First off, let me say that I made great countertops based off of this book and his DVDs, so his methods and instructions work.
His detail in description is very good in this book. It is clear, precise, and readable.
The pictures are quite nice generally (a few are a bit pixelated, but don't really hurt anything). One problem is that most people (myself included) have never seen his pressed finish end product in person. This means that it is super critical that he gets perfect pictures of the finish so you can see what you are shooting for. The pictures of the finish are there, but they are just not close enough or plentiful enough to make me comfortable that I understand it.
It turned out I was overly concerned about this because if you follow his methods, things come out fine, but improved pictures of the concrete surface finish really would have helped.
He also has a couple of DVDs that I would recommend, because if this is your first countertop, the $$$ is well spent. If you avoid one mistake, you paid for the book and the two DVDs. Making Concrete Countertops (Schiffer Book)
I bought this book, along with Cheng's for my first attempt at a concrete countertop. This book does have good step by step photos of the pressed method and is very helpful. But many times I had to refer to Cheng's book for details that were lacking in this book. I do not have the dvd and it's possible that it fills in the blanks. If you are making concrete countertops for the first time, you will have a hard time being successful if this is your only resource.
It's nearly impossible to research good DIY concrete countertop books without comparing this author with Fu tung Cheng. Cheng's are a little more polished, but both are good references for different styles. This book and method help you produce a totally different appearance in the end product but they are very acceptable trade-offs and in some cases, may be preferable to Cheng's style. I think this author's approach maintains good fundamental instruction, but inspires a little more creativity. It is a different approach while still providing good fundamentals and enough information to create your own beautiful and unique concrete countertops. A good book to have.
My background is I'm just getting started in doing concrete counters and fireplace surrounds as a business. I went to one of Cheng's classes in SF and have some thoughts.
2/3rds of this book deals with precast face down in melamine, and the other 1/3 is cast face up and trowel into place.
The cast face up & trowel method is just too difficult to get perfect results, unless you have tons of experience in concrete. I honestly think renting a vibrating temper machine meant for floors would do much better than hand troweling. And it would be faster. The "character" left behind really is small mounds and scrapes showing that a professional didn't do the work.
As far as the ball up concrete, create veins, and fill them in with slurry for a veined look? Easier than the cast face up, for sure. I think wetting the concrete a bit more, vibrating the table, and creating a solid color is going to be way easier for the target market of this book. If you really want to learn how to do work with concrete and get an awesome veined look, take Cheng's class, Buddy Rhode's class, or the Concrete Institute, or, create several 12'' x 12'' sample squares and get the hang of it over a few weeks before taking on your whole kitchen. - Do It Yourself Concrete Work - Durable - Concrete Design'
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