Alternative material for kitchen units.
Discussion
Our new house in the Philippines will be having concrete kitchen units, the floor units, not on the walls....
So, I know concrete counter tops were a bit of a fashion fad a while back, but this is the whole unit, sides and top, about 2-3 inches solid concrete. Sounds bloody awful, I know, but I was surprised how neat and square and well finished they are.
The purpose is primarily to stop humidity and termites eating it all, though the doors/shelves are made of wood and fitted on hinges, as normal.
Wife is planning to have a tile top surface, but I'm wary of cracking or chipping tiles simply by dropping a pan or something hard on them. I assume you can get mega tough tiles for this purpose.
Alternative top surface is granite or marble, available locally, but she wants tiles.
One idea I've had is to build the work surfaces at 33" instead of the usual 36", as my wife is only 5' tall. Brownie points or what?
Any thoughts, other than WTF is he doing over there?
Here's a Google sourced piccie, though our kitchen is a lot different to this.

So, I know concrete counter tops were a bit of a fashion fad a while back, but this is the whole unit, sides and top, about 2-3 inches solid concrete. Sounds bloody awful, I know, but I was surprised how neat and square and well finished they are.
The purpose is primarily to stop humidity and termites eating it all, though the doors/shelves are made of wood and fitted on hinges, as normal.
Wife is planning to have a tile top surface, but I'm wary of cracking or chipping tiles simply by dropping a pan or something hard on them. I assume you can get mega tough tiles for this purpose.
Alternative top surface is granite or marble, available locally, but she wants tiles.
One idea I've had is to build the work surfaces at 33" instead of the usual 36", as my wife is only 5' tall. Brownie points or what?

Any thoughts, other than WTF is he doing over there?

Here's a Google sourced piccie, though our kitchen is a lot different to this.

I suppose you could use dark grout, make life easier.
The wife has mentioned stainless steel tops, as they used to use it a lot for building Jeeps over here until fairly recently, so there's lots of it about, and shops that can work it. I can't seem to get the image of bowed and scratched counter tops with myriad tiny scratches out of my head. If it were heavy stainless it may work.
The wife has mentioned stainless steel tops, as they used to use it a lot for building Jeeps over here until fairly recently, so there's lots of it about, and shops that can work it. I can't seem to get the image of bowed and scratched counter tops with myriad tiny scratches out of my head. If it were heavy stainless it may work.
King Herald said:
I suppose you could use dark grout, make life easier.
The wife has mentioned stainless steel tops, as they used to use it a lot for building Jeeps over here until fairly recently, so there's lots of it about, and shops that can work it. I can't seem to get the image of bowed and scratched counter tops with myriad tiny scratches out of my head. If it were heavy stainless it may work.
We scrapped a tiles top many years ago due to the constant staining ,that was doing it the right way with dark resin grout,If your wife loves constantly having to bleach the worktop then let her go for it,if not just so her a few searches on tiled worktops via google.The wife has mentioned stainless steel tops, as they used to use it a lot for building Jeeps over here until fairly recently, so there's lots of it about, and shops that can work it. I can't seem to get the image of bowed and scratched counter tops with myriad tiny scratches out of my head. If it were heavy stainless it may work.
singlecoil said:
GTO-3R said:
Tile tops are very un hygienic!!
All depends on the grout. Most people used cement based (ordinary) grouts. The correct stuff is epoxy grout. A correctly done tiled worktop is very hygenic.Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff



