get google........

Full of stains and etches when used?! -- I'm out! Thank you!

Sophie just gave me my morning laugh . So true ...

• Is the same true for Zinc??
• I'm so happy to count on her for the truth! Thanks, Sophie
• 

Zinc is a living finish. Copper too. Yes that means it stains and changes color with every contact of your hand or Diet Coke. Zinc plated will rust. Look at old barn roofs in the country. That’s zinc coated steel. Every color of silver white and rust that you can imagine, all at once.

Zinc scratches like crazy so the same as concrete you have to like that “patina” IMO a granite top is perfect for a table.

Would you not protect the concrete finish with sealant? I'm now looking at cement tiles for my bathroom, so if cement tiles are sold for floors (must be sealed) and have become very popular in high-end markets over the last decade, I cannot imagine that a similar material could not be used for a tabletop. The whole idea with a rustic finish on a tabletop is that it will get banged about and develop some kind of distressing. Not for those who need every surface to be perfect, however.

https://www.themine.com/blog/the-pros-cons-of-concrete-table-tops/

For my own taste, I think they are handsome and would be great in the right setting.

As far as the mix of granite and quartzite, it would depend on the patterns, or lack of patterns, in both materials. I would not use two patterns on countertops in the same room, as I think that would look too busy.

Sealer isn’t magic. It only slows down staining. And doesn’t prevent etching at all. Concrete lives just like marble. Only worse.

I have a cement topped console / buffet table on my patio but it’s “rustic “ patina looks fine there but I wouldn’t want it in my house.

Get an absolute black , honed granite top cut for a base. It's about the most bullet proof kitchen table top you could create. And will "go" with just about anything. Quartz, quartzite, another granite in most case........all of it. It will "go".

Or get a beat to the daylights REAL antique farm table and enjoy the ages old, impossible to fake patina and your life.

K lawrence... cement is to concrete like flour is to cake. You have a concrete topped console. :)

I have a marble floor in a bathroom--Botticino cut in herringbone. I've had it for 12 years, never sealed it, and it looks just about as good as it did on the day it was installed. But I was told that the cement/encaustic tiles need annual sealing, so maybe they are not worth the aggravation. Honed black looks good, too, as per Jan Moyer. I've got in in a bathroom where it does show toothpaste smears, but it looks great and I've not sealed in 12 years. I imagine no toothpaste will smear on your kitchen counter!

Sophie Wheeler: From what you write, I iamgine you are not recommending cement tiles in a bathroom, correct? (I am looking at tiles for an upcoming reno and loved a cement tile, but scared off by need for maintenance every year)

"Because cement (or concrete) tiles
are porous like natural stone it's generally a good idea to seal them
so they are more resistant to staining. A sealer is a liquid applied to cement tiles (and porous natural stones) to help prevent staining from water and oils".

"For ongoing maintenance, clean regularly and mop with clear water or a neutral detergent. If necessary, buff tiles with a white pad. It is important to remove abrasive grit that may cause wear."

So. If you are NOT into maintenance for any natural, or porous or high care/maintenace surface of any or every kind? You need the man made mimic of whatever it is. Just don't expect it to look like the coveted natural counter/table/ floor/bacsplash etc.. It will look a nice version of whatever it IS and nothing wrong with that approach.

Alllll if this stuff is like linen shirts in your closet. If you hate wrinkles, detest ironing, enjoy a wrinkle free look all the time? Don't buy 100% linen. It is allll the same type of thing : )

Ok just about every surface has its drawbacks. Wood stains and moves so not sure why a concrete table top would be the worst situation? Any surface that can take a sealer can be protected by it. The more you polish the surface the less sealant is needed and the less the surface will accept.

I build some furniture and have been intrigued by using concrete but to me the biggest drawback is the weight and possibility or cracking. Modern additives help alleviate the cracking but the weight is still there even if it has a core material.

P Barn or Crate and Barrel have a base table and the tops are chosen by material and they have marble and cement. If it is the look you want go for it not every surface has to be plastic perfect. I actually like a material that shows wear or patina. I must have a very neat family as I just don't have these staining issues everyone constantly has either that or i just realize its life and move on and enjoy it for what it is.

...”The more you polish a surface, the less sealer is needed...”. Kind of like a great old cast iron pan!

Yeah but who wants to be on their hands and knees polishing cement floor tiles, no matter how gorgeous they are. And these are glorious in person:

https://www.artistictile.com/venezia-terrazzo-white-yvenwhp16