Soybomb Kitchen pt.2

 Not exactly a "before" picture as most of the cabinets are in place, but it shows some of the unfinished state of the kitchen at least.

A panel was cut to a certain size and placed upright on the side of the island to give us a mock-up of the "visual weight" of what the finished island's thickness would look like.  I think this was the size we decided on.

For a first-time concrete-kitchen project, I sure was ambitious.  This is the mold for the sink section of the counter-top being worked out.

 These sections form voids in the concrete that will hold the stainless steel trivets later on.

 That beat up old fridge is the one that actually got the wood veneer treatment.  The wood treatment really was a quick afterthought, and I didn't expect the fantastic results we got.  If i had known i would have gotten a newer fridge to do it to!

 Electrical was ran under the floor to the island.   This switch (later replaced with a dimmer) will control the three halogen lights that float over the island.  it also gives power to the 12 receptacles on the underside of the island edge.  This was done so we could utilize the island for food prep with powered devices, as well as power laptops, phone chargers etc.  Putting electrical into the island was probably one of the best decisions we could have made!

 unlike the counter-top forms, the sill forms are not upside down.  they have a troweled surface that gets polished later.

 The form for the Stove-top section of counter-top.

 sinkmold!

 mostly reinforced, and with knockouts placed for sink faucet.

 because we do not want the forming materials to absorb any moisture after the pour, and thus retard the concretes curing.  the underside of the island mold is a strong plywood, but was painted with multiple coats to waterproof it.

 this old beater fridge was given a stainless steel treatment, with hardware to match the cupboards.

 The front side of the island has these letters, first placed into the mold so the concrete forms around them, and then carefully dremelled out, in order to leave a negative impression in the face of the slab.
It ended up being a rather subtle touch which most people don't even notice.

The letter set was actually an old push-pin set for theaters to display the days shows and times.  I do kind of regret a little, the destroying of these letters to make the mold.

The mold for the island is a pour in place, with the surface requiring a good troweling for a smoothness required prior to polishing.