From Library Journal
At first, the idea of using concrete for kitchen countertops has the same appeal as using cardboard boxes for cabinetry or dining on the floor. Naysayers are in for a surprise as architect Cheng elevates this pedestrian building material to a new level, using it to create beautiful and functional countertops. They are a far cry from rough sidewalks, having polished surfaces that can be colored or have interesting objects cast into them. Cheng shows the entire process: design considerations, mold-making, concrete selection, installation, and maintenance, all using straightforward instructions supplemented by excellent illustrations. Showing an innovative use of a common and inexpensive material, this title should be part of comprehensive public library home improvement collections. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Book News, Inc.
It's hard to get excited about counter tops, and even harder to view such everyday items as works of art, but this book offers the key to doing both. With plenty of color photographs, it illustrates the possibilities of concrete as a material and countertops as an aesthetic site. What's more, it provides a beginning-to-end guide to designing, planning, constructing, and finishing concrete countertops. The book is equally as beautiful as useful. Cheng is a designer.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


From the Back Cover
"Concrete Countertops will give architects and builders the know how and confidence to draw and/or build what discerning homeowners are requesting in work surfaces these days. This is the tool they've been looking for to help bring their clients' concrete dreams into concrete reality!" --Sarah Susanka, author of The Not So Big House and Creating the Not So Big House "Over the past decade, the most requested article from our back issues has been about making concrete countertops. And more than anybody, Fu-Tung Cheng has been the innovator calling the public's attention to concrete as a material worthy of the finest interior detailing. This is the kind of book that will make you see a common material in a whole new way, and maybe even make you want to roll up your sleeves and play with it." Chuck Miller, Special Issues Editor, Fine Homebilding Magazine "This book celebrates the beauty of design drawn from nature.. Fu-Tung Cheng demonstrates that we can bring art and creativity back home in sustainable architecture that is both timeless and elegant." -----Alice Waters, Chez Panisse restaurant

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In 1985, California architect Fu-Tung Cheng, a recipient of the Stellar Award from the American Society of Interior Designers, was given full creative control but only a modest budget to renovate a professor's home. Instead of using a conventional grouted plywood base for the kitchen sink and countertop, he opted for a concrete one. It turned out beautiful as well as functional. Since then, he has become internationally renowned for his custom-formed concrete designs finished to resemble marble, glass, or granite. This book illustrates every step of the process — from designing, forming, mixing, and pouring to coloring, troweling, in-laying, curing, and finishing.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

At first, the idea of using concrete for kitchen countertops has the same appeal as using cardboard boxes for cabinetry or dining on the floor. Naysayers are in for a surprise as architect Cheng elevates this pedestrian building material to a new level, using it to create beautiful and functional countertops. They are a far cry from rough sidewalks, having polished surfaces that can be colored or have interesting objects cast into them. Cheng shows the entire process: design considerations, mold-making, concrete selection, installation, and maintenance, all using straightforward instructions supplemented by excellent illustrations. Showing an innovative use of a common and inexpensive material, this title should be part of comprehensive public library home improvement collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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