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Member |
Granite is too expensive as is quartz. Stainless steel is expensive plus it gets hot and will reflect the sun back at you and fry your retina's. Concrete is a possibility but besides death and taxes concrete cracking is another certainty. I'm turning the shelter in the pic below into a screened in outdoor kitchen/entertaining area. Nothing is going to be upscale fancy but it must be functional and as maintenance free as possible. And must survive harsh northern Minnesota winters. Floor will be a concrete pad and I have the other materials pretty well figured out with the exception of the counter tops. If someone has some creative ideas I'd like to hear them. Links to materials would be appreciated.  "Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton | ||
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| Bookers Bourbon and a good cigar  |
Corian or something similar? Man-made should be less pricey. If you're goin' through hell, keep on going. Don't slow down. If you're scared don't show it. You might get out before the devil even knows you're there. NRA ENDOWMENT LIFE MEMBER | |||
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quarter MOA visionary |
Poured concrete can be quite nice and don't crack the same way that sidewalks do. | |||
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Drill Here, Drill Now |
RapidSet Mortar Mix w/ Flow Control. See this YT video from the Michael Builds channel. If I were to build my outdoor kitchen today, that’s how I’d do it. Alas, I’m probably 12-18 months from doing it  Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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Member |
Butcher block? Not sure how it would do, exposed to the elements. The Enemy's gate is down. | |||
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Optimistic Cynic |
I think the classic material for this application is tile and/or brick. Cracking can be minimized by a rock-solid base. | |||
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| Drill Here, Drill Now |
I’ve had a tile countertop and you couldn’t pay me to have one again. Hard enough to keep clean indoors and couldn’t imagine the extra hassle outdoors. Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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Member |
Concrete can be beautiful and there are a ton of possibilities with it, cracking isn't a sure thing at all. Epoxy is another possibility. | |||
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| Member |
Thanks for the video link looks like a possibility. I did a quick price check on materials and for under $400 I could do over 20' of counter top 2" thick. I wonder if this is any better than the bags of mix you buy specifically for counter tops other than the faster set time? Thanks for all the input guys. "Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton | |||
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| Drill Here, Drill Now |
You're welcome. He has several videos on countertops that you'll likely find useful: Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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Political Cynic |
If you eliminate quartz and granite, rule out brick and plastic laminate you might be stuck with ceramic tile. | |||
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| It's pronounced just the way it's spelled |
The “wood grained” stuff made out of recycled plastic is pretty indestructible. A little on the homely side, but it doesn’t rot or warp and stands up to the UV here in AZ. | |||
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| Dances With Tornados |
A metal top such as Bronze or Copper, in a Matte finish and not too reflective, may be an option. I’ve seen many bar tops of this nature. . | |||
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| Member |
I made a table for my Big Green Egg and used Trex with some insets of Quartz to set hot items on. I had the Quartz remnants from our kitchen remodel so it was basically free. About eight years in and the Trex has faded considerably and the Quartz (white marble look) has badly discolored. The poor performance of both really surprised me. In fairness it spent the first 5 years of its life in the Las Vegas sun. Still I wouldn't use either again for an outside project. | |||
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| Member |
I've looked at some repurposed materials as well. Old box car or semi trailer wood floors that if sanded and sealed look very nice and will take the weather. But it's a lot of prep work and pieces are irregular and not exactly cheap either. I'm kind of looking for down and dirty moderately priced. As I said nothing upscale fancy as this is our summer lake place. I like the rapid set mortar mix video Tator posted but reading the comments several people posted that it set so fast in warm weather they couldn't even get it out of the mixing bucket. I'm tending to think the mix specifically made for counter tops may be the best solution. I don't see a reason why I need this to set up in less than a hour there is no particular hurry. I'll keep searching but it's becoming apparent concrete may be the best choice and hope cracking isn't a problem. "Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton | |||
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| Drill Here, Drill Now |
Did the commentors mention whether or not they used Rapid Set's Set Control which gives more time (~20 min) in warm weather? Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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Member |
Don't. drink & drive, don't even putt. | |||
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| Member |
No they did not but neither did the poster of the video he used flow control but I don't recall him mentioning set control. So now it kind of sounds like your putting in all these additives to make it a traditional cement mix. I've got a contractor working with me on this project I'll get his input. "Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton | |||
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| Member |
Concrete would be the choice however, I'd find someone reputable and get some references on their work. Cracking/chipping is a distinct possibly but, there seems to be better improvements. Stone is porous and quartz and the various mix-compounds will fade in UV, heat, humidity...unless there's been some new advances. | |||
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| quarter MOA visionary |
Using countertop concrete set in forms with reinforcement is great. I made one for my BGE and used concrete stain came out awesome. Cracking is not going to happen if done properly, supported properly and you don't drop an anchor on it. Lots of info on these everywhere. But again don compare this with a foundation that can shift and servers a different purpose. Countertop:  On top of this stand:  No pic of all together. YMMV | |||
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