COUNTERTOPS: Concrete from Sonoma Cast Stone (Part 1 of 2)

GetWithGreen.com recently spent some quality time with two industry and market leading concrete product manufacturers.  Today we are going to introduce you to the first:  Sonoma Cast Stone.  Next week we will introduce to our second manufacturer, so check back, or click on the link to the right and sign-up for our newsletter to be notified.

Both companies we spoke to are at the top of their game in the concrete countertop, concrete sink and concrete tile market.  Our discussions covered their love for concrete, their passion for the environment, and the resulting products that we as homeowners build into our kitchens, baths, and other aspects of our home remodels.  Right off, we want to tell you that the products from both companies are absolutely amazing!

Sonoma Cast Stone, The Company

We first met Sonoma Cast Stone at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC) in San Francisco in June of this year.  On thing led to another, and last month we found ourselves at their Headquarters.

Sonoma Cast Stone is a growing company residing north of San Francisco in a old warehouse building next to what looks like a feed plant adjacent some abandoned railroad tracks.  The two story factory (Not open to the general public - products are sold through a dealer network) has a showroom upstairs, and an elaborate bustling factory downstairs.

The team has been doing concrete home products for over 15 years now.  Like almost all concrete product companies, they started out with a “pour-in-place” business where Steve Rosenblatt (President) and Dave Jensen made concrete countertops and tiles from the back of their trucks at homes, and eventually out of the basement of Steve’s home.  As Steve and Dave’s experience grew, they moved into the science of concrete to create more stable pre-cast concrete products, manufactured in a controlled factory environment, with strict process to ensure high quality and consistency.

The Products

Sonoma Cast Stone products are manufactured on-site.  The company claims to have the only full-time research staff in the industry, and we can confirm they were they were there that day!  In the lab we found countless sinks, counters, and tiles with various potent and staining substances dripping, running, and beating upon the durable Sonom Cast Stone product surfaces.  It was impressive.

We will admit that we spent the bulk of our time talking countertops with the team.  The company offers pre-cast countertops custom formed from a template that is made on-site at your home.  In addition, they offer countertop tiles.  product they call CounterTiles (countertop tiles are large squares of concrete that are installed on a cabinet frames and are joined together with a thin bead of silicon.  This is typically viewed as a less costly product than a counter built to fit your home).  Both countertop options, and other products, are available in 24 standard colors!

In addition to countertops, it is impossible to miss the sinks, tubs, and tile that line the halls and walls of the company offices.   Kitchen sink offerings include farmhouse style, built-ins, and more.  For the bathroom, the company offers a beautiful line of single and dual sinks.  These sinks come in various styles, some of which are shown below.  To get a full perspective you MUST visit their website www.sonomastone.com to see the entire product line.  But still you need to get a showroom to see, and touch them to fully appreciate what we are attempting to describe here.

  

While on tour, we were fortunate to see a couple of bathtub products on the factory floor.  Wow!  There was a single tub that invited you to jump in, and there was what we will call a couple’s tub that begged you to jump in.  Stunning is the only way to describe these products.

Products from Sonoma Cast Stone come in a classic/traditional concrete.  Classic Concrete will acquire a patina over time, in other words they will stain.  Classic Concrete from Sonoma Stone is made from company’s secret recipe that they stand behind.  In addition, Sonoma Stone is the only company in the market to offer a stainlessconcrete: NuCrete.  NuCrete is created by a combination of special additives added to the batch formula, a unique method of concrete curing and the application of a unique proprietary sealer.   If you aren’t saying wow, we think at this point that you should be.

Side-by-side the Classic Concrete and the NuCrete appear virtually the same to the untrained eye.  The difference is how they will patina over time (or won’t in the case of NuCrete).

All products are re-enforced internally with steel rebar.  Products from Sonoma Cast Stone carry a warranty against cracking, and warranties against staining for their stainless NuCreteâ„¢ products.  The company also offers repair kits (and technicians if you need one) for homeowners who decide to get really rough with their countertops.

Sonoma Cast Stone Pricing

Concrete is beautiful, but it is not inexpensive.  Here is a breakdown of pricing for Sonoma Cast Stone Products: Custom Countertops range between $105 - $150/sqft. CounterTiles $48.50/sqft. Sinks range between $850-$7500, while pavers and tiles average around $19/sqft.

The Concrete Community

Concrete Countertop Council (CCC).  This a new organization founded to inform and educate the public and professionals on the beauty, quality and application of properly made concrete products.  It is a goal of the CCC to regulate and educate those who manufacture products in concrete.  Steve Rosenblatt, serves as the representative.

Concrete, Green, Eco-Friendly, Sustainable?

Ok, so what is the scoop with concrete and being eco-friendly?  Concrete products for the home vary depending on the manufacturer, and each manufacturer has their own ’formula’, or mixture.   What goes into the formula not only determines how durable the concrete will be, but also how green and sustainable the product is.  Whereas most companies utilize the same basic formula for every product, Sonoma Cast Stone modifies the base mix for each application.

It was clear from our discussions that Sonoma Cast Stone is constantly in the lab evaluating their options on the green and sustainability front.  Their products use recycled cellulose fibers, raw pozzolans, and recycled aggregates that can ultimately be ground back into sand.  Sonoma Cast Stone has obtained a trademark on the name LEEDcrete. This product line is a family of products that utilize a variety of environmentally friendly elements to produce light weight, strong pieces that have little adverse effect on the environment. Like other concrete products, they use fly ash, and the company is quick to point out that the fly ash conclusion is being abandoned due to the increasing shortage of this by-product.

The future for this industry appears to be moving in a direction where more raw ceramics are included in the products, which ultimately leads to a lower energy requirement for production and an even more sustainable product.

Key Points about Concrete

Take-aways from our discussions with the team at Sonoma Cast Stone, and our second manufacturer that will be revealed next week:

• Pay close attention to how many years your concrete countertop supplier has been in business.  Quite often pour-in-place manufacturers have been in business for far fewer years and their products may be more prone to cracking and warping.

• Whether a show room or residence, make sure you go see the products before you buy.  Not all concrete is created equal in strength, beauty and durability.  (We will note that you can see Sonoma Cast Stone at a P.F. Chang’s China Bistro near you.  We visited one in  Sunnyvale, CA - have to tell you it was in the restroom, and it looked good as new!)

• Make sure your manufacturer has a warranty and some form of maintenance plan/program because if you do have a problem it could be a major investment.

Conclusion

So we started out by telling you how great we think these products are, and in closing we haven’t changed our minds.  Let it also be known that the team at Sonoma Cast Stone, and the other manufacturer we will reveal next week, are extremely passionate about concrete, they spend every day of every week working to bring homeowners like us a better product, a greener product, and a more sustainable product.

These are quality products, from quality companies (come back to read about the second), lead by quality people.  Thumbs up from GetWithGreen.com!! 

Are concrete countertops for you?  GetWithGreen.com helps to answer the question for you. 

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