Hello jacquelinewarren660,

Precast is the way to go for the best quality concrete. In a shop we can control the environment from start to finish.

This does limit your size without seams. Our largest casting table is 5' x 12'. Custom casting surfaces can be made but that will up the cost.

High quality cast in place concrete can be made but you will be limited to either a troweled or ground/polished finish.

The concrete in your home's foundation is around 3,000 to 3,500 psi. This is "Pounds Per Square Inch" before failure. A professional concrete fabricator should have no problem providing you with a concrete mix that is in the 10K to 15K psi range. Our current standard mix should come back from testing at over 20K psi.
The denser concrete will weather the elements better.

Ask about the sealers they use. You do not want a coating type sealer outside. A high quality penetrating sealer will not white out and can not delaminate.

Natural earth pigments are the most stable with sun/UV exposure. Man made oxides are very UV resistant. Topical stains including acid, water, and solvent based can be very resistant. Dyes are generally susceptible to fading but technology is getting better.
Any professional shop in the US will know where to source pigments and can color match to Benjamin Moore's standard palette if needed.

Also ask about reinforcement. Most shops today will use some form of fiber reinforcement. It is vastly superior to metal reinforcement though there are still a few shops that are holding on to the old ways. For a really long unsupported span I may still use some steel depending on the design but it would be a special circumstance. GFRC (glass fiber reinforced concrete) is the norm but there are other fibers in use also.

Feel free to post back here or contact me if you have any other questions.

Regards,
Vincent Cathcart
VC Studio Inc.
vince@vcstudioinc.com

Hi Vincent, do The cabinets themselves need to be reinforced to hold the weight of the concrete? Is it the same for GRFC? Thanks for all your input!

HI mbbuckalew,

The cabinets should not need to be reinforced. If the cabinets our sound enough to accept a granite slab then they are fine for concrete or any other solid surface.

GFRC simply stands for Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete. The Glass is Alkali Resistant to handle the conditions within the concrete. Traditionally GFRC was sprayed into a mold first as a face coat at 1/8" to 1/4". This was followed by the backer coat which carried the fiber reinforcement. More and more our industry has been using GFRC mixes like wet cast. We call them SCC for Self Consolidating Concrete.
Traditional wet cast was a simple mix of Portland Cement, sand and gravel as aggregate, and water. Different kinds of steel reinforcement were used where needed. Both wet cast and GFRC have benefited from the wide variety of admixes and techniques developed in the last few years.

The biggest bonus for GFRC has been its ability to cast lightweight three dimensional pieces. GFRC is so strong that it is normally cast at only 3/4" to 1" thick where extra durability is needed, like a kitchen counter. Depending on the application some have cast as thin as 1/4". There are also light weight aggregates that can be put into play to further reduce weight.

Concrete has come light years in the last decade. Both wet cast and GFRC have their place.

Regards,
Vincent Cathcart
VC Studio Inc.
vince@vcstudioinc.com