Now for the fun part of this project! And what could drive a person crazy with the waiting! Once the countertops were in we spent a good week waiting and thinking about how to finish them. Our original idea was to put a food grade sealer down and call it a day. After seeing some of the imperfections and way that they naturally looked we decided that we didn't want that look for the City House. We felt like it needed a more polished and refined look. All this time we had been watching You Tube videos and really enjoyed Mike from Stonecoat Countertops. He had all of these amazing designs that he did using epoxy resin. While we thought it was amazing it also felt too ambitious for our first try. If you've known us long you know that an ambitious project is EXACTLY what we tend to choose. Go check out his channel. You'll be blown away by the things you can create using epoxy!
I hopped online and on the phone and spent a lot of time walking through our materials list with the folks at Stonecoat Countertops. They were extremely nice, helpful, and they pointed us in the right direction. We highly recommend using them if you want to do a project using epoxy resin.
We spent $700-800 buying the epoxy and all of the other materials we needed for the design. That included a dye for the epoxy, brushes, spray paint, etc. This still kept our total thousands under what it would be to have hired this project out or to have done granite/quartz/etc.
Step one was to brush epoxy on the entire surface in a thin layer. This would serve as the official "seal". Concrete is extremely porous so you want a strong seal especially when you're planning on using it in a kitchen.
Step two we did a thicker layer of epoxy that we dyed grey to keep with the general look of concrete, but it hid the imperfections in the actual concrete.
Step three was adding the design. I am so impressed with my husband's art talents during this step! He did the entire design himself using 3 cans of spray paint (silver, white, black), a paint stick, and a torch. I think he nailed his first attempt and created an incredible design!
Step four was applying heat to manipulate the epoxy and remove air bubbles. This had to be done over the entire surface multiple times. Paul had to be careful when going over his design parts because too much heat would mix the colors together. It was my favorite step to watch!
Step five was a final seal using clear epoxy. This gives the counter tons of strength and durability, plus makes it food safe.
Step six was WAITING. We had to wait 30 days before the countertops were considered cured and ready for us. that was so tough because we were already 3 months in to using the bathtub as our water source and dishwasher! I was ready ready ready READY for a kitchen that was fully functional!
A special thanks (not sponsored) to the team at Stonecoat Countertops for helping us figure out this project! We look forward to using your products in our current build.
On the @marshallremodel Instagram there's a Highlights tab with clips of Paul creating the design. Be sure to watch- it is a fascinating process. Part 4 is coming next week with the final photos and a complete list of all of the supplies we used to make this happen.