Resin Penny Floor Project!

Intro: Resin Penny Floor Project!

You've probably seen the viral video's that did the rounds recently - featuring floors, bars and tabletops made from pennies.

One of the most popular videos was made by one of our customers who created his own penny floor using one of our products. You can see his handiwork at DIY Penny Floor - as you can see it looks amazing and it's no wonder everyone wants their own Floor of Pennies!

Our technical team receive several calls a day asking how it's done so we thought we'd share a tutorial with you on how to do penny flooring!

STEP 1: Preparation & Materials

What you'll need:

Clear Epoxy Resin - the product featured is GlassCast® 3

Adhesive

Black Grout (we used Ready Mixed)

Squeegee

2 Buckets

Mixer

Spreader

Protective Gloves / Goggles / Clothing

Spirit Level

Pennies - work out how many you need and decide if you want dirty / shiny or a mixture

For this tutorial we used a mock up area of floor - so make sure that your floor is completely level and clean and you can start!

STEP 2: Pennies, Pennies and More Pennies

• First run a bead of adhesive in a line and start laying pennies side by side
• Make yourself comfortable you could be here for some time!
• Continue laying pennies until the entire area is covered and allow to dry properly (ideally over night)

No More Nails

STEP 3: Grouting

• Now using a black grout and a squeegee cover the pennies all over
• Push the grout into the gaps between the coins and into the spaces around the edge (next to the skirting board)
• Allow it to begin setting
• Clean off the excess grout with a cloth and polish as much or as little as you want - the grout will act as a polish to some degree so if you want the pennies to have a dirty effect don't rub them too much
• Then leave to fully dry and vacuum the surface

Black Wall Tile Grout

Squeegee

STEP 4: Resin Measuring & Mixing

Accurate measuring of the floor space is essential to work out the correct quantity of resin required. Our website has a useful table to work out the quantity of resin required Penny Floor Epoxy Calculator and you will also find a video tutorial here.

• For a penny floor the recommended depth of resin is a minimum of 2mm
• Make sure you have 2 mixing buckets and make sure your wear protective clothing, gloves and goggles
• Measure out the Clear Epoxy Surface Resin
• Measure out the Epoxy Hardener
• Mix thoroughly in bucket 1
• Transfer into bucket 2 and mix again

It is advisable to mix up to (but not more than) 5kg of Resin in one batch and repeat the process if more is required - this enables you to accurately measure and thoroughly mix and pour within the pot life of the resin.

To work out how much resin you need for your project use this useful resin calculator.

Penny Floor Epoxy

STEP 5: Resin Pouring and Spreading

Now you can pour the resin, starting at the furthest part, using a spreader to distribute evenly.

GlassCast® is a self leveling resin and is highly self degassing which means that bubbles shouldn't be a problem, but you can use a heat gun or hairdryer if you have any persistent bubbles..

If the area you are covering requires more resin, repeat the process and pour up to the previous section and when finished leave to cure (as per the manufacturers instructions).

STEP 6: WOW!

When the floor is cured you will see the beautiful glass like quality, which is smooth to the touch!

The timescale is dependent on the size of the floor or work area, plus the additional drying / curing time between processes.

Epoxy Penny Floor Resin (on GlassCast Resin)

No More Nails Adhesive (on Screwfix)

Black Wall Tile Grout (on B&Q)

Squeegee (on B&Q)

You can find all the other supplies in most good DIY shops.

STEP 7: Ideas ...

You could use this product and process to coat:

Tabletops / Bartops / Furniture / Coasters / Placemats You could also embed objects like bottle tops, crushed glass, pebbles, wood ... and many more things. You can also clean up small scratches quite easily using abrasive paper and polishing compound - although direct heat and heavy traffic should be avoided.

Check out our brand new project - Neon Resin Plank Table!

Comments

[simonad]

Thank you for this post! I am trying to do this with a round table and beer bottle caps, and I am stuck trying to find something I could use for an edge for the table that could be removed after the resin sets that would be flexible enough to bend around the round table, and not bond with the resin. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you!

[GlassCast Resin]

Hi, no problem!
You could use something like polypropylene strip (which epoxy doesn't stick to), bent around the curve and bonded to the base on which could then be removed afterwards.
Alternatively you could use some cardboard coated in barrier tape (again something epoxy won't stick to) and create a barrier this way. :-)

[RebeccaW13]

I've been told that after a couple years the resin yellows. Is this true?

[GlassCast Resin]

The advanced 'UV' resistant formulation of GlassCast means that it has non-yellowing properties which are superior to conventional epoxies meaning that it will start beautiful and stay beautiful for years to come.

[aCuriousCreator]

That looks awesome :) I've been looking for a good resin in the UK. Will order some for some upcoming projects!

[byeproducts]

i hope you realise that this is actually illegal and it would be classified as defacing the crown

[er4g0n]

Let us clarify 3 points, 1st amusement park penny squashers are legal have been around for many years and would have been removed had this been a huge problem.

2nd Defacing the crown is no longer applicable as we are a democracy that has a monarch not a monarchy.

3rd The law to which you could refer is the coinage act 1971, section 10:1 says "No person shall, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Treasury, melt down or break up any metal coin which is for the time being current in the United Kingdom or which, having been current there, has at any time after 16th May 1969 ceased to be so."

however this doesn't typically apply to the copper coins, which is why penny squashers are allowed to remain.

I hope this clarrifies things for those that may be worried

[Frosterz22.]

it's not recirculating the currency, and i don't understand what you mean by crown

[sgbotsford]

Casting resin is not very hard. Even the resins used with fiberglass aren't very hard, they often have silicon powder added to reduce abrasion. This can work as a panel that you don't walk on. Could work on a coffee table. Not suitable for a kitchen counter.

Minor scratches can be buffed out. Read up on renewing acrylic shower doors -- and note that acrylic is harder than casting resin.

[MattS429]

'Casting resin' is a general term. Casting resins could be polyester, epoxy, polyurethane or something else. This is an 'epoxy' resin and is very tough, remember factory floors are very often coated in epoxy resin! GlassCast is considerably harder than the acrylic gelcoats used on composite sanitarywear (shower trays, baths etc.) and holds up to wear-and-tear considerably better.

[JW35]

The first time I saw this technique was a coffee shop that use coffee beans in it's counter top. Thanks for showing me how.

[Wally-TonyaC]

Sure, it looks great once completed. But I've seen too many restaurant table tops with a similar coat, with horrible wear on them. And those are table tops, not floors. After the wear sets in, the look would drive me crazy. Can you imagine what pets would do to a floor like this?!?!

[WyckedStudios]

Most of the times when ppl did this prior to the 90's, they used no-mix polyurethane (like Verathane brand). Two part epoxy is much, much more durable. I'm sure it'd get some wera and tear on a floor, but its fine for seats and table/countertops.

[VancoD]

Yeah - these looks cool as projects, but if it's in a room that sees anything other than feet in socks I can't imagine it staying nice for long, or at least becoming something of a maintenance sink-hole.....

[Ghostrider513]

Instead of casting resin, use acrylic for hardwood floors. Much harder and handles high traffic easily. Cheaper too.

[dbusuioc1]

G/H - any brand recommendation? What would you use? Thanks.

[dbusuioc1]

G/R not G/H... no coffee yet.

[LesleyK11]

wow thats amazing

[NickD155]

Do you have an estimate of the price per sqm?

[rjowen]

It takes ~275 US pennies to cover 1 sq ft which is ~ 2955 pennies/sqm.

US pennies being minted today weigh 3.11 grams which is ~9.2 kg/sqm