Jeff Robinson of CounterEvolution Uses Concrete to Apply His Passion for Craftsmanship to Custom Countertops
Jeff and Sue outside their carriage house/shop.
Jeff has been working in the kitchen and bath industry for 20 years, and his company, JD Robinson, L.L.C. specializes in full service design-build kitchen and bath remodels. Jeff’s attention to detail, excellent customer service, and passion for craftsmanship has repeatedly put his company at the top of the stack in his market. Jeff also attributes the support and help he gets from his wife Sue as being integral to his success. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist,” states Jeff, and his favorite part of his business has always been the craft details and finishing touches that can make a bunch of cabinet boxes turn into a custom installation.
A few years ago, a progressive, outdoorsy couple with a beautiful home overlooking a nature preserve hired Jeff to design and build their kitchen remodel. Prior to hiring Jeff, the couple had determined that concrete with its organic look was exactly what they wanted for their countertop surface. As their contractor, it was up to Jeff to find someone to make the tops for them. An Internet search for concrete countertops in his area found two prominent websites: Concrete Network and Concrete Exchange (Fu-Tung Cheng’s site). Jeff noticed there was not a contractor specializing in concrete tops within 100 miles of him. So he decided to do some research to see if he’d consider doing the tops himself to compare to the expense of subcontracting out to a remote contractor.
Making concrete countertops is a true family affair when daughter Danielle gets into the act.
Jeff was quickly intrigued, but cautious. “I couldn’t help but notice that Cheng’s site touted how easy and inexpensive making your own countertops can be, so my first impression about making concrete countertops was that it’d be just like baking a cake; get a box of Duncan Hines®, follow the directions and [presto], concrete countertops,” states Jeff. But with Jeff’s attention to detail he also couldn’t help but notice that along with the DIY marketing, Cheng also sold thousands of dollars worth of training. “It seemed to me, there was probably a bit more to it than a bag of concrete and some color.” That’s when Jeff found The Concrete Countertop Institute (CCI). Jeff was impressed with the fact that CCI was not selling anything but training, and no products, distribution chain or franchise was involved. So, off he went to Raleigh, NC for CCI’s beginner precast class with Jeff Girard.
And so, a new division of JD Robinson, L.L.C. was formed: CounterEvolution. Jeff admits his first clients were the best kind of clients to have. They loved concrete, and more importantly they loved the idea of concrete. They possessed infinite patience for the process that was to be Jeff’s very first professional concrete countertops. His clients were involved through out the project, and even helped to cast one piece. They are still friends today.
Acid stained vanity countertops.
Jeff has a student mentality in that he knows that in order to play the game, he has to be a student of the game. From the start, Jeff was not so concerned about templating, or form building, or even installing his concrete tops. Those were all skills he employed for 20 years. It was the concrete pour, or casting, and the elements of the concrete’s mix design itself that Jeff was initially concerned about. It is a great testament to the artist, craftsman, and businessman within, that he recognized this early on. It is a very common mistake for craftsman engaged in other factions of the building industry to over-simplify the planning and work that goes into concrete countertops, and then get themselves and their customers in trouble down the road when all does not pan out as hoped.
Jeff says that one of the hardest things for him to accept early on was simply that concrete “is what it is”. The perfectionist craftsman in him thought he wanted to see a piece of concrete with perfect color saturation, no holes, and no imperfections. He quickly came to realize that those very “imperfections” are indeed what is so beautiful about concrete and thanks concrete for resurrecting the artist in him. His very first client contributed to his growth from craftsman approach to artist approach as well. On one of many visits to the home his first job required, the homeowner said to Jeff, “The enemy of good is better”.
Vanity top and tub deck in polished concrete.
And so with that in mind, Jeff has worked diligently over the last two years to get a grasp on the many variables and curve balls that occur in concrete countertop construction. Jeff likens making concrete countertops to climbing a mountain. He says he loves to hike and climb, but he never had the desire to climb Mount Everest. Like climbing Everest, he feels concrete countertops require the pinnacle of expertise and professionalism in the concrete world on every level. He has meticulously experimented and educated himself at every possible juncture. He trained at The Concrete Countertop Institute and joined the Elite Support membership program to obtain the highest level of support from Jeff Girard. He even went so far as to have his mix professionally tested for strength and is proud of the results. Now, although always open to how to “make the good better”, he is finally comfortable with his mix design and casting process.
Jeff feels he’s finally turned the corner from obsession with perfection to having a healthy handle on his mix design and process. He is enjoying using concrete like no other element in his business to add that personal, unique detail that sets each of the spaces he designs apart from box stores and other designer-builders. Now he feels he can start to concentrate on growing and marketing his businesses more.
Slate blue kitchen island.
Jeff’s primary business is still full service kitchen and bath design-build remodels, and concrete countertops and CounterEvolution have become a division of this business. Not all of his designs employ concrete and not all of his concrete work employs his other expertise. But he says that each are working as a great compliment to one another, as often a remodel client turns into a concrete client and visa versa. His shop and studio for concrete have taken over the 1600 square foot 4 bay carriage house that used to house the family cars on his 2.5 acres. Presently Jeff relies on primarily himself for the concrete countertop division and subcontractors for much of his remodeling business. His wife, Sue, and their daughter Danielle also help out, making his concrete division a true family business. His growth plans include the possibility of hiring more subcontractors on the remodeling end, as well as a “foreman” of sorts for the concrete side and focusing most of his attention on sales and design.
As his analogy about his indifference to climbing Mt. Everest is meant to imply, Jeff says that if he’d known how many details, variables, and obstacles there are to start and run a viable concrete countertop business, let alone making the tops themselves, he’s not sure he would have. But he sure is happy he did, and ironically thanks that first over-simplified viewpoint he gathered from the DIY sites for getting him started in the first place.
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“As I’ve said, my passion in this business [the Kitchen and Bath Industry] has always been the little details and finishing touches, and how they all fit together that makes me feel good at the end of the day. Concrete has turned into another element that allows me to feed that passion, and although the area I live and work tends to lag a bit behind in embracing the latest trends, concrete as an interior element is blossoming here and we’re excited to be in the position to offer our clients the very best of this trend”.
Contact Jeff at:
CounterEvolution in Dayton, OH
www.counterevolution.com