The Many Styles Of Concrete Countertops

When people think about concrete countertops, the first image that comes to mind is the gray slab of featureless stone that looks like a block of the neighborhood sidewalk placed on top of their beautiful cabinets.  Needless to say, this is not an attractive image for most people that are looking for a new countertop for their home.  Although concrete countertops made out of grey, bland slabs of concrete can be purchased for the home, there are many other concrete countertop designs available as well that may be more appealing to the homeowner looking for a new countertop.

One type of concrete countertop that could be a beautiful addition to any home is the veined concrete countertop.  These countertops have colored or white veins running through the concrete, giving the countertop the appearance of marble stone.  Different pigments can be added to the concrete in the countertop to change the base color of the concrete and bring out the veining in a dramatic way.  These countertops are typically finished with a coat of clear sealant to give the stone a beautiful shine and increase its similarity to natural marble stone countertops while costing a fraction of the price.

Another type of concrete countertop that homeowners may be interested in is a terrazzo concrete countertop.  These concrete countertops contain small chips of glass or colored stone to create a lovely textured appearance in the surface of the concrete and pigments can be added to the concrete to change the color of the concrete and create a more dramatic look for the home.  These countertops retain the strength of the concrete but generally do not look anything like the traditional appearance of concrete.  Depending on the materials used to create the terrazzo effect, these countertops can be more expensive than other types of countertops.

Concrete countertops can be created to resemble many different types of natural stone, including granite and limestone.  By using a wide variety of pigments and specific manufacturing techniques, concrete can be given almost any appearance that the homeowner wishes.  There are a number of manufacturers that specialize in creating custom concrete countertops for the home and each of these manufacturers will have a number of different designs and colors for homeowners to choose from.

Each of these different types of concrete countertops can also be customized by choosing different edging styles to accompany the countertop style.  There are nearly a dozen different edging styles and shapes for homeowners to choose from and each will provide a dramatically different appearance for the countertop.  The thickness of the concrete slab may limit the edging styles that may be chosen for a particular countertop as some of the thinner slabs cannot support some of the more intricate edging styles because there is not enough room to implement them.