House Proud: A Penny For Her Thoughts, Sun Media, March 22-24

Our guest bedroom has a hardwood floor with an odd little corner that was covered with some very old-school stick-on tiles. It was a low priority on the long list of things we wanted to update but once the tiles started coming up, it was decision time. More hardwood would butt new against old. Ceramic tile just seemed out of place and more stick-on tiles would be another temporary solution. Then it came to me. At about 6 square feet it was the perfect place to try the penny idea I got from The Standard Hotel in New York City.

Several YouTube videos show how to do it. I also consulted Ehow.com and other websites to find a consensus on method. My rough calculation of 300 pennies per square foot showed I needed 1800 or so. I sorted thousands donated by my Mom and set aside the oldest, the corroded, and those with globs of goop stuck on them. I visited a stained glass and mosaic shop to pick up some fiberglass mesh with an adhesive side and the store owner suggested I save money by using Mac-Tac instead. After repairing gaps in the subfloor, I would place the pennies in perfect rows on cut Mac-Tac, turn them over onto adhesive I would have troweled onto the floor and press down. Brilliant.

Only it wasn’t brilliant. When the time came, the Mac-Tac proved too flimsy for the job and the pennies didn’t make it from the work surface to the floor. I ended up placing every penny individually which is even less fun than it sounds. It took about 4 hours straight. Unlike some penny floors I’ve seen, my pennies touch on all sides because I’d rather see copper than grout.

triangle shaped floor of pennies

My concern that some pennies wouldn’t stay in place proved unfounded. The premixed adhesive I used is so strong that even Scrooge couldn’t pry those coins loose. I also chose premixed floor patch and grout because my DIY project philosophy is “easy is always better”. Pennies were placed in tight rows in a random pattern without a thought to whether they were shiny, dull, face up or down or what year went where and I’m happy with the results. It’s a true mosaic.

After grouting with a camel-toned grout and another night of drying, I followed with a tough top-coat that did require a bit of mixing. But it’s a thick, durable finish and it ensures the flooring will last long after the penny has gone the way of the paper dollar bill.

On the upside, a copper floor would cost a lot more than $3 per square foot (not counting materials) so it’s an economical way to achieve a lux look. It’s interesting and unusual. And in the case of our guest room it’s also unexpected.

On a difficulty scale I’d rate it an 8 and that’s mostly because crouching on a floor is one of my least favourite things to do after killing spiders and replacing my own windshield wipers. The Mac-Tac failure made the penny-laying step fairly tedious. Also, grout didn’t stick where I allowed adhesive to rise up between pennies so a forensic investigator would find a few white spots. The imperfections don’t bother me but they might get on the nerves of others. As with any project I’ve taken on in our home I’m glad I did it. But once truly is enough.

The penny floor used up about half of my available cents and the rest went to Habitat for Humanity, one of many charities holding penny drives. The new floor makes me smile at the thought of children of the future who might one day live in this home, gaze upon its shininess and all of those small copper discs and ask, ‘Mom, what are those?”