I'd doing concrete counters for their own sake, but not as a base for tile -- seems overkill, though. An easier option would be to screw hardibacker or a similar to the material to the plywood, for a more stable and water-resistant base.

Regarding the concrete cabinets (!) did the instructor cast these things in one piece or assemble them from seperate slabs? Sorry I don't have exactly the links you're asking for, but I'm intrigued by the monumental impracticality of this idea. This would be a kitchen that made a statement!

Here is a link that might be useful: Concrete and metal links

I think you may have misunderstood what he was saying. I think he was just saying to use a hardibacker or durock type product as the substrate to attach the tile to.

The second part makes no sense at all.

Oh, I'm kinda disappointed. I have done a lot of tile research recently, as I just redid my bathroom. The best source of info I found was John Bridge's tile forums (link below). As to building cabinets out of backer boards, I think that you'd be pushing the structural properties beyond the point most tile pros would be comfortable with. I can't see how durock would work at all (too brittle), but I used 1/2" hardibacker for my tub surround and I can imagine making it work. My guess is the joints could be done with shallow rabbets and dadoes, relying on some sort of glue. The stuff is nasty to machine, though. Good luck with your experiments!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tile forums

Like you, I was surprise. However, he took me to see a kitchen with such cabinets.

At first, it appeared like any other wooden cabinet but on closer examination, the toe kick, entire frame, dividing walls and countertop were made of poured reinforced concrete. On the other hand, the doors were made of wood, while the drawers and shelves were of plywood. 3/8" plywood lined the outer frame giving that wooden look. Wooden brackets (I hope I have the correct term) held the drawers and shelves. The countertop was then tiled.

To construct this structure, the mason works in collaboration with the cabinetmaker.

I was impressed. Both the instructor and the homeowner said it was cheaper than a completely wooden structure and was more durable.

It should be noted that in our region, most concrete houses have all walls and flooring of concrete. Drywall and hardibacker are uncommon (they are imported products). Concrete, on the other hand, is made of local products. Most woods are also imported. Wooden houses are often only built by persons who do not own the land and may be required at some time in the future to vacate the land. Even in such instances, the bathroom of the wooden house is constructed of concrete and this is left on the property when the house is removed.

My wife and I went to Cozumel for our honeymoon a few years ago, and I was intrigued with the way concrete was used there. In most of the U.S. we only see concrete as roads and sidewalks, or cast into hard-edged, utilitarian, prefabricated blocks that are used for structural purposes but not in places where they'd be touched or seen up close very often. In southern Mexico concrete was a much friendlier substance. Our entire hotel was concrete, soft and hand-sculpted like adobe, but hurricane-proof. Also, building with concrete was clearly part of the vernacular of common construction skills, much like the ability to cut and nail dimensional lumber and plywood is in the U.S.; it wasn't such a specialty as it is here.

As to the kitchen cabinets...

If economy is an issue then I guess you'd need some sort of reuseable forms. In a previous life I was a pattern maker, which means I made wooden patterns for sand-mold metal castings; it involves making a model of a metal part that can be withdrawn from a chunk of sand that has been mixed with a binder to make it harden, much like concrete. I can certainly imagine a reusable concrete form for a cabinet, but it would be complex enough that, if you were only to be building a single kitchen, you wouldn't want to make a lot of forms for different size cabinets; that would use as much wood as it would take to just build the cabinets.

Touring, would you be interested in using this thread to think/talk through a way to do this, or do you prefer to find instructions from someone who actually knows what they're doing?

I would prefer to find instructions from someone who actually knows what they are doing.

I like to be prepared and so by knowing what I am supposed to do, when I am instructed I would have an idea of what is expected of me.

Good luck then.

Touring. Please let me know the name of the instructor that made the concrete base cabinets. I'm looking for someone to build that for me.