Once the cabinet and counter base were framed (see part 3), it was time to start wrapping it all up in the finish surfaces–faux stone veneer and porcelain tile.
In both cases I used 1/2″ cement board as the substrate. This is simple enough–just cover the entire surface with it and attach with cement board specific screws. It cuts like drywall, just wears out blades faster–score along a straight edge, snap, cut the other side. For trickier cuts I used a drywall plunge knife. I didn’t bother taping seams.
This is when I mounted the built-in cabinets, doors and drawers. I reused the access door from under the original barbecue by turning it 90-degrees and using it as an access panel for under the sink plumbing–I positioned it so it would open down and lie flat on the paver step below it so I could sit/lie on it while working under the sink.
On that same end of the long counter is where the light switch and receptacle was. All this stuff I just mounted flush to the cement board because I wasn’t worried about aesthetics there, and I wanted the access panel as deep as possible.
For the other inserts, I padded the trim with some PVC trim painted black (in the off chance that any of it would be visible in a break in the stone) by using construction adhesive to adhere it to the backs before sliding the boxes in. This made up for the thickness of the stone veneer so the stainless inserts wouldn’t be recessed so far back both for practical and aesthetic reasons–that deep and you’d be looking at exposed flat surfaces of concrete rather than the faux stone surfaces.
Tile & Stone
Once the cement board was finished I could start the stone and tile. I decided to do the front rim tile first–I would have to do that before the top and it would make it easier to use the tile I had as efficiently as possible. I would use thin set for the counter top, but I decided to use construction adhesive for the rim–it’s way quicker and less of a mess and it wouldn’t need to be holding much weight anyway.
I used 1/16″ grout lines for both appearance and cleanliness, so used plastic spacers as I went, plenty of clamps, and even more duct tape to hold drying pieces in place.
Then I did the backsplash / heat guard. Normally you’d do that after and on top of the base tile, but in this case, I knew the reverse would minimize visible unevenness in grout lines. Like for the rim of the counter, I used construction adhesive instead of mortar on these.
I used a concrete stone veneer that would create a dry-stacked look both because it looks better to me, and the less grout I have to do, the happier I am. This product came in 3 different flat lengths and 2 or 3 different corner lengths. The only thing you really have to do to prep it is clean up extra concrete from the backs/edges and in the inside corners of the corner pieces–just knocked it down/off with the back of a claw hammer.
I ran a level line around the bottom of the cement board from one end to the other–the ground is uneven and unlevel, so I needed to make sure my first course would be level and the same around the entire thing. Then I started laying the first course, which required a massive amount of shims because of the uneven ground and the fact that the lowest stone in some areas was 1/2 – 3/4″ off the ground.
The good thing about this product is that it doesn’t need a scratch coat–I just back-buttered each piece and made sure to wiggle and press well to get a good bond, then scraped whatever was pushed out. I also made sure to use a dark gray mortar in case any was visible so it would blend in.
The stone also cuts really easily with a wet tile saw, and smaller cuts, like when weaving inside corners, I did with a 4″ masonry blade on an angle grinder.
Once the stone was finished, I moved on to the remaining tile. First step was putting aluminum edging in place. Since I wasn’t able to bullnose the tile, this would cover the bare white edges. This is probably the thing about the build I like the least and would have changed. This stuff is a bit of a hassle and just doesn’t look as clean as a bullnose edge.
Finally, I could get the two barbecues in place and install the sink–once that was done, the unit was functional and I could take a break before phase 2: the side cabinet.
Next Up
Next I’ll cover the mobile pizza oven cart before the side cabinet and finally landscaping. See it here.