DIY Bar with Concrete Countertop (Part One)

Merry early Christmas!  Scott and I have been talking for a while (since we moved in) about wanting a bar in our den downstairs.  At the very least, a mini fridge and a cabinet to store some drinks so we don't have to trek upstairs every time we want something.  Lazy, whatever.  Plus it'll make the room seem more complete.
Anyway, my dad caught wind of this and decided he would like to build us a bar- or help us build a bar, or have us help him make a bar as the case may be.  And my dad's new thing recently is concrete.  He made himself a concrete side table for their outside patio, tested a sample for us, and a plan was made.  Cabinets were purchased, and placed, and then came the fun part.

First we made the form.  This is two large, flat boards on top of some cinder blocks as our work space.  Oh, and covered with plastic- actually, it's leftover plastic from when we painted the house.  Then these little boards making up the form- the exact measurements of what we want to top to be- including height/depth.

And get the angles right! (that's a pun)

We were concerned that the weight of the concrete might warp/push out the form, so we blocked it with more cinder blocks.  

While all of that was going on, Scott was in charge of cutting this wire mesh to go in the middle of the top.  Its purpose is to hold the whole mess together so that it (hopefully) won't snap in half.

 

Concrete goes in the wheelbarrow.  Water goes on the concrete.  Stir with hose.  

We wanted our counter top to be a terra cotta color because we're doing an earth tones theme downstairs.  So we add our dye/coloring/whatever it's called.

That looks great, doesn't it?  Pour it on until it's halfway up the form.

Smooth it down!  Tap on the edge of the form with a hammer to get rid of air bubbles.

 

The place the wire mesh on top of the layer.  You want about an inch barrier or more from the edges so it won't poke through when you sand it down later.  

Smooth it down again.  Tap the edge of the frame to get rid of air bubbles.  Smooth it out flat using a 2x4 or something similar.  Then wait!  We waited I think a week before removing and sanding.  Which I will write about in another post soon!