And now we wait...

My lack of posts over the last few months would make it appear as though I've been slacking. Oh contraire. As this countertop is both my first one for a client, as well as the most technically challenging, I've been experimenting with different colors, acid stains, and finishes to get an idea of how to do what I'm wanting to do. With this said, this weekend was the culmination of that practicing.

It started Thursday and Friday nights, during which time I got the form ready (glued down the knockouts for the built-in trivets, formed the edging, bent rebar, and vacuumed) and picked up the materials (in the ghetto of Omaha). That all went pretty smoothly, once I realized that fresh clay is *way* easier to scrape than somewhat older clay.

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Scraping the edge

Saturday was game day. My good friends Jason and Ashlee (and baby Kali) came over in the morning, and Ashlee and Maia played with the kids while Jason and I poured. It too went well - messy and tiring, but well. We both managed to get fairly dirty, however; Jason got a face/hair/shirt full of acrylic fortifier (that's a kind of stank that won't wash out), and my pants and shirt got a nice splash of black concrete dye. I doubt it'll come out.


To get the "river" look that we were going for, we actually poured two batches - one untinted and another tinted deep gray. The reason for this is that the colors I'm planning to use on the river show up much stronger on the untinted concrete than the gray. The untinted mix was placed somewhat flowing through the middle from corner to corner, while the gray filled in the sides. Pouring this wasn't difficult, per se, but the timing was tricky. I think the end result will be great, though. I hope.

Soon, though, the pouring was complete. We washed everything (drenching myself in the process), and headed inside for some well-deserved lunch. Now all I can do is wait, occasionally spray it with water, and hope that it turns out the way I want.

 

Concrete at rest