The Value of Concrete Countertops: Customization Boosts Aesthetic Appeal and
The Value of Concrete Countertops: Customization Boosts Aesthetic 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 house owners are demanding customized styles and surfaces in their kitchens. In specific, they are aiming to reveal their uniqueness and distinct style preferences with the fast growing style product of option concrete.
In reality, concrete counter tops have become rather of a status symbol for cooking areas, matching granite and other high-end countertop surface area options. Consumer Reports Magazine (August 2004) ranked concrete greatest for its customization and exclusivity among high-end cooking area countertops.
As a customized product, the amount of time and workmanship required to produce concrete countertops positions them as the most labor-intensive and most expensive among leading countertop products.
However, concrete countertops are becoming more accessible for those on a modest budget. The latest diy (DO IT YOURSELF) pattern to captivate house owners and home builders is constructing your own concrete counter top. This phenomenon has acquired appeal mostly due to Chengs best-selling book Concrete Countertops: Design, Kinds, and Completes for the New Kitchen 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 abound.
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Increasingly, house owners are moving away from the dull, manufactured appearance of traditional counter top surfaces and picking concrete for its earthy, ageless appeal. Plus, the choices for individualizing concrete counter tops are unlimited: one can color, polish, stamp and stain concrete or imbed individual items like stones, seashells and fossils into the counter tops surface area, adding belief and character. Functional functions such as drain boards, soap dishes, and trivets can also be included to suit the property owners own requirements 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 assist but touch their smooth, sleek surface areas. Realty representative Pleasure Rasmussen, who has actually recently offered her mountain home a short-term investment home in Steamboat Springs, CO recounts her visitors experiences with concrete: When I had open homes, visitors gravitated to the concrete counter tops many people around here have actually never ever seen them.
Joys 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home was custom build by her spouse, Ken Otterman, together with KJ Otterman, president of Classic Unique Custom Residences. They developed pour-in-place concrete counters for the homes cooking area and 3 bathrooms by using 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 kitchen and baths. As a style accent, small rectangle-shaped slate tiles were contributed to the rim of the restroom sinks, which offered a special information to the custom vanities.
When Delight and Ken chose to offer their home, their financial investment in concrete counter tops proved its worth. We had the ability to list your house $20,000 over market price, and had no issues selling it, remarks Delight, while discussing the long list of upgrades throughout their house, including knotty pine solid doors, natural slate wall accents and hardwood floors. The concrete counter tops were easily the most unique and outstanding of all the surfaces. I think they were a huge part in including value to the home. Around here, all you see in homes are granite countertops and I truly think property buyers are getting quite numb with granite.
BREAKING THE MOLD
Another benefit of concrete is its adaptability in either modern or traditional settings, specifically when paired with other products like diverse metals, wood or stone. Concrete includes so many [possibilities] to stone, and the combination with slate, which is extremely popular here, offers the mountain homes a general warm, natural touch, states Happiness.
Joy and Ken have actually considering that constructed a much bigger home (4,000 sq. ft.) that uses extensive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort and is suggested to work as a long-lasting financial investment for the couple. Theyve also expanded their list of customized surfaces, consisting of 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 specialty team poured charcoal-colored countertops using the pre-cast approach in the incomplete basement of the brand-new home. Before putting the concrete, they sprinkled an array of professional plumber 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 impressive blend of colors, Without a doubt, the Mother-of-Pearl was the most amazing, states Pleasure.
The L-shaped concrete counter top has a rough, rustic stone look, complementing its rugged country environments. An essential drain board and trivets supplies function and added 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 standard warmth and earthiness of the concrete counter tops.
Joy and Kens particular backgrounds in realty and custom homebuilding, and as financial investment homebuyers, have actually assisted them realize that concrete countertops can include significant visual and financial worth to a home. Concretes personalization and show-stopping appeal is like no other countertop surface. Cheng is a supporter of emotional aesthetic appeals and developing homes that catch these feelings, as when it comes to Delight and Ken Otterman. Cheng concludes: People really desire differentiation, something personal, something custom and concrete can do that for them.