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Just like snowflakes and fingerprints, no two concrete contractors are alike. Different backgrounds, business models and artistic flair result in a world full of unique countertop creations, customized for homeowners who offer their own vision to contractors for a truly one-of-a-kind piece of art.

Two concrete countertop contractors from opposite coasts and different backgrounds offer two unique perspectives on concrete countertop making. Chris Jarman of Concrete Connexion in Silver Spring, Md., started his career as a carpenter, restoring old homes in the Washington, D.C. area. "I always had an appreciation for the houses built pre-1940," Jarman says. "There was always a high degree of craftsmanship in those houses, and it was always a lot of fun to learn how the old timers did it as we took those houses apart and put them back together."

Jarman's artistic background led him to start drawing plans for his clients' remodeling projects. "I always had an interest in art and always found a reason to go back and have a pencil and paper in my hand for renderings and so on," he says.

When his wife sat on an airplane next to a man who set up concrete countertop manufacturing shops around the country and told Jarman what she learned, he knew he needed to bring that into his business. "It was a revelation that I could make concrete countertops, concrete fireplaces and objects of concrete art. It was an 'ah ha!' moment for me," he says. "I found a way to be a working artist and actually earn a living doing it and doing something I really loved."

Dave Pettigrew of Diamond D Concrete in Capitola, Calif., first worked as a journeyman carpenter but moved into concrete after he realized he could do a better job building foundations than the guys doing the foundations he was building houses on. "I started digging footings, setting up forms, pouring concrete into forms and I fell in love with it," Pettigrew recalls.