Finished my concrete table top and matching pedestal.

RandallB

This is version 2.  Version 1 was practice.   I am very happy with it.  I would encourage everyone to look at concrete as an option.

I made the pedestal to my exact desired dimensions.  The biggest challenge was the 21'' cutout hole in the top.

nolaegghead

Nice!  I'm dying to try making some concrete stuff.  I even bought a diamond wet grinder in preparation.

Smokin_Trout

Looks great! How did you make the hole?

jleon401

Nice top!!! I too am looking to make a industrial look table (metal & concrete). Did you buy a kit or...?

SMITTYtheSMOKER

Why cut the concrete when it could be formed with a hole?

cortguitarman

Use Styrofoam for the hole. I love my concrete top. My egg table is concrete. So is my bathroom vanity and bar.

nolaegghead

Nice work, cortguitarman.  Wish I had the space to build a bar.

Skiddymarker

Practical, functional, practical, heat resistant, practical, cost effective, practical, easy to shape, practical, beautiful, practical, easy to color and most of all practical. 

Great looking table and very practical!

cortguitarman

One piece of advice about the concrete. Don't be a knucklehead like me and turn your dome upside down on the counter to replace your gasket. I twisted and spun my dome as I put the gasket on. All the while, I was scratching the sealer. My buddy fixed it, but had to regrind it and reseal it.

RandallB

My description wasn't clear. I did a plug for the hole.  It was made out of wood trimmed in some thin foam insulation wrap material.   Lessons learned, I think total styrofoam board would definitely be best (I only saw it in full 4x8 sheets, ~$35).  Firm for holding the wet concrete but easy to cut and sand into the perfect shaped 21'' hole.

I didn't do a lot of work on smoothing the concrete or filling bubble holes because it will be outside.  I am very happy with the color.  It doesn't have a lot of random colors, but it is "aging" very nicely with a very unique tone and color.

I made the table about 2 years ago.  My wooden top was nasty from charcoal and grease drippings so I wanted to try concrete for durability outside.

From my first attempt I learned the chauk has to be perfect to get a good edge.  I put a tiny bit in the edges, smeared in with finger and then wiped off all excess on the melamine board with rag w/ Acetone, leaving TINY bit just in corner crack.   Also I didn't mix my concrete long enough and got some tiny dry mix exactly in the edge at spots and it didn't hold.  But, overall my edges turned out great.

Also, the narrow necks around the 21'' hole need serious support.  I have a 3' piece of rebar running down the sides and another piece on the end.

YEMTrey

cortguitarman said:

Use Styrofoam for the hole. I love my concrete top. My egg table is concrete. So is my bathroom vanity and bar.

Cort, completely off topic, but what kind of kegerator are you using and do you like it?  I'm looking to add an identical two tower setup of that size and am curious.  Thanks.

henapple

What did you do with the first one? Thinking of selling the one I built and doing a 2.0

RandallB

version 1.0 was bad!   I put small wire mesh in the narrow necks around the hole.  My hole "plug" was wooden against the dried concrete.  It was so tight I had to beat out the plug.  All three necks around the hole cracked through.  My chauk edges were terrible too.

I let my sons break it up with a sledge hammer!

Griffin

Skiddymarker said:

Practical, functional, practical, heat resistant, practical, cost effective, practical, easy to shape, practical, beautiful, practical, easy to color and most of all practical. 

Great looking table and very practical!

Yeah....but would you say its practical?

BTW - nice looking table @RandallB

cortguitarman

@YEMTrey I have an Edgestar kegerator. It does the job very well. If you already have a single tower, go to kegworks.com. You can buy the double tower separately and add it to your kegerator.

Mine will hold 1 half barrel, 1 1/4 barrel or 2 1/6 barrels. We always buy the sixths for variety. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

ChokeOnSmoke

Great job, love the color.

Did mine last summer, holding up well.  Only thing I wasn't happy about is it didn't take the color dye at all.  Planned it to be dark grey (or almost black) but it didn't change the color at all?  Other than that, very happy with it.