No personal experience. Try a search here. My understanding is they can crack if not done properly and they are very prone to stains.

I had them for 14 years and loved them, but just recently changed because I just wanted an update. I didn't love the job that the person who did them did, but I loved the product. I did ask for a very rustic finish and that is what I got. They didn't crack, nor did they stain, but that may be because they had a finish on them. But after all that time, the finish did wear off where we would normally place dishes, i.e., near the dishwasher or near the stove. If I hadn't tired of them, I would get them again in a heartbeat! In fact, I was looking for someone to do them for me in the remodel of our kitchen, when I fell in love with soapstone! So that is what I ended up with! They are pretty bullet proof!

Thanks. I read the previous post about concrete and I must say I am surprised. We have a bar/restaurant in town that has the most beautiful concrete bar that looks perfect. They have done some sort of paint/finish on it and you would never know it was concrete unless you asked. It's just beautiful and seems like the perfect surface. Weedmeyer, do you have pictures of your concrete counter tops?

I will look to see if I have any pictures of my kitchen before I remodeled it.

Concrete is far from "indestructible"; it stains. Probably the worst thing about it is the industry's ease of entry. Any guy with a trowel and a couple of bags of Redi-Mix from Home Depot thinks he's a countertop man. I've worked on some of these. The homeowner was just proud as punch; his tops were a horror show.

That said, I've seen some nice concrete tops. I'm certain I can tell a professional job from a DIY at first glance.

Look at your garage floor. That is what concrete counters look like unless you coat them with plastic. At which point, there is no point to using concrete as the substrate. You might as well faux finish particle board and coat it with plastic. Laminate in other words. It will be much cheaper. Concrete is more expensive than expensive granites.

It is with great circumspection that I respectfully disagree with the Sophinator, but there are no garage floors that look like this.

I've had concrete counters for 20 years in two houses. Love them. I don't coat mine in plastic. I wax them. How much they stain depends on how diligently you care for them. I'm not diligent and mine do have all sorts of marks. I love it. It's like a patina and looks more like stone all the time with the years of use. Mine are "natural" with no colour added

We poured them ourselves. No issues and cost under $150. Plan on same in next and forever house.

Can you put hot pots on concrete?

I don't think this looks like a garage floor, either. The layout, now… but that's another thread.

Like all other surfaces except the sintered, it's better to use a trivet under hot pots on concrete, according to the Concrete Countertop Institute.