The Worth of Concrete Countertops: Customization Boosts Visual Appeal and
The Worth of Concrete Countertops: Personalization Boosts Visual Appeal and Realty Investment for Homeowners
From top-dollar homes in the San Francisco Bay Location to stretching mountain homes in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating house owners are requiring customized styles and finishes in their kitchen areas. In specific, they are aiming to express their individuality and unique design preferences with the quick growing style material of option concrete.
In reality, concrete countertops have actually ended up being rather of a status symbol for cooking areas, matching granite and other high-end countertop surface area options. Consumer Reports Publication (August 2004) ranked concrete highest for its personalization and exclusivity among high-end kitchen countertops.
As a custom-made product, the amount of time and craftsmanship required to produce concrete counter tops positions them as the most labor-intensive and most expensive among leading counter top materials.
However, concrete countertops are ending up being more accessible for those on a modest spending plan. The latest do-it-yourself (DIY) pattern to captivate property owners and builders is constructing your own concrete counter top. This phenomenon has actually gained popularity mainly due to Chengs best-selling book Concrete Countertops: Style, Types, and Completes for the New Cooking Area and Bath (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little financial investment in making concrete countertops, yet the innovative gains of working with concrete abound.
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Concrete is gradually becoming demystified as typically cold and commercial. In contrary, this age-old material is warm and remarkably tactile; people can not assist but touch their smooth, polished surface areas. Realty agent Pleasure Rasmussen, who has recently offered her mountain home a short-term investment home in Steamboat Springs, CO recounts her visitors experiences with concrete: When I had open houses, visitors gravitated to the concrete counter tops many individuals around here have never ever seen them.
Joys 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home was custom build by her other half, Ken Otterman, together with KJ Otterman, president of Classic Unique Custom Homes. They developed pour-in-place concrete counters for the homes cooking area and three restrooms by utilizing Concrete Countertops as their guide. The sand-colored concrete counter tops 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 added to the rim of the restroom sinks, which supplied a distinct information to the custom-made vanities.
When Delight and Ken decided to offer their house, their financial investment in concrete countertops proved its worth. We were able to list the house $20,000 over market value, and had no problems selling it, comments Pleasure, while talking about the long list of upgrades throughout their house, consisting of knotty pine strong doors, natural slate wall accents and hardwood floors. The concrete countertops were easily the most distinct and remarkable of all the surfaces. I think they were a huge part in adding value to the home. Around here, all you see in homes are granite countertops and I really think homebuyers are getting quite numb with granite.
Concrete countertops are an unique offering to property buyers who see the exact same surfaces used in house after house they check out, explains Delight, offering her observation as a seasoned realtor. Having concrete countertops almost provides you bragging rights you have something various from your neighbors.
BREAKING THE MOLD
Another advantage of concrete is its adaptability in either modern or standard settings, particularly when coupled with other products like varied metals, wood or stone. Concrete includes a lot of [possibilities] to stone, and the combination with slate, which is extremely popular here, offers the mountain homes a total warm, natural touch, states Pleasure.
Joy and Ken have actually since developed a much bigger home (4,000 sq. ft.) that offers expansive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort and is implied to act as a long-lasting financial investment for the couple. Theyve likewise expanded their list of custom-made surfaces, including hand-troweled walls, stylish oil-rubbed bronze hardware, knotty pine doors that arch at the top, cabinets in a tool list for plumbing projects natural, knotty alder, and their preferred concrete cooking area countertops.
Unlike in their previous home, KJ and his specialty team put charcoal-colored countertops utilizing the pre-cast approach in the unfinished basement of the brand-new home. Before putting the concrete, they sprinkled a selection of semi-precious stones in the mold including Leopardskin, Moonstone, Mother-of-Pearl and Blue-green. After the surface was ground and gently polished, the finished result was an outstanding blend of colors, Without a doubt, the Mother-of-Pearl was the most unbelievable, says Pleasure.
The L-shaped concrete counter top has a rough, rustic stone look, matching its rugged country surroundings. An essential drain board and trivets offers function and added interest to the concrete counter top. Natural slate backsplashes, distinct wall accents, and a butcher block counter top at the kitchen area island all resonate with the traditional warmth and earthiness of the concrete countertops.
Joy and Kens particular backgrounds in realty and customized homebuilding, and as investment homebuyers, have actually helped them understand that concrete counter tops can include tremendous visual and monetary worth to a home. Concretes modification and show-stopping appeal is like no other countertop surface area. Cheng is an advocate of psychological aesthetic appeals and developing homes that catch these emotions, as in the case of Delight and Ken Otterman. Cheng concludes: Individuals actually want distinction, something individual, something custom-made and concrete can do that for them.