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Marie-Rose
Senior Nomad
Posts: 894
Registered: 10-2-2003
Location: Victoria, B.C. and Todos Santos
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Mood: Worried...
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Concrete (!!) counter tops vs tile and cement sinks vs stainless steel
We need to start thinking about whether to put a stainless steel sink in our new kitchen or have a concrete sink...any thoughts??? I'd love to hear
from anyone who has a cemnt sink.
Also wondering about concrete counter tops vs tiled???
Does anyone have any combination they love? Pictures??
[Edited on 2005-5-3 by Marie-Rose]
[Edited on 2005-5-3 by Marie-Rose]
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Bruce R Leech
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I like the enameled cast iron sinks the best. as for the cement counter tops it is just a mater of what gos with your decor.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Ken Bondy
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jeez I swore I would never do this but here it comes. As a structural engineer with 40+ years of experience designing and building concrete
structures it still drives me crazy when people confuse cement and concrete. Cement is a white powdery substance that comes in 94 pound bags at Home
Depot. Concrete is an artificial rock material that is made of cement, aggregate (sand and various sized rocks), and water. Concrete is what you
walk on and what your countertops are made of, not cement. You would hate it if your countertops were made of cement. Stuff would sink down to the
bottom and the dust would make you sneeze. Cement is what glues the sand and aggregate together in your sidewalks, countertops, office buildings,
parking structures, apartment buildings, etc. OK it's off my chest. I will never do this again.
++Ken++
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roundtuit
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Cement---concrete
Being a contractor I often run in to this. I have sent my men to H D for cement and they come back with concrete when I have a large rock and sand
pile ready. Even some lumber yards have shipped the wrong mtls. 16 bags of concrete instead of cement does't cut it when the nearest yard is 25 miles
away
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Ken Bondy
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I was about to apologize for my b-tchy post until I read the thoughtful response from roundtuit. Maybe people do care about the (very real)
difference between cement and concrete.
++Ken++
[Edited on 5-3-2005 by Ken Bondy]
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Marie-Rose
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Posts: 894
Registered: 10-2-2003
Location: Victoria, B.C. and Todos Santos
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I got it!!
Still looking for comments though!!!
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latitude26n
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Registered: 8-7-2004
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A ce-ment pond?
The less time spent cleaning, the more time for playing.
In a kitchen sink exposed to water all the time you'd have to find the perfect sealer for concrete to keep efflorescence (the white powdery residue
from mineral deposits) from effecting the look of the sink. Efflorescence can get in to small cracks of a surface sealer and cause the white stuff to
accumulate under the sealer. This a pain to try and keep clean, especially if you stain the concrete a dark color. Look for a good pentrating sealer
if you decide to go this route.
I learned the hard way after applying a glossy "wet-look" lacquer based sealer to a slate shower. The efflorescence made stone look like it was dirty
all the time. It took days to strip off the old sealer so I could apply a water based pentrating type. It still gets a mineral deposit layer but
nothing like it used to.
This website is very informative.
http://www.aldonchem.com/index.html
Once you apply a type of sealer to a porous surface (lacquer vs water based) it's very hard to change the type of sealer and ever get it to seal
effectively because the different types will repel each other, or peel off etc. So It's important to start with a good one.
I used their water based penetrating sealer on a river/beach rock shower in Baja where we have a very high mineral content in the water and so far
it's worked very well.
We always bring down our own stuff like stucco/masonary sealers, waterproofing materials etc because there's more available to us here and using
better quality materials to start means less labor and maintainence for us later.
We had some beautiful rock-work done by a Mexican friend and we learned that they will use varnish on the rocks as a grout release to keep the grout
from sticking to the stone when they fill in the gaps. Looks good at first, then varnish starts to peel and turn yellow and before long it's
impossible to get any other sealers to stick to the surface because of residue.
Anyway back to concrete- I wouldn't hesistate to do a concrete countertop in the kitchen but I'm going for a porcelain sink. Stainless is nice but a
pain to have to dry it off to keep from water spotting.
This site has lot of pics and ideas for countertops. It would be fun to be there when they were pouring your counter so you could add your own stuff-
shells, stones, mosaics etc.
That's the fun part- not the cleaning.
http://www.concreteexchange.com
Constuction dudes are always very sensitive about the cement/concrete thing.
If I know I'm going to have to talk their lingo, I repeat to myself:
" it's a bag of cement" and "concrete driveways are best".
So why did Uncle Jed have a ce-ment pond?
[Edited on 5-3-2005 by latitude26n]
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dono
Junior Nomad
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Registered: 9-11-2003
Location: Los Barriles B.C.S. Mex
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The house i finished last year has mostly concrete countertops, showers and wall designs, i also use acid stains and latex concrete stains on
everything concrete, its easy and affordable and looks great, but like latitude said sealers are something that needs to be looked at in depth.
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latitude26n
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dono,
Did you bring down your own concrete stains or use what was available in your area down there? I've only seen them use integral pigments( in the
powder form) that are mixed in when the concrete is poured and come in a limited number of unattractive colors.
Can you get the stains that are applied to the surface in the bigger cities in Baja?
Were the workers familiar with the stains or were you able to be there when they applied them?
Sounds like your happy with the results- photos?
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Diver
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 11-15-2004
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Concrete counters weigh more, cost more and are harder to keep sealed; but they will last forever as oppposed to tile which can crack or chip,
espesially at the corners. Make sure to find the right stains and "food-safe" sealers for the surface. Don't expect a perfect surface if the installer
is not very experienced. However, an experienced installer can do some neat thinks like a built-in drain board and one-piece sink-counter.
Concrete sinks are difficult to make unless you go square. They are very hard. You have to be more gentle with your glassware then with stainless or
even cast/enameled sinks. I would also consider one of the new synthetic sinks (Home Depot has some in dark grey) or stainless or cast. With a
concrete counter, an undermounted sink installation works great (pour the mounts into the counter's bottom). For tile counters, a surface mount works
best; I like cast/enamel sinks on tile.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Diver P.E. /G.C.
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Dave
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We tiled using handmade JR tiles from Tecate. Expensive but sooo Mexican!
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
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Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
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Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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what about Bamboo?
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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dono
Junior Nomad
Posts: 91
Registered: 9-11-2003
Location: Los Barriles B.C.S. Mex
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Latitude, I have been working with acid stains and sealers down here for more than adozen yrs. so at first i had to bring every down but now you can
buy them here(los Barriles). Most of the contracters have some one that can use the stain, but i prefer to do it myself especially since i do alot of
vertical acid staining and its a little more difficult than horizontal. We also use them on exterior walls the benefit is it penertrates the concrete
and should be good forever and it gives a differant see through effect. I would love to post some pictures but have to go into town and use office
computor, if you ever get down here stop by and check it out.I am currantly building a guest house on the beachlot next door and will probably start
staining in a month or so.
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meme
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Location: San Felipe,BC
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Sinks
We put in a Mexico knock off of Corian. Bought it in Mexicali. They make it right there at Cocina Economica. Real happy with it with one exception. It
is plain white. we had a sink cover made for one side. Need to hide those dishes once in awhile ya know!! Ha Ha! When I left it clean but covered in
summer while we were away 3 months it turned some-what yellow. I have tried several cleaners on it but it will not return to white?? But I still like
it and much better than stainless which water spots, and enamel, or porcilan which chips etc.
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Marie-Rose
Senior Nomad
Posts: 894
Registered: 10-2-2003
Location: Victoria, B.C. and Todos Santos
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Thanks...that's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Went to the site the Latitude suggested re: cement(oops...concrete!) counters. I am
surprised the counters look so much like granite!
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
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Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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Mexican tile
Mexico has some of the most beautiful tile patterns in the world and there are plenty of craftsmen. We will replace the SS sink in the kitchen with a
hand-painted porcelain one.
Stainless belongs in a restaurant.
The new outside palapa bar. Made from palm, cardon, bamboo and micl used tiles:
[Edited on 5-3-2005 by Sharksbaja]
[Edited on 5-31-2005 by Sharksbaja]
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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roundtuit
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concrete vs stainless or cast iron
Onr thing to consider, concrete is pourous as stainless or cast iron is not. Therefore not a breeding ground for bateria. Just my thought for what its
worth
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latitude26n
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que bonita es su palapa Sharksbaja.
Is that the cardon on the cabinets below the bar and the door
on the patio? It's beautiful when it's that golden color. Is the countertop trimmed in palm?
Any more pics you could share?
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Sharksbaja
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Those are not cabinets. The thick palm is stripped and sawn in half. Bamboo fills the span. Cardon is planed on 3 sides leaving natural the natural
holey side exposed. The whole thing is varnished heavily. Palm sucks it up fast so multiple coats are required.
[Edited on 5-4-2005 by Sharksbaja]
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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and......
[Edited on 5-4-2005 by Sharksbaja]
[Edited on 5-4-2005 by Sharksbaja]
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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