Outdoor Counter Top Material Suggestions

September 27, 2022, 06:07 PM

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.

September 27, 2022, 06:33 PM

Johnny 3eagles

Corian or something similar? Man-made should be less pricey.

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September 27, 2022, 06:59 PM

smschulz

Poured concrete can be quite nice and don't crack the same way that sidewalks do.

September 27, 2022, 07:37 PM

tatortodd

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

September 27, 2022, 07:43 PM

P250UA5

Butcher block?
Not sure how it would do, exposed to the elements.

September 27, 2022, 07:46 PM

architect

I think the classic material for this application is tile and/or brick. Cracking can be minimized by a rock-solid base.

September 27, 2022, 07:49 PM

tatortodd

quote:
Originally posted by architect:
I think the classic material for this application is tile and/or brick.

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.

September 27, 2022, 08:16 PM

mark60

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.

September 27, 2022, 08:51 PM

lastmanstanding

quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd:
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

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.

September 27, 2022, 09:18 PM

tatortodd

quote:
Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
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.

You're welcome. He has several videos on countertops that you'll likely find useful:

Faster way to make the "live edge" using a reusable mold

Very cool epoxy river pattern in concrete table top

Since you mentioned 20' - Helping a viewer do all of the countertops for kitchen

Since you asked about doing it with a more traditional mix - made a coffee table top which took much longer than the rapidset mortar mix

September 27, 2022, 10:43 PM

nhtagmember

If you eliminate quartz and granite, rule out brick and plastic laminate you might be stuck with ceramic tile.

September 27, 2022, 11:44 PM

Nuclear

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.

September 28, 2022, 05:52 AM

OKCGene

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.
.

September 28, 2022, 05:54 AM

Powers77

quote:
Originally posted by Nuclear:
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.

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.

September 28, 2022, 07:10 AM

lastmanstanding

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.

September 28, 2022, 08:01 AM

tatortodd

quote:
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.

Did the commentors mention whether or not they used Rapid Set's Set Control which gives more time (~20 min) in warm weather?

September 28, 2022, 08:20 AM

photohause

quote:
Poured concrete

September 28, 2022, 08:36 AM

lastmanstanding

quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd:
quote:
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.

Did the commentors mention whether or not they used Rapid Set's Set Control which gives more time (~20 min) in warm weather?

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.

September 28, 2022, 12:42 PM

corsair

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.

September 28, 2022, 01:21 PM

smschulz

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