For Building Professionals

In addition to our countertop products, Concrete Exchange offers various hands-on training Workshops to help you perfect your craft. The one-day essential workshops introduce participants to the basics of building concrete countertops, while our five-day advanced training covers general design principles and the technical approaches for more complex concrete applications.

For even more ways to build your business, consider a Concrete Exchange Membership to help boost your business training, cut costs on products, and gain additional exposure to potential customers. Members receive various benefits such as:

• savings of up to 40% off our innovative line of concrete countertop products and materials (including special members-only products)
• access to our quarterly online In The Mixer newsletter that features cutting-edge tips and techniques
• and a spot on our Find a Contractor listing, where we connect you with thousands of visitors and potential customers who visit our website monthly in search of concrete counter information, galleries, and contractors

The pour-in-place (or cast-in-place) technique is covered in the last chapter of Concrete Countertops and Fu-Tung's second book, Concrete at Home (Taunton Press, February 2005). The two main limitations to the pour-in-place technique are the lack of detail possible with top troweling and the difficulty in elevation changes (which limits design possibilities). Even if you wish to grind and polish in-place after the piece has cured, it is inherently more difficult to do so because the countertop surface is not as flat as when precast; therefore, achieving a level surface will require a significant amount of grinding. For more information, refer to the FAQs section on Pour-in-Place Countertops.

You can choose between two sets of products, NeoMix Original Products and CHENG Pro-Formula, depending on your type of work.

NeoMix Original Products include three separate components: Admixture, Water Reducer (liquid form) and Pigment. Each component is packaged separately and requires you to add it individually to a mixer. When combined with six 60-pound bags of premium sacked concrete, the mixture yields a three cubic foot concrete countertop mix.

CHENG Pro-Formula is our proprietary formulation of admixture, water reducer, pigments and other key ingredients combined in pre-measured quantities to yield an ideal consistency for pouring and finishing (available in one or three cubic foot concrete countertop mixes).

In general, results from both products are the same. Most customers and DIYs purchase Pro-Formula for its simplicity and consistent results. However, certain professionals and those building pour-in-place pieces prefer our NeoMix Original Products for the ability to control the individual quantities of admixture, water reducer and pigment.

We avoid acid-staining countertops because some of the stains contain heavy metals which may pose a health risk. Years ago, we used this technique extensively on floors and walls; however, after calling the manufacturer, we learned that all wash-out rinse residue is required to be taken to a hazardous waste disposal site—information that was not conveyed in the product instructions. (Many contractors simply wash and rinse this potentially grievous substance into the ground.) Since then, as a personal preference, we have cut back on the use of this otherwise effective technique. However, many contractors are using acid stains exclusively and extensively throughout the Untied States.

Yes, especially if you decide to precast your concrete project. Essentially, you would be making large concrete "tiles." Pour-in-place vertical surfaces are a little trickier and are addressed — along with other interior concrete elements — in Fu-Tung's second book, Concrete at Home.