hey everyone and welcome to another DIY projects with Pete video this is episode number 2 and today I'm going to show you how to build a concrete table that not only looks amazing but doesn't require any specialty tools and most importantly won't break the bank here are some of the main tools and supplies we'll need and for the complete list head over to Pete Sven com forward slash concrete tables when you are ready to head out to the store you'll find melanine available in 4 by 8 foot sheets just like this you'll also find some smaller project size pieces that are a little easier to handle then head over to pick up a trowel in the concrete section some wire mesh for reinforcement a tub to mix the concrete up in and lastly your con crete mix and if you do have any questions throughout the whole process swing over to Pete Sven com forward slash concrete tables for your complete list of detailed instructions as well as show notes from today's episode alright let's get started the first step in creating any concrete tabletop is to build the mold use a circular saw or a table saw to cut the side strips and the base of the mold right now I'm measuring for the base of the mold so that it's at the correct dimensions and then I'll cut it with a circular saw after this you can take the side strips and cut them down to the correct length using a miter saw once all the wood is cut we can go ahead and assemble our mold will take the side strips that we cut and attach those to the main base area of our mold to do that I first like to drill pilot holes that way I'd the chances of splitting some of the wood and then I'll take one in five eighths inch drywall screws and put those in about every 8 to 12 inches to secure that side strip to the base piece continue doing this take your time try try your best to get that side strip to line up perfectly with the bottom of that base peace once your molds complete go ahead and cut your wire reinforcement I usually use a bolt cutters for this it's pretty slick and makes a job go quickly leave about an inch on each side of the perimeter of that wire reinforcement between that wire reinforcement and the actual mold you just don't want that wire reinforcement getting too close to the sides now go ahead and vacuum out the mold and then use some alcohol and towel to clean it out this will get rid of all the sawdust and any any dust particles that could create imperfections in your finished product now we're ready to do the caulking and you want to caulk the mold on the edges just so that the concrete and water mixture doesn't seep out the edges but it's also going to help in giving your concrete top a little bit of a beveled edge and there's a couple different ways to do this I like to just use a caulk tool because it's quick and easy you can get this at any home improvement store you could also tape off each side of that seam and then run your finger over it and pull that caulk and a nice even bead it's also handy to always have a couple paper towels with you to wipe off any excess caulk that gets on your mold and just take your time run it on each seam and then on the corners as well now we're on to the fun part of mixing concrete the first step I like to do is pour a little water into the tub before you actually pour the concrete in and this is just going to help minimize dust then you'll want to go ahead and look at your concrete bag and see what the proper water to concrete mixture they recommend is I like to try and mix it to about a cookie dough or peanut butter consistency go ahead and use a shovel or mixing tool to stir up that concrete if the concrete's a little too dry go ahead and add some more water and if it's too wet you can always add more concrete continue mixing until it's just the right consistency and in this other footage I'm going to show you right now I wanted to explain how you add color to your concrete top in case you wanted to I'm not actually doing it on this specific project but if you were simply add the pigment during the mixing process then stir it around and it's going to give you a nice even color now we'll go ahead and add the concrete to your mold make sure you're wearing your good rubber gloves for this and that your concrete's fairly close so you can just grab handfuls of it and transfer it to the mold you could also use a shovel or a bucket if you wanted to grab more at a time and then you just want to use your hands and fingers to push that concrete into all the corners and the crevices and just to spread it evenly along the base of that mold our goal will be to fill it about half way full before we actually add that wire reinforcement and then you can also kind of poke with your fingers to release some of the air bubbles so that you don't have too many air or bug holes in the top of your concrete when it's finished next I like to shake the mold just a little bit that kind of evens out the concrete prior to putting that wire reinforcement on and it makes it nice and flat once once you've kind of shaking it up enough you can go ahead and add that reinforcement there just slowly put it on top and push it a little bit into that concrete just so that it's not poking out on the bottom you may have to bend it a little bit here and there once your reinforcement looks good we'll go ahead and pack the remaining part of the mold with concrete and this is pretty similar to how you pack the initial part of it underneath that wire reinforcement we're just going to fill it up till it's about level with the top and once it's level we'll grab a nice flat two-by-four and run it across the top as a screed to get any excess concrete off the top if you are low in a few places you can just grab some of that extra concrete and Pat it into the areas where it is lower move that screed back and forth in a sawing motion until you've reached the end and then you can move back and go the other way right now I'm taking off some excess concrete there and then you just keep continuing on to the side if you have a little extra here go ahead and fill in those low spots we'll do one final pass here and then it should be smooth enough so that we can move on to the next process which will be vibrating the concrete after you get done screeding this concrete just make sure that your table is as level as possible so that your concrete cures at an even thickness if it's not you can always go ahead and shim the table or shim right underneath your mold the next process we're going to try and get out as many air bubbles as possible so go ahead and shake that table and you'll notice air bubbles rising to the top of the concrete and you're going to have fewer bug holes on the actual top of your table because of it you can also run a hammer or an orbital sander along the sides and even underneath the mold you can hit it with a hammer and that's going to get even more air bubbles out after vibrating the concrete I like to take a steel trowel and smooth out the bottom of your concrete table top as much as possible this is going to be resting on your wood base that you build later congratulations you've finished the first big part of building your countertops wait about four days and then you get to reveal the diamond in the rough you can grab a drill and take out all those one and five-eighths inch drywall screws after that's done we'll grab a chisel and a hammer to take off the sides of the mold so you want to make sure that your chisel never is wedged against the concrete always have it between the wood and then slowly pull that side of the mold off now that the sides of the molds are off you can go ahead and take a sanding block and work the edges of your piece when you're around the corners make sure you work from the corner out if you work into the corner you can risk breaking that edge of the concrete off continue around each edge and you're going to you know knock a few pieces of rock out and that's okay you'll fill those in later with a slurry mix it's time to flip the piece now so I like to take a few rigs to rest under the sides when you're flipping it up vertically that way you won't chip the concrete and then lay it on to a few boards that you evenly spaced below it and you don't want to have it resting just on the table you want to have it up on these boards so that it can dry evenly on both sides now we get to take off the top piece and see how our tabletop came out slowly lift it off looks like it turned out pretty good with very few bug holes which is always a bonus we'll go ahead and set it up on a table and then we'll do the sanding process after the sanding we'll fill in all the remaining bug holes let that harden and then do a final sanding right now I'm using about a 220 grit sandpaper I'll run the sander across the top edges of the concrete and then I'll do the complete tabletop don't worry if you knock out a few rocks those will all be able to be filled in later with slurry in the next process when you're sanding a few more bug holes are going to be exposed and that's okay because we'll fill those in too now we're ready to fill in those bug holes and the rough edges with a slurry mixture you can create this by grabbing some Portland cement and putting it in a cup along with water and then you can also add an acrylic fortifier if you'd like it's about $10 from Home Depot and that's just going to help it cure quicker and bond a little bit better go ahead and rub that onto the edges there and you can use the V of your finger to kind of try and bevel that so it's a nice edge and once you have that edge all filled out you can go ahead and fill in the bug holes on top and I found the best way to do this just to grab your slurry mixture and to rub it around in circles and kind of slowly fill in those holes you'll notice that the slurry does dry pretty quickly and I do like the dryer mixture on the edges of the concrete but when you get to the top surface and some of the sides it's it's nice to have a little bit wetter mixture and if it does dry up you know just add a little bit more water or girl look forward a fire to that mixture and then slowly rub it around and it will go right into those bug holes once you've filled in as many bug holes as possible go ahead and grab a putty knife and run that along the sides and the top just to take off any excess concrete it's going to make the sanding process a lot easier then you can take your piece outside where you won't make such a mess and start with a 120 grit sandpaper on your orbital sander and then you can move up to a 220 grit get the top surface and then round those edges over as much as possible again if you do chip out a few places it is okay you can always fill those in again with some slurry mixture prior to doing the final seal once you finish sanding it and it's all smooth just how you'd like it go ahead and take your project inside grab a clean rag and some sealer the sealer is made for marble concrete or granite I picked it up at Home Depot I do seal the bottom side and then I'll flip it over and seal this top side here make sure to read the directions on your sealer to see how they recommend applying it I'll do about two to three coats of sealer on a specific table once you've finished up with the sealing process go ahead and let it dry and for some added protection after it's dry you can apply a beeswax or a paste wax to the concrete you just rub it around in circles and then you'll buff it off here is what it looks like after I've applied the wax and I'm just buffing it off with a clean rag all right everybody thanks so much for watching DIY projects with Pete episode number two on how to build a concrete tabletop for complete shownotes head over to