OWNER BUILDING IN AUSTRALIA - White Concrete Benchtops PART TWO

[@stediasse]

7:50 you say you felt the video wasn't very helpful, but it was. Your experience, whether good or bad, with a product, or method, is helpful to others who might go down the same route. They can either persist, and know what they are in for, or change their minds to another product that will be easier for them, etc.

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Thank you for your kind words 🙏🏼

[@OldMan_PJ]

Those are the best looking DIY concrete counter tops I've seen yet.

[@somewhereoutthere.]

@OldMan_PJ that’s so kind of you to say! Thanks so much 🙏🏼

[@sc9742]

Thank you for the info :) Love an update on white concrete countertop maintenance when you have a chance

[@geoffstein3896]

Absolutely awesome! Looking forward to more updates videos of your build... I love DIY

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Thanks Geoff! Just about finished editing our next video!

[@RonjaReadyDIY]

Absolutly great Handwork! Wishing you and your family a happy new year 🎊 🍀 😊

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Thank you so much for your kind words! Happy New Year to you as well! ♥️

[@Bilal_El-Hassan]

Been following your progress guys they look great. Would love to hear a month on how you guys are finding them. Cheers

[@somewhereoutthere.]

@Bill El, yes absolutely! We will definitely keep everyone updated on YT & Instagram 😊 thanks so much for following along!

[@adamcarson9410]

Hey guys, great as usual. Hopefully all is well and another ep is coming soon😊. From Safety Bay, WA.

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Hey Adam! Thanks for your kind words, we’ll have another video ready for early Feb! Excited to share all of our plans for the year ☺️

[@HeatherWallach-wo6ms]

Loved these videos. Gives me inspiration

[@Milaandlukeliketodostuff]

Guys you obviously have incredibly high standards because you are so critical of yourselves and you did an absolutely amazing job of those countertops. The only tips I would give you would be to use a flow control which allows it to flow much easier and evenly without losing the strength that you would If you were to use more water.

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Thank you so much for your kind words. Oh that’s a great tip, thank you! We’re going to be doing our table/island bench soon, so we might have to look into it 🙌🏼

[@Milaandlukeliketodostuff]

@@somewhereoutthere. that’s epic! Depending on the size, pre casting concrete in melamine can be so much easier for an island bench :)

[@somewhereoutthere.]

@Lukelikestodostuff after doing our own, we did a kitchen for some mates of ours and used melamine instead. It was heaps easier and way more cost effective! Will definitely be using it for the table 😍

[@blake9358]

Well done 👍

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Thanks mate!

[@hollandparkhouse]

Nice one ! Just poured our laundry benchtop slab today.

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Oh nice work! How did you go with it? Worth doing hey?! ☺️

[@hollandparkhouse]

@@somewhereoutthere. Id say 8/10 happy. Had to pour in place in the laundry due to restricted access. I'll cast the other benchtops in a moulding and install after like a normal slab. For bang for buck its still awesome. I'd say the hand troweled finish is a bit more rustic looking (prior to grinding) but it's growing on me.

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Wow! 8/10 well done! Yes! They definitely have a completely different finish when they’re cast and flipped. Honestly though, with grinding - you can still get them so smooth you wouldn’t even notice. It just feels like the long way to go about it 🤪 but we got there in the end!

[@hollandparkhouse]

@@somewhereoutthere. Yeah your video has convinced me to go out and get some resin pads and give it good little grind back and hook the shopvac to get rid of that nasty dust. Did you dry and wet grind yours?

[@somewhereoutthere.]

We only did it dry! But definitely hook it up to the vacuum for sure, the 50 grit is pretty dusty but the rest weren’t too bad 😊

[@centaurusalpha4248]

Hi Guys, I know its probably quite a lot to handle with a toddler and all, My better half and I are looking to embark on the journey of owner builder with myself doing most of the work where a license is not required here in Southeast Queensland in the next 2 years and I feel like there is a massive gap where there is not much in the way of explaining the owner builder process here in Australia. So I wonder if you guys plan on or are interested in taking a deep dive into explaining how this works? I suspect there will be a great number of people who can do the work but just have little to no working knowledge of how to go about getting the red tape sorted if you know what I mean. Thank you so much guys for sharing your experience and journey We truly do appreciate it. Kind Regards, Josh, Elise, and the two beautiful toddlers around our feed also!

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Hello! Thanks so much for reaching out! Sounds like you’re about to embark upon a very exciting, exhausting and rewarding journey. Good on you guys! We absolutely plan on doing that, hopefully soon too. I’ve been very slack with editing lately but I’m hoping to be back into the swing of things in early Feb. The paperwork side of things was definitely the most overwhelming part for me to get my head around which is why I’d love to share our process. Stay tuned, and all the best for your future build!

[@centaurusalpha4248]

Furthermore, and for what it's worth, I think you guys are well placed to capitalize on the youtube income stream here just solely based on content regards owner builder process. If you produce a video weekly I think you will quickly start attracting the algorithm's attention and find a massive audience in Australia alone. The international community will also likely take a lot of inspection from your energy and willpower to cut through the red tape even though it may not relate directly to their country. Many watch just to entertain to be fair. Anywho. I hope you guys are doin fine and wish you guys all the best hey! Cheers and you have done an awesome job!

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Thank you so much for your kind words. I really should put more effort into editing. It’s been such an amazing journey and we’re stoked to be able to share it with the world!

[@summabarling7886]

I found your channel today as I want to do these bench tops and I love your channel. Can you list what products you use when doing your DIY videos? I wanted to also ask you if you could tell me what your tiles and colours are called and where you got them from in your laundry? I love the colour also what sealer and brand you used to seal the tops of the bench tops? Please keep the video's coming I love them so much. Thank you for sharing.

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Hi Summa, thanks for your comment! The tiles in our bathroom/laundry were bought locally at the Tile & Cupboard shop. They are a Matte White Wavy Subway Tile (300mm x 75mm). We also used white grout. Our bench tops are sealed with a sealer from WA Sealers called Pro Seal 896. I hope this helps!

[@nathandines1587]

Hey guys, thanks for the video. What sealer did you use and why? Did you get that from Perth Concrete Hire as well?

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Hey Nathan! Thanks for your comment, we originally did use an FDA approved impregnating sealer from Perth Concrete Hire - they’re so helpful there! After a few weeks of living in the house we were noticing a few minor stains. So we actually ended up adding a coat of the sealer that we used on our floors on top as well and it’s been full proof! It’s from WA Sealers and it’s called Pro Seal 896. In saying all of this, the original sealer was also fine, we’re just the type of people that aren’t very careful with our benches 🤣 I hope that helps!

[@sineadhodgkinson1031]

Hello, Wondering what attachment you used on the angle grinder to finish the edge on the benchtop and where did you purchase from ?

[@somewhereoutthere.]

It’s called a diamond bevel wheel (or diamond profile wheel) and we got ours from Perth Concrete Hire. Your local concrete specialist will be able to help, I’m sure 👌🏼

[@sineadhodgkinson1031]

Hello, following you forever We are on a farm 80km from Albany and about to poor our concrete kitchen benches! Done a few practice molds but cant seem to get it right! We are following the 3:2:2 rule and did we here right per batch it was ? 14 Sand 10 Aggregate 11Cement How much water do you use or just eyeball it ? Thanks Sinead

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Hi Sinead, thanks for reaching out! The 3:2:2 ratio is (3 agg):(2 sand):(2 cement)… is sounds like you may have too much sand about not enough agg? Dane just eyeballs the water! From memory, our first batch was a bit wet but nailed it for the rest. I hope this helps!

[@sineadhodgkinson1031]

Oh thankyou so much for replying 🙏Yeah it just looks quite stiff and gritty ! Where yours looks quite wiped/creamy like if that makes sence ? How long did you let dry and did you start grinding Were about to start harvest with no kitchen bench 😢 My hubby hates white concrete too so may end up grey as he is blaming that 😅 Did you also use local baged agg or from landcape place ? And what size agg, Does it matter ? Using same brand/colour concrete

[@somewhereoutthere.]

@sineadhodgkinson1031 I’d say the “grittyness” is from too much sand but I’m not 100% sure! I think change the ratios and give it another go? We used local agg from our local landscape place, it’s cheaper than buying it by the bag. I don’t think the size would matter too much, just the standard blue metal should work! We didn’t start grinding them for about a week!

[@Siswoyo_Dahlia]

thanks for sharing vedeo...👍

[@somewhereoutthere.]

No worries at all!

[@mariebunney6899]

What was the company where you purchased all the items for your benchtops please 🙏

[@somewhereoutthere.]

We bought some products from Concrete Hire in Perth, some from Bunnings and locally from Holcim ☺️

[@blake9358]

Can't you get tint sealer for your benchtops?

[@somewhereoutthere.]

You probably can, but we didn’t want to tint them, we wanted them as white as possible ☺️

[@beauy5996]

What’s the grouting agent called???

[@somewhereoutthere.]

APC Grout (Polymer) from All Purpose Coatings ☺️

[@paulus145]

Great video. How long after pouring did you begin the polishing process?

[@somewhereoutthere.]

Thanks Paul! We waited about a week, but you’d wanna wait at least a few days ☺️