The standard concrete countertop mix is made up of one part Portland cement, two parts sand, and three parts gravel. Concrete countertop mixes are available in both pre-blended formulas and as individual ingredients.

A note on the ingredients:

Portland cement: this is the binding agent that holds the other ingredients together. It can be purchased at any home improvement store, and comes in 94-pound bags.

Sand: this is better known as “play sand,” and is available at any home improvement store. The sand should not have lime in it.

The gravel: this type of aggregate comes in a variety of sizes, from small pebbles to large rocks. It’s also usually available at home improvement stores.

There are two ways to mix concrete countertops: by hand or using a drill with a paddle attachment. Using a drill requires a bit more strength than mixing by hand, but it’s much faster and easier overall.

Be sure to start with a clean bucket (no dust or debris) and put on your gloves before starting to mix the concrete countertop mix.

Good concrete work is not just about mixing ingredients in the right proportions and following the right steps. Just as in cooking, where a recipe doesn’t guarantee a good meal if you don’t have the right ingredients, or if you leave out an important step, or mess up one of the critical details that are left to your judgment as a cook.

In concrete countertop mix design, we’ve got a few things going on:

– We want to make sure that we use enough water to get complete hydration of all our cement (so it cures completely), but not too much water so that we weaken our mixture.

– We want to make sure that we’re using enough cementitious materials so that our mixture gets strong enough to resist damage from normal use, but not so much cementitious materials that we end up with either more shrinkage than we like or with more permeability than we like.

– We want to make sure that we’re using enough aggregate to get the strength and durability characteristics of our countertop mix that we want without adding too much additional costs to our project.

– We want to ensure that there’s enough entrained air in our concrete countertop mix design so that it can handle freeze/thaw cycles without getting damaged by frost he

The Concrete Countertop Mix is a blend of high-performance Rapid Set hydraulic cement and quality aggregates. The admixture system provides a flowable mix at a low water-to-cement ratio for high strength and durability. The product produces a very low shrinkage concrete suitable for use indoors and out.

Uses:

* Countertops (including kitchen countertops, bathroom counters, outdoor kitchens, table tops, desks, etc.)

* Sinks

* Cladding

* Shower pans

* Shelves

* Furniture components

Features/Benefits:

* Post-installed anchors have greater ultimate pullout values than cast-in anchors in cured concrete. This is particularly true in uncracked concrete. You can also use epoxy anchors in cracked or uncracked concrete. Epoxy anchors are used to support light fixtures, handrails, wall partitions, ceiling support wires and pipes. They are also useful in seismic retrofitting of existing structures where the concrete is cracked or damaged.

Countertop Mix, for projects 6″ thick or less. Use for a wide range of applications including countertops, furniture, fireplace mantels and hearths, lamps, and more. Mixture has the consistency of cookie dough which allows the concrete to be placed into forms easily and eliminates the need for additional admixtures, water or cement.

Mixes contain a high performance blend of Portland cement, sand, lightweight aggregates and proprietary admixtures to ensure consistent quality. The mix is designed to give you maximum strength with little or no shrinkage or cracking.

Initial set time (after placement): 40 minutes

Final set time (after 24 hours): 8 hours

Concrete is not an easy material to work with, and making a concrete countertop can be challenging. There are many concrete mix recipes online, but most of these are meant for vertical concrete applications like walls or steps. For a horizontal surface like a countertop, we need something more substantial that will remain stable and not sag or crack over time.

We also want a mix that cures quickly and is easy to work with. The key to this is finding the right ratio of materials. We’ll leave the nitty-gritty details up to you, but here are some guidelines:

The first thing you’ll need is portland cement (not to be confused with the stuff in your garden). It’s the glue that binds all the other materials together. You can get it in different colors if you want. Next you need something to aggregate the cement into a solid mass. This is where sand comes in, as well as gravel and pebbles that vary in size from pea gravel down to powdery stone dust. The smaller grains fill up all the space between larger ones to make a solid mass.

Finally, you need water! Water is what allows the cement to dry hard and form its bonds with everything else in the mix. Too little water and it

I have been mixing small batches of concrete from scratch for over 25 years. I am an artist and work with concrete on a regular basis. I can tell you that the store bought bags of concrete are not worth the money. They are heavy, and sometimes the ingredients are not what you would choose if you were buying them independently.

There are two ways to go about making your own mix:

1. Buy 80 lb bags of Portland cement, sand, and gravel and weigh out exactly 5 parts cement, 3 parts sand, and 6 parts gravel by weight (you will need a scale). Add 2 parts water to one part cement mix. This should be mixed with a drill and paddle mixer.

2. Mix up several 5 gallon buckets of concrete using dry pre-mixed bags of concrete (Portland cement, sand, and gravel). Then measure out amounts of each in a ratio of 1 part Portland cement:0.6 part sand:1 part gravel into a large trash can (or other container) by volume (using a measuring cup), then add 1 bucket of liquid water for every 4 buckets of dry material (a 5 gallon bucket works great). Then use your paddle mixer with a drill to blend the dry ingredients together before adding water. This method is more efficient

“I’d suggest to anyone trying this for their first time to do it with a friend! It was easier with two sets of hands (and two brains). I also suggest cutting some of the cloth strips ahead of time and have them readily available. The concrete dries quick, so you want to move fast!”