Concrete Countertops: How reinforcing works

Learn from Jeffrey Girard, President of The Concrete Countertop Institute, the principles behind how properly reinforced concrete countertops can enable you to have confidence and avoid problems. Jeff explains how concrete countertops behave like beams, not slabs on grade, where to place the reinforcing and why (including cantilevers) and what materials are most reliable for reinforcing concrete countertops. He also touches on how GFRC reinforcing works, as well as gives amazing examples of what a properly reinforced concrete countertop can do. View this video if you are a concrete countertop professional who wants to make high performance concrete countertops.

Category:

Howto & Style

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• concrete
• countertop
• reinforcing
• reinforcement
• beam
• slab
• on
• grade
• counter
• top
• GFRC
• high
• performance
• concrete countertop videos
• concrete counter top videos
• concrete counter videos
• cement countertop videos
• cement counter top videos
• cement counter videos

[ConcreteCtopInst]

You're welcome!

[ConcreteCtopInst]

I'm sorry to hear about any cracking countertops! Exactly what I'm trying to prevent.

[ConcreteCtopInst]

Thanks Oealnc for the nice comments.

Pkqkennywood, the answer to your question is essentially no. I've just posted a blog entry. Go to the home page of my website and click Blog at the top right.

Karenwaln, I will get to your question soon. It takes more than 500 characters to explain! Basically, I used 14 individual strands of 9 gauge ladder wire. The strands were placed about 1/4" apart in order to fit all 14 in a single layer within the beam's 6" width.

[ConcreteCtopInst]

Wooden tops on the cabinets will not provide structural support. Wood is too flexible and weak, so you still need the proper steel reinforcing in the concrete. The dimensions of the cabinets are fine - the concrete countertop will lay over top of several cabinet boxes, depending on the layout of your kitchen.

[ConcreteCtopInst]

Planetary polishers are a fantastic tool that makes producing smooth, flat and gouge-free surfaces fast and easy. Justifying their cost (and the tooling - in triplicate!) is something you need to determine. Do you do a lot of large, flat countertops? Do you or your employees struggle with keeping a single headed polisher flat? If so then maybe a planetary polisher is a valuable asset. You will still need a single-headed polisher for narrow sections, edges and inside integral sinks.

[ConcreteCtopInst]

A piece that small won't need reinforcing, provided it's at least 1" thick. Set the piece just like a tile with a full bed of thinset mortar.

[sticks1215]

Very well explained. I am going to be building these in my house and needed to address these issues. Thanks for posting this.

[qsbux]

Easy to understand it :) Thank you

[902Jr]

Very interesting, and sound engineering principles applicable anywhere and everywhere.

[jsantoyoc]

Thank you very much for this footage. It made me understand much better how concrete-steel combination works. You are very clear and explain nicely.

[doof69er]

The part about reo placement was well explained.

I wish my civil engineering professors explained it as well as this!

[SVKmellow]

2 people found this video after their countertop cracked...

[karenwaln]

Great presentation! What I want to know is the reinforcement detail on your 8'x6"x1 1/2" plank. I assume you used the 9 ga. ladder wire? Did you put in some extra longitudinal pieces?  Was there a less dense matt on the top surface with diagonal connectors between the two surfaces to handle shear forces? Could you achieve even greater strength with Carbon fiber, and how would that be configured? Very impressive!