Wood, Fire and Whiskey...The Mancave Chronicles

[entropy]

Understood on your deck. The biggest problem I face here is heaving. The frost line is...IIRC...52” per code. Our elevated deck off the back (which I did not build) has begun to suffer from this for the past 4-5 years every winter. It’s taking it’s toll and the entire thing will need to be addressed in the next year or two at most. That was on the “list” but being called back to meaningful employment has thrown a wrench in that. I envy you folks down south. With the exception of using hurricane ties on everything 😁 construction is a lot simpler!

Yes. Wife and I poured the countertop in place. I did some research making my own forms, but in the end bought pre-made breakaway form from Concrete Countertop Solutions. They have several different styles but we just got the basic 2 1/4” square edge. The top of the bar is 1/2” CDX on top of which was placed 1/2” Durock. The forms (which are VERY easy to use, were then simply screwed into the Durock with 3/4” pan head screws to secure. They make a fiberglass mesh and clips (the clips also screw into the Durock) that allows the mesh to be suspended mid-depth in the mold to reinforce it. I used the special mix concrete and added powder black coloring to each 40lb bag as I mixed. The forms worked great (there are a bunch of videos on their website) and once snapped off produced a glass smooth surface on the edges.

Our experience with concrete is exceedingly limited. Lol. The issues I had were self induced. Mixing the stuff (in 5gal buckets) was a PITA and I gave up using the previously mentioned Makita moose-drill. In fact, I might have toasted the innerds on said drill. I ended up using a small shovel and hand trowel to mix each bag. A concrete guy I am not. That all said, it did pour well and the wife did the leveling while I mixed the buckets. The surface has a few spots of “roughness” (I think the term is called “burning”) from my inept trowel work, but I actually wanted that and it makes it look a bit more rustic.

I’ll try to take better picks of it today.

A couple of concrete pics:


Forms and mesh in place:






My concrete mixing facility:





After initial pouring:

[rob_s]

Thanks! That is exactly the mix and system I’m planning on using!

[rob_s]

This is my cost ciphering for the z-countertops. I’d be curious if you could check my math and see if I’m on the right track.

White text is materials, blue is tools, red is consumables. Last line is the sand mix from Home Depot.

I was going to skip the tools and try to cobble together some solutions but it’s really not that high a percentage take of the overall cost and I know if I cobble something together and it doesn’t work I’ll kick myself.

[entropy]

Like I said...my total experience with concrete countertops is about equal in length to your average baseball game so....lol

Your list seems complete. I used a product called Tru-Kast which has everything premixed and ready to go. I didn’t use any elasticizers or such. (That might explain why my Makita drill may be toast.) For a screed we just used a piece of 1x4. I did get a magnesium float and a metal trowel. That was it. The Z form 1/2 package should be plenty. That’s what we used and have some left as well. Make sure you put plastic or rosin paper down because once you start to level that stuff, any hope of being neat about it is out the door. We bought excess mix because we didn’t want to run short but will return the unused bags. We found that we got slightly better coverage than advertised.

Wife finished the sanding on it this morning. It has the texture of a piece of slate which is kinda what we were looking for. It’s not mirror smooth, has a few imperfections, but considering everything...I think we’re happy with it. We still may up staining it. Not sure on that. The color isn’t as dark as I wanted, but the sealer will darken it I read. We will try a little out of the way edge and see what we get then go from there.

Trying to get a winters worth of dirt cleaned out of there while the bar top dries out. It may be tomorrow before the trim boards get attached. It’s sunny now, and all the crap is pulled out to clean the floor. Snow and freezing rain tomorrow so I need to take advantage of the sunshine today.

[rob_s]

End of work today. Came up a few screws short, they’ll be here tomorrow, so I have a little work to do when I get home tomorrow night.

[entropy]

We’re all a few screws short...
lol

[entropy]

Well...that’s a wrap for a few months. On to work which will keep me occupied until mid-summer. Almost finished it. If I had another 2 weeks, we could have completed everything. Things left to do:

1. A 2x6 rail and a 2x8 top stringer along the wall with the barrel. (Out of view in the pic.)
2. Lay the laminate floor and do the wall/bar trim.
3. Bar foot rest made from black pipe.
4. Run the electric for bar and area lighting.
5. Figure out the gizmo I need to shoot my ViaSat from the house to the barn. (40yds-ish) for internet and TV.
6. Hang all the goodies.


Learned a lot. Put in some long days in some nasty weather. When I first started the electric, it was early February and the morning temps averaged a balmy -35F. It was a long walk from the house to start the day. Wife and kids will filter thru in my absence and the oldest has already planning on a golf excursion here to stay with some friends. Mission accomplished on that front.

...to be continued...

[rob_s]

Like I said...my total experience with concrete countertops is about equal in length to your average baseball game so....lol

Your list seems complete. I used a product called Tru-Kast which has everything premixed and ready to go. I didn’t use any elasticizers or such. (That might explain why my Makita drill may be toast.) For a screed we just used a piece of 1x4. I did get a magnesium float and a metal trowel. That was it. The Z form 1/2 package should be plenty. That’s what we used and have some left as well. Make sure you put plastic or rosin paper down because once you start to level that stuff, any hope of being neat about it is out the door. We bought excess mix because we didn’t want to run short but will return the unused bags. We found that we got slightly better coverage than advertised.

Wife finished the sanding on it this morning. It has the texture of a piece of slate which is kinda what we were looking for. It’s not mirror smooth, has a few imperfections, but considering everything...I think we’re happy with it. We still may up staining it. Not sure on that. The color isn’t as dark as I wanted, but the sealer will darken it I read. We will try a little out of the way edge and see what we get then go from there.

man, looks like the shipping is going to be a bear too. I may start looking at other options. Already trying to find a local vendor that can just do a professional job for me. Not sure that one 8ftx2ft countertop is worth $1,100 to me...

[RoyGBiv]

man, looks like the shipping is going to be a bear too. I may start looking at other options. Already trying to find a local vendor that can just do a professional job for me. Not sure that one 8ftx2ft countertop is worth $1,100 to me...

You should be able to find a nice granite or quartz remnant for that much scratch. No tools or skilz required.

[rob_s]

You should be able to find a nice granite or quartz remnant for that much scratch. No tools or skilz required.

pretty set on the concrete. For our space I think it's the best solution.

I think I can get it down by changing up my sourcing a bit here and there. Looking more like $450, including tools and consumables, now.

I eventually have a second counter that I'll probably be doing at 90-degrees to this one, and that one is probably 2x the size, so I don't want to get committed to granite or quartz!