Glow in the dark concrete countertops in the Cayman Islands

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Jeff Girard

In July, I traveled once more to Grand Cayman to help my student Terry Wilson with a cool project. This was a 190 sq ft concrete bartop for the new Georgetown Yacht Club. It incorporated recycled glass (beer bottles), sliced coral and conch shells and glow in the dark aggregate!

The owner wanted to use sustainable materials, and he had heard several years ago about concrete countertops and how recycled glass can be incorporated into them. For the past 2 years, he has been saving every beer bottle he and his friends drank. He built his own concrete countertops for his office reception area and the washrooms for the marina. They look really great for a do-it-yourselfer! He showed me the countertops as an example of the look he was going for.

One of the DIY bathroom countertops

The client pointing out glass pieces he liked

He wanted to use glow in the dark aggregate to create a special effect and also to cut down on lighting energy. I advised using Glow Stone from Ambient Glow Technology, as it has the best luminosity and is available in a variety of colors and sizes. He had obtained some samples from another company (at exorbitant prices!); you will see later the clear difference in luminosity.

The client selecting Glowstone color and size

It REALLY glows!

The owner decided on 3/4″ Glow Stone in all 3 colors. The next order of business was to slice the coral and conch shells (easily available on the island) and to break up the beer bottles. There were 27 cases! Breaking them was not as easy as you might think. We had to crush them in small batches in a box, using a cast iron tamper.

Crushing beer bottles

Coral and conch slices ready to go

We used beach sand from nearby, and for the pozzolan used Bottle-Pozz 100% post-consumer recycled content from Fishstone. We also used every bag of white cement on the island! When Terry told me about the project, I told him to buy up every bag of white cement he could find, because I know from last summer how long it can take to get supplies onto the island.

Pour day went great. The pour was about 3 yards. We used ice to retard the mix. It’s always about 88 degrees (31 C) in Grand Cayman.

Adding ingredients to the truck

Ice to cool and retard the concrete

The concrete truck arrives

Screeding

After screeding, we seeded the top with all the decorative aggregate and accents and screeded it in. This was a harsh mix! In the photo below, the section in the back has been floated, and the section in the front has not yet been.

Floating

The next day, we started grinding the concrete countertops to expose the recycled glass aggregate and other decorative features. At 1 day, the compressive strength was already 2150 PSI. The 3-day strength tested at 3730 PSI, and at 7 days it was 6750 PSI. Not the strongest concrete I’ve ever made, but as you know from other blog entries, compressive strength is not the most important property.

Terry grinding the edges

Hot, gritty and sweaty

All the grinding, honing and polishing was very hard work, but it paid off. The client was thrilled, and the details in that bartop are amazing!

Finished bartop

Closeup of beer bottles

Closeup of conch shell

One section of the bartop

The Glow Stones looked amazing too. In the photo below, you can see some smaller stones from the client’s sample of the other “glowing” aggregate. They are much dimmer than the stones from Ambient Glow Technology!

Larger AGT Glow Stones contrast with other "glowing" aggregate

It glows!

In all, the project took about a week. The forms were built ahead of time. We poured on a Tuesday, spent Wednesday through Friday grinding, honing, grouting and polishing, and then Terry applied V-SEAL 101 that weekend.

I can’t wait to go back and see the finished yacht club and have a beer at this bartop!

For even more photos, see the album on the CCI Facebook page.

Even in the Cayman Islands, concrete countertops can be challenging

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Jeff Girard

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I love my job. I get to meet interesting people. I get to travel the world and help people be more successful with their concrete countertop businesses. And I make cool concrete.

I’m currently spending the summer down in the Cayman Islands helping out my student Terry with several large projects. (I’ve been there before – here’s a photo of the project I helped him with in December.)

Terry Grand Cayman

The first project I’m working on this summer is a 100 sq ft outdoor bar/gazebo. It’s a pretty simple job – just a hexagonal bartop.

gazebo

But this experience is showing me that even when things seem simple on the surface, the little details which appeared insignificant at first suddenly become the critical factor that brings everything to a screeching halt.

This outdoor bar is a pet project of a local developer. They and their architect drew up plans in January for a hexagonal-shaped bartop in an outdoor gazebo. The design was unchanged up until a week ago, and we were given the go-ahead to start forming for pouring right away.

forming gazebo

On the morning we started forming the architect halted everything and said the client changed the bar profile, reducing the overhang distance on the patron side and increasing the overhang on the bartender side. This was to allow for the beer taps to be installed in the bartop instead of on kegerators.

So new forms were cut and assembled. When asked about the details on the taps, the response was that they were pretty sure which ones were going to be used, but the details were not finalized. A few days later the tap details emerged, but it turns out the tap, its drip tray and the bartop don’t actually work together. Oops!

And guess what: The architect didn’t discover this. The owner didn’t. Terry and I did – the concrete countertop guys.

The morals of this long story are:

1. What seemed like a simple project that really was a lot more complex than it appeared.

2. You, the concrete guy/gal, need to understand a lot more than just concrete.

The fact that the plans were drawn (and re-drawn) before the taps were selected highlights the need for someone with experience, skill and an awareness of how everything will come together. The architect isn’t that person. The owner isn’t that person. It’s you. You must deal with the details that matter.

Sure, you have to know the basics of forming and casting and making concrete. That’s the easy part that everyone who offers training covers. But it’s the little details that have nothing to do with making concrete that are what separates those who are successful and make things work the first time from those who learn the hard way, through mistakes, expensive re-do’s and frustrated clients.

This is why I spend so much time on sinks, faucets and installation in my intensive class. The devil is in the details. Even in the paradise of Grand Cayman.

PS – Keep track of my Cayman adventures on Facebook. I’ll be posting lots of photos and updates.

PPS – Actually, “Hell” is in Grand Cayman. Here’s a photo.

Hell Grand Cayman

Concrete countertops feature prominently in church in Casper, Wyoming

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Jeff Girard

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The architect of the new Highland Park Community Church facility in Casper, Wyoming was seeking a versatile, customizable countertop surface. He found it with concrete countertops.

Gary Berchenbriter, concrete countertop artisan and owner of GB Building & Design, had just 2 days to bid the very large project: 450 square feet of reception desk and water feature, two large fireplace hearths, coffee bar and security desk. The client used multiple looks ranging from swirls of color to exposed glass and metal. Gary was able to show examples and samples of all the various desired looks and won the job.

Logistics

After bidding in November 2009, casting concrete started in June 2010 and proceeded in stages until the final installation in December 2010. Gary accomplished all this with himself and two part-time helpers. He had to make very efficient use of his 2400 sq ft shop, and build an additional casting table to handle the job. “This project really forced me to think through my shop organization,” says Gary.

Swirls of GFRC Accent the Welcome Desk

The reception area and two hearths used a swirled look that was challenging to reproduce. Gary had first created this look using two different colors of GFRC mist coat hand swirled in the forms. Consistency of the mix was an important factor in recreating this look, and Gary found that later he had to swirl the two colors in a bucket and then pour them into the forms. Whatever the technique, the outcome was striking.

Gary Berchenbriter water feature

Water feature behind the welcome desk

Gary Berchenbriter welcome desk

The welcome desk

Concrete Ties Together the Design in the Coffee Bar

For the coffee bar area, the architect used the concrete bartop to tie together the looks of the corrugated steel and red accent walls. Gary placed galvanized wire and recycled red glass in the forms, then poured GFRC mist coat over it, then placed the backer coat.

Some voids developed around the galvanized wire as the concrete cured, so Gary filled them in with a darker charcoal gray grout that further accented the embedments.

Gary Berchenbriter coffee bar closeup

Closeup of steel and glass embedments in coffee bar

Gary Berchenbriter coffee bar top

Curved bartop for coffee shop

Fireplace Hearths Serve as Gathering Places

Two massive fireplace hearths 18 feet wide and 21 feet wide are large enough for congregation members to gather around the fire. The hearths also used the swirled GFRC technique.

Gary Berchenbriter hearth1a

Gary Berchenbriter hearth2a

Security Desk Challenges

“I was most proud of the security desk because we were able to fit the pieces in a very challenging configuration,” Gary states. Three steel columns pierce the desk, at multiple angles and within curved countertop sections. Even the architect could not figure out how to connect the pieces, and left it up to Gary’s judgment and skill.

Gary Berchenbriter security desk

A Successful Project and a Versatile Surface

The sizes, shapes and colors possible with concrete, combined with the skill of a true concrete countertop artisan, made this a successful project. Congratulations Gary! You’re a great success story and an inspiration to other concrete countertop pros!

Churches, restaurants and businesses should take note that concrete can deliver for desks, bartops, water features and fireplace hearths as well as many other functional and beautiful uses such as bathroom countertops and stair treads.

GB Building & Design offers concrete countertops and elements in Casper, Wyoming and around the country and can be reached at gberchen@gbcountertops.com or 307-262-6569. Visit Gary’s website at www.gbcountertops.com.

A concrete countertop success story: Dave Banko of Counterpart LLC

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Jeff Girard

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Dave Banko, the founder and owner of Counterpart LLC in Raleigh, NC, began his career after graduating with honors from the NCSU School of Design in 1990 with a degree in Industrial Design. From there, he quickly went on to form his own company, Point Concepts Designs, Inc. with his partner and good friend Dan Schwab. After 14 years of running a very successful Exhibit Design company with Dan, Dave felt a need to fulfill some personal goals of his own. So, in 2005, Dave sold his interest in Point Concepts Design to pursue his dreams. He then received his General Contractors License in January of 2007 and began renovating properties. In that process, Dave became acutely aware of the need for fresh, new choices in countertop surfaces that provided an architectural element.

Banko stumbled upon concrete and was stunned at the myriad of options with the material. In April 2007, he attended training at The Concrete Countertop Institute and was able get started immediately supplying his customers with custom designed and fabricated concrete solutions. “The class taught me everything I needed to know in order to do it myself. Jeff started with basic instruction and worked the way up from there, teaching how to do each step and making sure we understood what’s in the mix and why. I was able to leave the class and be up and running in a very short period of time with a minimal learning curve.”

One of Dave’s signature projects is the Tyler’s Taproom bartop. This bartop, while relatively simple in terms of being a flat slab with a simple edge, represents the customizability of concrete and its utility in a commercial setting. The custom bright red works with the overall restaurant design, and the embedded steel and black concrete logos offer a stunning customization not possible with other countertop surfaces.

Dave Banko Counterpart Raleigh bartop