| When we had our home renovated, my wife insisted | | | | four bay detached with two classic cars in mint |
| on a concrete countertop in the kitchen. At first I | | | | condition (a Jag XJ and a 1971 Beetle convertible), and |
| thought she was joking. I was expecting Corian or | | | | a third (1988 VW Scirocco) currently in the process of |
| marble or polished granite, but she completely caught | | | | being restored. I have a lot of tools, a lot of equipment |
| me off guard. Then again, the kitchen designer caught | | | | and I can make a real mess in my work area. Since |
| me off guard too. When I finally decided that my wife | | | | I’d signed off on the kitchen reno, my wife agreed |
| was serious about going with concrete countertops, I | | | | to a garage overhaul and I had two major objectives: |
| was ecstatic. I figured you slap up a quick form, buy a | | | | clean up the “display” area to better show off |
| few bags of concrete mix from the hardware store, | | | | my completed cars and make it easier to keep the |
| add some water, pour and voila! Something that drop | | | | work area clean. |
| dead simple should be cheaper than laminate. Then the | | | | It turns out that I was right about the finish for the |
| designer comes in and starts going through the options | | | | garage floor. I repainted the walls, finally had the ceilings |
| and costs. By the time all was said and done, I wished | | | | drywalled, installed coordinated shelves, cabinets and |
| she would have settled for the granite instead -I’m | | | | work benches, but when I walk into that space, my |
| sure it would have been cheaper. I have to admit, the | | | | favorite part is the floors. I had a crew come in and |
| kitchen looks good, though. The concrete has been | | | | strip the accumulated gunk off my existing concrete |
| polished to a high shine and it looks very unique. | | | | floor. Then they treated the concrete with a hardener |
| When it came time to fix up the garage, I had an Ace | | | | and finally polished the surface with a diamond grinder. |
| to play. The concrete looked so good in the kitchen; | | | | The result was phenomenal. Everything gleams and |
| wouldn’t that same high gloss finish just make my | | | | the cars are reflected in that floor. Spills clean up more |
| garage? I should mention that I pretty much live in that | | | | easily and with that fantastic gleam, I’m a little more |
| garage. I’m a bit of a car nut. I don’t have | | | | motivated to be careful and keep it looking that way. |
| enough to officially call it a collection, but I do have a | | | | |