Design Ideas for GFRC

White Concrete Countertops

In keeping with this home’s contemporary, minimalist look, the architect and homeowners chose to make all the countertops pure white. The contractor achieved this look by using a custom GFRC mix made with a titanium white pigment, along with white portland cement and white sand. Reinforced with a blend of ½- and ¾-inch alkali-resistant glass fibers, the GFRC helped reduce the weight of the countertops without affecting their durability.

Precast Concrete Wall Panels

Initially the architect for Amazon.com's building in downtown Seattle wanted to use standard reinforced concrete wall panels to represent rows and rows of books, but the weight would have been a problem. Steve Silberman of Absolute ConcreteWorks advised him that glass-fiber-reinforced concrete would be the best way to go. Once fabricated the panels were at least 25% lighter, making them easier to maneuver and faster to install.

Concrete Dining Table

This stately table measures 11-feet long by 4-feet wide. Because of the size it was cast in three pieces using a lightweight glass-fiber-reinforced concrete mix. The pieces were then joined together with stainless steel bands. If a traditional concrete mix had been used this table would have been far too heavy to be practical.

The Ultimate Lounge Chair

To add strength and reduce the weight, Eric Weil of Oso Industries cast this chair using a foam core and a concrete mix reinforced with chopped fiberglass and epoxy-fiber mesh. Including the base, the chair weighs only 180 pounds.

Concrete Island in White

Completely seamless, this expansive 11- by 5 ½-foot concrete kitchen island was cast in one piece. The use of a lightweight GFRC mix kept the weight at 750 pounds. To achieve the brilliant white coloration of the concrete, a titanium white pigment and white silica sand was used instead of natural sand to obtain greater purity. Once the island was removed from the mold, it was lightly ground to lightly expose the white silica sand.

Decorative Concrete Rooms with Mountain Views

Both bedrooms in this spectacular townhouse in the scenic mountains of Sun Valley, Ida., have fireplace surrounds precast using integrally colored GFRC. A proprietary decorative fiber-reinforced concrete mix was used that requires no blending and can be applied thinly.

Concrete Bench and Waterfall in One

This Zen-style bench was cast in one piece using a lightweight glass-fiber-reinforced concrete in a blend of gray and white. This would not have been possible with a traditional concrete mix. This bench has the best of both worlds because it is lightweight and durable. It will weather well outdoors for many years.

Seamless Kitchen Island

A lightweight GFRC mix made it possible to cast this large 34-square-foot concrete island without seams. Using GFRC instead of traditional wet-cast concrete reduced the weight of the island from 950 pounds to only 450 pounds, allowing it to be carried up a flight of stairs. The countertop color, Bleeker Beige, was replicated from a Benjamin Moore paint color chart.

Kitchen Exhibits Beauty of Gray Concrete

This stunning kitchen features GFRC countertops that were simply sealed to enhance the natural gray color. Contractor Brock Greenberg of Concrete Wave Design says that they use GFRC for most of their countertop projects and have developed their own GFRC mix, which incorporates polymer, sand cement, fibers, and a plasticizer. "With different techniques, we can get GFRC to pretty much look like any kind of concrete you would want," he says.

Floating Concrete Hearth and Mantle

Both the hearth and mantle of this fabulous fireplace surround were cast using GFRC to reduce the weight. The pieces were also integrally colored with a dark gray pigment to echo the color of the room’s dark wood floors. “Almost all of our work is done using GFRC,” says Barbara Sunderlin of SunWorks etc. “The size of this project pretty much dictated it as well. We were able to eliminate about two-thirds of the weight had we cast it with a traditional wet-cast mix.”

Outdoor Concrete Furniture Videos

Watch 25 videos explaining how to design and build Fu-Tung Cheng’s line of concrete furniture using CHENG D-FRC Casting Mix, a Portland-cement-based mix with a matrix of glass and other fine fibers.