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tmnca

"During" photos

Tmnca
11 years ago

First the before - what you can't see in this picture is the very poor paint job by PO peeling and chipping, the enamel completely worn off the 30 year old sink. The much hated tile is very visible!

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Some ugly duckling (although less ugly duckling than last weekend!) photos of my very low budget DIY kitchen facelift... I sealed the concrete countertop today with a satin finish. It's a hand troweled finish I like the imperfections that give it character (at least that's what I am telling myself and everyone else!) it's smoother than the tile at least.

Tomorrow I will try to finish painting the remaining cabinet doors. The drawer pulls are not coming until next weekend. The backsplash will be white subway tile - see my "which shade of white tile" thread! I think I like the cooler Lowes tile with the sink, both look fine with the concrete.

I love how the Simply White worked out, the dishwasher blends right in as intended. With this small kitchen a SS DW right next to the SS fridge seemed too much.

I originally thought that since I am adding hardware I would flip the doors to hide the routed hand pull, but soon discovered that those are present on both top and bottom of all doors. Oh well! I still prefer hardware with the painted cabinets the wear on the paint around the self-pull area is too much.

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Comments (9)

  • Sarah Cronin
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I like the concrete!!

  • texasgal47
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, I can't believe you were brave enough to try a poured concrete counter. It really came out very nice, and I do like the texture. How did you achieve such a smooth finish on those doors, a roller? Already it looks much better than before. Please continue to update.

  • Tim
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Two big thumbs up - good on you for saving what appear to be solid well made cabinets. What are the plans for the backsplash?

    To continue the contemporary look consider 'decora' outlets - the rectangular ones. Cheap way to really update the kitchen.

  • steph2000
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I, too, love the concrete! It's really a great look - and I think the imperfections do add character to it. Those are some chunky counters you have going - and so much better than that tile.

  • deedles
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nice! Your counters look great as do the freshly painted cabs.

  • lazy_gardens
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Did you do concrete over the tile?

    That looks far better and it's probably easier to maintain.

  • Tmnca
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks all for the encouragement! And TorontoTim for the hint on the outlet cover I was hoping to change them out when tiling and those sound great.

    Yes I built forms around the edges and poured the concrete over the tile. However it was much harder than the blogs made it look, partly because I had never worked with concrete before, and I chose not to use a self-leveling product (pros warned me it's not as strong, and it doesn't give the finish that 'real' concrete) so it was a bit of a struggle to get it smooth and level. In the end, I'm not sure if it was the right choice to use the more difficult product but it did come out well and I can be assured it is very strong and is not likely to crack or crumble!

    The original tile was set over a 1-2" concrete bed so I knew the cabinets could handle the load, and replacing all these odd shaped cabinets would have been a major renovation that's not in the budget right now. I also didn't want to be without a kitchen for months, one week was enough!

    I painted with a good brush. Sanded and cleaned with TSP substitute, used one coat of SW Pro primer first, then one coat of BM Aura. It's thick and difficult to apply but gave a nice finish and excellent coverage. I only needed one coat since the previous paint was white as well, even though I sanded it down to remove peels and flakes there was still enough paint to act as a base.

    The backsplash I had originally contemplated using cheapie beadboard as a backsplash, but then I found 23 cent white subway tile at Lowes and HD! It looks like I can do white subway tile for only a little more cost than beadboard. There will be a lot of white but with this relatively small and very closed in kitchen I think that will keep things open. I plan to use white grout so I don't get the grout grid effect which made the kitchen seem smaller with the original tile and it's huge grey grout lines. I'll tile all the way up to the cabinets that's why I didn't bother painting there

    The new sink and faucet are awesome too! The sink is from Ikea and faucet is Delta Leland, the most expensive part of the job.

    Old sink and faucet

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    Removing the tiled-in sink. It was not only covered on the edge by tile but set into an inch of concrete that had to be chiseled out. Since it was in relatively good shape and could have been refinished I found a new home for it on CL. I thought about refinishing it myself but a pro would be $200 and the new Ikea sink was $100. It was really hard to keep clean as all the gloss was gone and the grey iron showing through on the bottom.

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    New sink going in - different size required plywood insert covered with building paper to waterproof. I added extra supports under the plywood as was able to replace the flange on the sink but re-use all plumbing and disposal.

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    Concrete molds built

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    I've been slowed down a bit by falling sick with a horrible cough that just won't go away... originally I planned to have the backsplash done this weekend but now next weekend is more realistic.

  • breezygirl
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow! So great to see pics of your progress. The Simply White looks so much better than the White Dove would have looked. The white DW does blend in well.

    As I've said previously, I sure do admire your DIY attitude and skills. I'm looking forward to seeing all the new features in place.

  • herbflavor
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    great project revolving around"repurposing" We should all be so gutsy ! That sink redo looks daunting.

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