@Laura Zimmerman

i think the fresh concrete behaves differently than the raw concrete

having no problems in laundry or bathroom

OH GREAT! Yes, this is my questions....I'm looking at doing the FRESH concrete.

Melanie, you have it in a bathroom? Does it show waterspots?

I am grateful that I came across this thread. I was debating this concrete-look for my kitchen counters to save DH the work/time of making them out of actual concrete (he did so for our first house 20 years ago to save money and they were beautiful). I think we will stick with real concrete.

@Laura Zimmerman hi! i have not seen waterspots at all, but go see a full slab in person to see the details. i dont mind it bc i was forewarned and saw the slab in person but there are little black marks throughout the surface and little white ones. it is the design but make sure you know about these concrete markings before committing. Also, i think there are porcelain tops that are made to look like concrete if you are looking for stainPROOF and heatPROOF but it is said that porcelain can chip easily. pros and cons. i can post a pic of my bathroom if you want to see

This is so helpful!!! Thank you! I’d love to see pics of the bathroom.

I’m considering the rugged concrete or cloudburst vs Honed Virginia Mist granite or Soapstone (which I know is something that marks and they call it ‘patina’ lol).

We currently have a shiny white marbles quartz countertop (brand unknown) and it also stains. It’s from a quick remodel to sell a house situation so I suspect it’s whatever is cheapest at the big box stores. Not Caesarstone.

Is staining a ‘thing’ with quartz or are these counters not properly sealed when manufactured? Any thoughts?

Hmm nvm I just read way back in this thread that sealers may actually CAUSE the staining problems.

I wouldn’t go for the cloudburst. We have it installed in our kitchen, and we are removing it and replacing it. It’s a very bad product. It stains with water, coffee, oil, tea, sauce, etc. Everything leaves a mark that can only be removed with some bleach based cleaning product. Caesarstone technician came to see it, and used a product to remove the stains. Not even two hours after he left, the stains came out to the surface again. Personally I would recommend against Caesarstone products, specially because the company takes no responsibility. We are throwing away almost $10,000 of countertop and backsplash, and they refuse to acknowledge the issue. I would stick to polished and sealed quartz or granite, or other materials that are guaranteed to be stain proof, and from a company that stands behind their products and takes responsibility for their mistakes. My 2 cents.

Thanks for this info! I’m currently trying to make stains on the samples. Definitely stained the Cloudburst with turmeric. No sign of stains on Rugged Concrete or Organic White. What I really want is Soapstone tho and I know that’s never going to look perfect so I may be ok with stains. Will ponder.

Don't ponder, Just get soapstone

Stain challenge update: left stuff over night on cloudburst, rugged concrete and Organic white. Stuff in this round was olive oil out of a pan after cooking (in case that was different than right out of the bottle), tomato, and onion and garlic (since sometimes those turn green when used as dyes).

Organic white shower no stains.

Rugged concrete probably has olive oil marks but it’s a dark enough color that it just blends in with the pattern.

Cloudburst definitely shows a faint pink tomato stain. Along with the turmeric stain from first test.

@Beth Perot remember it is not stain proof so now use some bar keepers friend and see if it comes out

Eh Jan - I’m a huge slob when I cook. Used to have a green grey dark swirly granite counter and had no clue how much of a slob I was until moving to a place with white quartz counters that show every crumb and even came with a stain left during install. I am kinda ok with stains etc but just very curious about the materials and how they react. I want to know what I’m getting myself into. My grandmother had stainless which I loved but even that had scratching issues. Nothing’s perfect, I just want to do a little research to find the right balance between robustness in the real world conditions the counters will experience and need for maintenance which knowing me they will not get. Plus having family members who don’t always remember to use a cutting board or whatever.

@Beth Perot i think you are doing whar is best for your mindset. im similiar- i need to exhaust my research and be sure of myself before pulling the trigger so do what you need to do to get yourself comfortable with a big decision. if i had leaped at what i loved, it would have been dekton and i am so happy i researched it to its death. try barkeepers friend on those remaining stains and see if that works to your satisfaction

@Laura Zimmerman not fully done- but here is fresh concrete

Ok. I’m not that much of a slob! Lol. There is no raw chicken slop hanging out on my counters! Just crumbs and some oil splatters perhaps. And the odd tomato splat from something that might have boiled a tad too vigorously and been missed during cleanup! We do wipe the counter down routinely while prepping and after the meal. I was raised with what a friend of my mother referred to as ‘middle class cleanliness’ so there are lots of rules to follow about which rag to use on which surface and never ever use a sponge on the counter because they hold bacteria etc etc etc. I’m talking here about visible stains, water spots and so on.

This is not a matter of keeping it clean or not. Even a glass of water left on the countertop for few minutes, leaves a water halo that’s impossible to remove. But then again, if after everything that has been said in this thread people is still thinking about it, there is no much else to say. Go for it, but be prepared to be a slave of your countertop. Enough warning given.

HU-669150939 (that’s the name I get for you!) - that seems deplorable to get water rings after a few minutes. Or at all. Not what I’m seeing with my sample but the sample is a 3X3 square and I don’t doubt your experience. What a mess for you!

Just saw an email for this thread and totally forgot about it. surprised to read so many people having trouble with raw concrete as ive had mine for several years now with no issues. i do have soft water, maybe this makes a difference? i use method granite cleaner.

sorry you all are having such a terrible experience with it. that sucks!

I will second what HU-669150939 said. The sample I saw at Lowe's looked great, and the salesperson said it will look amazing in my kitchen. What showed up was, to me, a piece of garbage. Eventually Lowe's and Caesarstone did not take responsibility for it. Neither one is an organization I would want to do business with.

@Laura Zimmerman I would definitely NOT recommend Fresh Concrete. I wish we had chosen something else. The grey markings in it are very random and awful. It just looks grimy. We were shown a small sample piece which didn't have any dirty grey markings in it and what we have is not a true reflection of the sample. Worse than that is the staining. I clean the worktop 3 times a day at least but there are still stains. It is going to look awful in 6 months time. It was a huge and very expensive mistake and I wish someone had told me to steer clear. Also as someone else here has said, a Caesarstone chap came round and spent 10 minutes cleaning a particularly bad stain which he said he got out, but he really didn't and it is still very much there. They are just not interested. The Fresh Concrete is a terrible product. Don't get it!

When are they going to pull the plug on this junk?

I agree. There is obviously a design flaw in their chemical mix and/or production process because no one should have to live in fear of ruining a countertop that is sold specifically for an intended use, like for a kitchen. As a former exec, I’m just curious if anyone in the home office (Israel) ever heard about the complaints or if the US office just hides the issues. Admitting a problem issue does not seem to be a corporate value. All I got from Ceaserstone was blame, including making me lose it at their rep who tried to take photos of cleaning products I had under my sink so they could tell me I was in the wrong! Suffice it to say that they got an earful as to that is where I keep lots of products, not just ones for the countertops! Ridiculous people. Biggest, most expensive mistake to buy their product. Misleading advertising, bad advice on how to clean and no intention of a warranty being valid.

@mommaorr - Which of the Ceasarstone do you have installed? Mine is Raw Concrete and it sure does remind me of concrete. Sigh! If you did not gain any headway, given your Executive knowledge and expertise, then we are all fairly doomed to live with it and battle the water stain :~)

I have Airy Concrete installed in the kitchen (a complete nightmare) and Cloudburst Concrete in the master bath and on a bar top ( both showing a darkening in spots but easier to clean). Cesarstone kept insisting that the kitchen counter was developing a "patina" but no, it's spots, including some spots that developed from using SoftScrub, as recommended on their website. Water has spotted and over time, I've noticed that protein such as raw eggs flecks need to be removed immediately or I'm left with shiny specks that cannot be removed. I spent $700 to have very large cutting boards placed on top on either side of the cooktop and on one side of the sink to provide some protection.

If anyone has an email for the executives in Israel, please share. Their website is not in English so I haven't been able to find one yet. But if we all write, maybe we can get their attention.

There seems to be a shady side to the stone industry about which their trade association, the Natural Stone Institute, does nothing. There is a national unaddressed problem with reinforcement rod failures where the stone cracks catastrophically. We fix at least two of those every month. The NSI's recommended fabrication procedures are contributory. The NSI's response to the pervasive quartzite staining problems, or lack thereof, documented so overwhelmingly here, would be comical, were it not so tragic. Now we have a product masquerading as a suitable countertop surface and the industry just goes along as if we are all imagining things.

Remarkable.

Thank heavens I found this thread before choosing my countertops! I was looking at Caesarstone Raw Concrete for perimeter counters, Della Terra Quartz Troya for the island. I'm now giving up on the preference I have for honed finishes in general for the perimeter, and avoiding Caesarstone products specifically. I'll start another thread with a question about the MSI Concerto I'm considering for the perimeter.

@Barb Chamberlain

Barb, there are amazing porcelain honed tops. quartz is very hard to find in honed

Hi Barb, I have bought MSI porcelain tiles, and have been very satisfied. They have a showroom in the California Bay Area, which for me has been very convenient to check out their products. The ones I have bought are: MSI capella ivory, MSI aspenwood amber.

Hi all, just got fresh concrete installed for my bath vanity, and noticed large surface scratches… not sure if I did it or my gc. any way to get these out?? It’s such a matte surface, and obvious when the light hits it in certain angles.

Scratches or marks like black lines? try bar keepers friend and see what happens

Think that’ll work on a matte surface? Here’s the situation. One image has water on it.

Def try it bar keepers friend is my best friend. anything on my quartz or porcelain and poof- gone!

This block has been my lifesaver. With rugged concrete that shows every single mark whatever you put on it. My cleaner found this and with water he scrubs the counter fortnightly and it comes up looking like new again.

Wow, so barkeepers and Merri Magic wont make the surface shiny?

i only can speak to bar keepes friend and no

Will have to try the Merri Magic

Is it recommended for stone?

Merri Magic is nothing more than micro fiber with a name implying special "magic" . No different than "Magic Eraser" will remove soap scum in a shower, or a mark on a wall.

There is nothing about either one that sanitizes a counter top. This thread needs to croak: ) and soon lol.

HU-39:

BK will certainly alter the finish on glossy engineered stone; I'm not sure about matte, however, I doubt you have anything to lose. If it doesn't work or the finish doesn't match, you're going to have to have your top professionally refinished anyway.

After reading all those comments on Caesarstone with matte/concrete/honed finish, am I correct to conclude that the non-polished finish is more suitable for use in the bathrooms and it would be less risky to have polished finish for kitchen countertop?

As far as I’m concerned, caesarstone is dead. I would not use the non-polished quartz anywhere. It gets stained with everything. Even with water.

I second that. I have done tons of construction projects, and have never been in a lawsuit except with Caesarstone/Lowes. I found both dishonest with terrible quality. The countertops they sold me are awful, they lied about what I would be getting, and did not stand by their product.

the more suitable use for Ceasarstone matte/concrete/honed is an OUTSIDE BARN

Does anyone know if Silestone's suede finish has the same issues as Caesarstone's matte/concrete/honed finish?

It's all the same stuff.

I have my Fresh Concrete in the bathroom and laundry room. I have no problem with either BUT the bathroom is a barely used and the laundry room is the laundry room. I love it and it looks great but it is not in high or even medium traffic areas.

@Yanso - I purchased and installed Silestone polished finish. It was not the suede finish - more of a polished finish, i.e. no longer have the house. It was a beautiful product and easy to clean. I would go with Silestone in future builds. Wondering if it's worth purchasing a small slab of the suede finish and place on your existing countertop, i.e. cutting board size and put it through it's paces before you commit. Oftentimes, the kitchen renovation shops have bigger slabs that you can purchase, like the cut-outs of the sink from their past renovations.

Do not buy Caesarstone Airy Concrete unless you want your kitchen to look as though you never clean it. Impossible to keep it looking good. Cannot cope with watermarks, much less anything with colour. I thought Caesarstone was meant to be "easycare" as per its website. I need to replace it 5 months after spending £5.5K. Unsuitable for holiday rental.

Do not buy Caesarstone airy concrete. Unsuitable for kitchen, reps are trained to fob you off. it is not easy clean, impossibIe to remove marks without a lot of effort. Need to replace after 5 months.