GFRC concrete: what you need to know
The glossy look and silky-smooth feel of polished concrete benchtops add a touch of luxury to any décor, particularly if it’s custom built to suit your style and room. Not only that, GFRC (glass fibre reinforced cement) is a cost-effective material to use. But is creating a custom piece out of GFRC something the home renovator can do?
There are few points to consider before using GFRC concrete.
1. Is this the right material for the styling in your house?
Concrete can look harsh or cold, so you need to think about how it will fit into your overall design. You can colour it with pigments, we chose a black oxide (Dulux Avista Jet Back) for our cement bench tops and I love how they turned out.
Dulux Avista make a range of colours, and there are other companies that can provide oxides to add colour to the concrete. Finding these takes research, time and work – which brings us to our next point!
2. Working with GFRC is a lot of work.
When you make a benchtop from GFRC, remember that you have to make every element of it. It’s not like a timber top that you sand and put on a clear coat, this is a fully custom-built piece.
This has pros and cons – the pro is that you can build it exactly to the space that you want; the con is that you have to do all the work yourself - or use someone with expertise in this area.
3. Planning your concrete shapes
Planning and measuring is key. You need to know the size, depth and width to make the formwork to suit your finished shape, keeping in mind you pour these benchtops upside down. The underside of your formwork needs to be a perfectly smooth surface so that when you remove the finished concrete its free of imperfections, making it ideal for polishing. Sounds like a lot of work? The answer is yes!
4. How to protect and seal your concrete.
It’s important to choose the right product to seal your benchtop. If it’s installed in a wet area, you’re going to need an oil-based penetrating sealer because you want it to repel water.
If your benchtop is in an area that’s not exposed to moisture, you might want to use a satin non-wet look sealer. That changes the look. Using an oil based sealer is going to provide more protection to the piece, however they unfortunately don’t come in a full range of finishes, so they are going to be more glossy then satin; that’s something to factor into your design.
5. Elbow grease
It’s really hard work! It’s a labour-intensive process of planning ahead, making the right ‘recipe’ mixture of concrete, and making sure you are accurate with your measurements.
There are many steps involved: building the formwork, pouring it, stripping it, cleaning it, grinding it, polishing it, and sealing it. So why do it? Apart from the satisfaction of seeing an amazing custom piece emerge from the formwork, there’s the financial factor.
6. Financial benefits
If you’re willing to do all the hard work and put in the time, then you can save yourself literally thousands of dollars on this component of your renovation.
Stonework costs – an island bench could set you back $3,000-$5,000, but you could make one for around $1000 including set up costs. It’s versatile too, because you can add swirls to get the stone look or have the polished concrete look without the price tag.
Another big plus with GFRC is that you can create thinner bench tops that have a far greater strength then standard concrete benchtops. It’s a brilliant and highly versatile product.
Check out our video on how we made our custom bench tops and even a moulded fire place!