re: Concrete or marble countertop?

copper sheeting IMO

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Easy to keep clean? I have in in laundry room, not where food and drinks are so not a lot of cleaning goes into it.

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Yes it is easy to clean. I lay greasy grill utensils on it all the time and a little Windex cleans it right up.

Quartz

Marble is the best stone as long as you aren't too fussy expecting it to look the same in 5 years as it does the day of installation.

If you do a lot of cooking and are a somewhat messy cook a soft marble like Carrara will look pretty rough in five years.

Damn you - bring my cabinets back!

I have some in my house that are virtually identical.

I agree. Its gorgeous but there will definitely be issues. You can bring someone in every few year to repolish and sand down a bit

Truth about concrete countertops? The only truth, in that link, is the goober wasted an entire year to finally settle on using the cheapest resin available. He called a professional that told him water based acrylics are his choice of sealer for countertops? Pfffttt
How long do you think 1mil plastic drop cloth would last being walked across vs 20 mil? Because 1 mil, of cheap plastic, is about as much dry film thickness that jack of all trades had protecting his tops.
Most people are just totally uninformed, and believe that days or even weeks of research will enlighten them on the miriad of products designed for specific needs.
It takes years of trial and error, coupled with research, to even start to comprehend all the variables involved designing in service coatings that will last.
Is concrete porous? Certainly, concrete poured out of a ready mix truck, or picked up from your local big box store, can be porous. If not properly treated, all things exposed to the elements, trafficed or used regularly will show wear or degradation.
Most concrete tops, done by novices, are poured rightside up and troweled by hand. It may appear tight as glass, but it is not impervious to staining. And slopping on a run of the mill sealer doesnt prevent its inevitable failure.
Typically, the problem lies in the stigma that concrete is cheap, and therefore using what should be used, to protect it, cant be justified. The price per square foot, to handcraft a concrete top can be more than granite. Done right, its worth the cost to appreciate its individuality just as any art.
But like anything else, if you want a solid surface piece of cement and aggregate thrown together, using readily available materials, then you get what you pay for.

Also, I'm not certain what brand or type of epoxy/polyurethane you used for your own tops, but I'm sure you're aware not all are alike. Those words are thrown around as if one manufacturer makes all others. Joe blow or even a seasoned professional, may believe that using table top epoxy and minwax polyurethane for concrete tops is suitable and all is well. Then, the next thing you know he's complaining to his neighbor how concrete just sucks arse!

Sounds like I should have talked to you about it subject matter expert. Why don’t you slow your role a little and let me explain why I told him not to do it.

1. By saying it would be cheaper, insinuates that he may not go as far as necessary to “get the right stuff”. I agree when you said if you didn’t know good countertops range as high or higher in price as granite to be installed by a professional. But there is a lot less skilled work for him or a contractor to install granite than to go through the whole process that he or the contractor would go through.

2. I assumed that he was thinking about doing it himself since it was a small bar. Again the word cheaper was used. I also agree when you said if you don’t spend the time to understand how concretes and sealers work your not going to magically get it right the first time with a professional finish. I did 6- 6”x12” panels before I found the right size aggregate combination that I wanted for exposed agg. So I understand the process of form building, batching, placement, curing, honing, filling voids with slurry, curing again for 7 days, polishing, sealing, and finally installing.

I think what we are both saying is dependent upon your expectation, monetary, and time Inputs you may or may not end up with a good product.

I have seen more than a few SacCrete countertops by people who just want a cheap fix and many of them look like crap and if you don’t do a very dark color adjustment your likely to end up with stains. That’s why I went epoxy and poly. Like I said too maybe I can strip that poly off in a few years and get the stain out if it stopped before penetrating the epoxy layer if that’s possible. I don’t know, I am not a chemist. But with the word cheap in that statement your not getting a professional finish and you don’t want to go through the process if you realize you could have had a better finished product with a eighth of the energy.

Concrete doesn’t suck arse, that would be asphalt, it’s in the name.

I’m just saying if he is wanting to go weekend warrior on it I would temper my expectations for the final product. If he is like me and gets the satisfaction for completing a job then go for it as far down the rabbit hole as you feel comfortable but I am just saying measure that shite and get some granite cut and put it in, done.

As far as where I got my sealers from this is the place. Direct ColorsAnd that is who I ended up buying from because I liked the customer service.