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Counter proposal

Concrete is a solid alternative for modern kitchens

BY PEGGY BROWN | peggy.brown@newsday.com

September 5, 2008

The kitchen of Natasha and Wrenroy Smith with its concrete countertops. (Newsday / Bill Davis / September 4, 2008)

Not that long ago, Kevin McGovern, owner of Mirage Studios in Valley Stream, specialized in installing faux finishes and decorative plaster.

But then an architect he'd worked with suggested that the coming thing just might be concrete countertops for kitchens - and, a mere five years later, McGovern says, concrete, including countertops, has grown into 60 percent of his business. "It's really taking off," he says.

But at first, people aren't sure what to think, he says. "The first impression everyone has is, they think you're going to come in there with a cheap sidewalk," he says.

They'd be wrong on two counts.

First of all, concrete kitchen countertops aren't cheap - they're a high-end product because they're hand-crafted, made to order. (They run about $80 to $125 or more a square foot, not including installation; granite can be cheaper, $65 to $125 a square foot, depending on the grade.) So, they're showing up in multimillion-dollar homes (and others not quite as pricey), from Manhattan to the East End.

Next, they're hardly like slabs of sidewalk transplanted to counters. They can be sleek, sophisticated - and even shiny.

And most definitely out of the ordinary.

Here's a primer on the whys and wherefores of concrete kitchen countertops - and a few cautions along the way:

THEY'RE DIFFERENT

If you've been house-hunting on Long Island recently, you might be getting a little bored with all those granite countertops you see. It almost seems like an unwritten law: If you want to sell your home, put in a granite kitchen.

That's one reason why Evan Kuhlman, broker and senior vice president of The Corcoran Group, who works out of the Bridgehampton office, put white matte concrete countertops in the new home he finished building in East Hampton four months ago. "It's cool and funky," he says. "Doing things differently is special, and it creates a certain look. Because I'm in the business, I see houses every day, and you need to differentiate yourself from everyone else."

Of course, concrete in kitchens doesn't appeal to everyone. When people put in concrete countertops, "I have the feeling [they're being] different for the sake of being different," says certified kitchen designer Michael Graziano, president of Aladdin Remodelers Inc. of Merrick, who prefers granite.

THEY'RE INDIVIDUAL

Do you like blue? Sea green? Purple?

Concrete countertops can be created in virtually any color, through pigments and stains. And they can be fabricated in any shape, since the forms are made by hand. They also can be customized in nearly endless ways. Cheng Concrete (concreteexchange.com), a California firm, has an interactive countertop design tool that lets you play not only with color and shape, but also with decorative stone inserts such as carnelian and moonstone.

Want your kids' handprints in there to serve as a soap dish? Want leaves from the backyard? An anniversary bottle of Dom Pérignon? Or your key to the city? They can be added.

Natasha and Wrenroy Smith of Woodmere had Mirage Studios put concrete countertops in their kitchen last fall, and she says they've been very pleased. "It has different colors in it," she says. "It's a mixture of colors.

"I love it," she says. "Everyone loves it because it's unusual. It was made for us, so it's not going to be like what you see somewhere else."

THEY'RE PRACTICAL

Concrete countertops can be made with sinks, stainless steel trivets, drains and other features built right in. Natasha Smith, a nurse, says that Mirage installed a steel trivet right next to the cooktop, so "you can put a hot pot on it" without worrying about the countertop.