Countertops Part 3: The Pour

After several attempts we were able to find a good time to get enough people to come over and help us pour the concrete countertops. All of our calculations indicated that we would need about 22-24 bags of concrete mixed for the pour.  Because of how labor-intensive it was we had toyed with the idea of pouring it in sections. However, we were more nervous about cracks than anything else so we finally decided to try and pour it all at once and hoped for the best.  There were 7 of us total and seemed to be more than enough hands to help out.  We started out with having 1 team on the hand-mixer and another on the concrete mixer. The mixer however, was MUCH easier and, to our surprise, actually mixed it really quickly.  The guys then opted for a simple assembly line instead and we finished all the mixing with the concrete while the rest started the pour.  It only took about an hour and a half to get it all mixed and poured. Everything went so smoothly we were just blown away! Here's tons of pics of the process:

they dye all portioned out

DJ working the mixer

George and Stephen starting the first of the pour

trying to work the concrete in around the sink mold

not afraid to get my hands dirty

Joe getting the concrete worked in to the wire mesh

the disaster that was our back porch where we mixed

buckets of the concrete ready to be poured

first section in

workin it down!

all poured

screeding the top to make sure its level

Until we went to take off the molds. Womp womp.  We couldn't get the mold for the sink out because we had waited too long and the concrete was really setting up. By the time we were able to get it out, we had torn apart the concrete forming the mold around the sink.

the crumbly sink

all sides of the mold fallen apart

We'll have to re-pour that part today but other than that, it went much better than we ever could have hoped. Can't wait to go check out the progress tonight! HUGE HUGE thank you to DJ, Matt, Joe, Stephen and Gina for taking their Sunday evening to help us take on this project.