops can include tremendous aesthetic and financial worth to a home. Concretes customization and show-stopping appeal resembles no other counter top surface. Cheng is a proponent of psychological visual appeals and building homes that catch these feelings, as in the case of Delight and Ken Otterman. Cheng concludes: People actually desire distinction, something individual, something custom-made and concrete can do that for them.