Cob: Cast earth countertops?? WHY NOT STONE!!!

[Vicki Wicker]

HGTV had a program on this weekend, Weekend Warriors, where some "typical"
homeowners poured their kitchen countertops. They seemed to do okay. The
place it looked the worst was around their sink.
I'm going to avoid that as I got an old 1950s sink for free with the tall
back and the washboard. I'm going to put it on legs in its own little stand.
I think just pouring a big rectangle counter top shouldn't be that bad.
These guys didn't look all that sharp and they pulled it off okay.

At 12:09 PM 10/23/01 -0700, Patricia Kerns wrote:
>Wow!  I wish I knew where to get a nice slab for $50.  Here, if you go out
>to the desert and are lucky enough to find one the right size, you can get a
>guy to haul it to the site for you for about $250.  Then, you have to figure
>out how to install it and cut it yourself.  For a really nice cut slab,
>about $200/$300 plus several hundred to haul it in.  I love the look and
>feel of stone, but it's just out of my price and skills range compared to
>doing things with mud.  I imagine this is true for most of us
>do-it-yourselfers.  I certainly don't have an unlimited free volunteer
>force, but I get a lot done by myself and mud is amazingly easy to work
>with.
>
>I've done a lot with linseed and find that the cost isn't too bad for inside
>work - maintenance is minimal.  For outside patios or counters, it would be
>a different matter, as I've been told the sun degrades the linseed and it
>must be reapplied periodically forever.
>
>Patricia
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ocean <ocean at peacemaking.org>
>To: coblist at deatech.com <coblist at deatech.com>
>Date: Saturday, October 20, 2001 10:30 AM
>Subject: FW: Cob: Cast earth countertops?? WHY NOT STONE!!!
>
>
>>Well, if cost is your problem, then please consider that linseed oil is
>>about $10 a gallon, beeswax is even more money...after casting an earthen
>>counter and then waterproofing it, you exceed the $50 an imported slab of
>>flagstone might cost.  If you want to do it cheap, just use concrete!
>>
>
>
>