tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
"tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?," in the Ceramic and Stone Q&A forum, begins: "hello. i'm building a bar in the lower level of my tri-level home. i ripped up the carpet, and underneath ..."
tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
hello. i'm building a bar in the lower level of my tri-level home. i ripped up the carpet, and underneath is smooth concrete floor. what i'm wanting to achieve is a look of album covers tiled over the entire floor. i have NO idea if this is possible, or what the best/cheapest way is to do it.
my initial thought is to etch the floor, glue the album covers to the concrete, and then pour an epoxy coat over top of the album covers. i do not know if the epoxy would adhere well to the cardboard album covers, and i do not know what the longevity of the epoxy on the floor would be, and also epoxy is very expensive.
i also had a thought of just covering the album covers with plexiglass, but this would be expensive as well i would think, and i would also have tiny cracks in the seams of plexi that would beg for dirt, and liquid to fall into them, and ruin the album covers.
any ideas or advice would be great!
thanks for the space,
Re: tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
How about custom made ceramic tiles of album covers?? You got a few extra jillion dollars laying around don't you? Actually, I like the idea. I'm not sure how one would accomplish it though.
Re: tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
I would think that one would need to use the epoxy first and place the covers into the wet epoxy then goe over that with another layer, kinda like they do on restaurant table tops.
Re: tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
I'd have copies of the covers made and put them into the epoxy. With everything going digital those covers maybe worth some serious dinero very shortly.
Re: tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
Seems to me that the album covers would become unstable with the introduction of any liquid type product, epoxy, acrylic or anything else. Album covers are just thin cardboard with a picture laminated to it.
Re: tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
thanks for the input guys.
i'm really wanting to do this, and do it with the original album covers, if for no other reason than nostalgia, and "go big or go home".
those of you that think the covers wouldn't hold up to the epoxy, how do you feel about laminating the album cover first? would that "air tight" layer of plastic around the album cover make it withstand the epoxy better?
couldn't i just take a piece of plywood, and lay a few spare album covers on it, and epoxy that, and see how the album covers react to the epoxy as a sort of test, or is the general consensus here that the reaction would be more of over a longer period of time?
i've had a few people tell me that if i do it, instead of butting the covers up to one another, i should leave a tiny amount of space between each cover, so that when i pour the epoxy it would kind of "seep in" between the covers, and add more stability. any thoughts on that?
anyone know if they sell a clear plexiglass/acrilic tile? if so, would it be better to just use that over top the covers, and grout or caulk between the plexiglass tiles, and then epoxy overtop of that?
thanks again for all the input/help/advice-
i just really want to bring my "vision" into fruition, and hope for someone to come along with that idea that makes me smack myself in the forehead and say, "duh!"
Re: tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
I have done this on a bar top for a friend, and I think Barry said it first. You will need to use tabletop resin, which is an A/B epoxy used for bar tops. It could get expensive depending on the size of the area.
You would have to clean and shopvac the concrete very well. Then you need to pour the resin on the floor, and start placing the album covers into the resin, then do another light coating on top while it is still wet. You will need a friend to help and good rubber gloves. And make sure there is no air trapped under or in the covers to avoid future breakage.
There will be no problem adhering to the album covers.
This is used over paper money, pictures, coins etc all the time.
Steve
Re: tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
Any plastic would scratch terrible in very short time.
I would think the issue with the cardboard would be more one of it not having enough tensile strnetgh to take foot traffic and the torsion it would cause.
I can't remember who it was, and it wouldn't be cheap, but there is a vinyl manufacturer who was able to do what you are talking about. I know they used to be able to use fabric,r wall coverings and virtually any other flat material to make tiles. I'll rack my brain for a while and try to remember who it is (was?).
You say this is the lower level. I presume the concrete is below grade level. I would suggest some moisture testing before considering any type of non-breathing floor, i.e. an epoxy or urethane coating or a vinyl of any kind. You would need to have someone come in who does this type of work- it is not a DIY project.
Re: tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
Sorry you had to wait for a reply, Brian. As a guest, your messages have to be approved before they show. I think none of the staff were around since you posted this nearly 3 hours ago. I just woke up and saw it. If you register a free account here, your posts will appear as soon as you submit them (unless you use a link or utter one of the spam terms about a little blue pill or those things that play music in your ears ).
If you are going the hippie route, where you use more commonly available materials to develop your own "system", then yes, I would suggest you do some testing and experimenting first. Some of our members have already suggested a couple of ways and you have some decent ideas of your own. You might enjoy a visit to some local taverns to chat with the owners who might have used various methods of embedding coins and other memorabilia in their bartops and counters.
A small space between covers might not be a bad idea to allow for the swelling that might occur when the cardboard is subjected to the liquid acrylic or whatever material you use. However, my own "design sense" would be to not cover every square inch of the floor with album covers. Use them sparingly and you will find that covers laid sporadically and at all orientations (so you don't have to contort yourself to look at all the covers from where you are standing) will have a more dramatic and interesting appearance. Few people actually notice a floor, but a design element place in strategic locations will be far less "busy" and much more interesting for those walking on your floors.
Keep us posted. If you register, you can also show us some pictures of some of these albums - let us relive some of our own memories. In any case, thanks for bringing this interesting topic to us.
Re: tiling a concrete floor with old album covers. possible?
rusty baker said
I have seen album covers used as wall paper. I just can't see them lasting on the floor, no matter how they are installed.
what i don't understand about this, and please understand, i'm not trying to be argumentative, but just trying to understand the issues, is if it's coated in epoxy, what is the issue with the cardboard "lasting"?
i know people epoxy coat garage floors for example, and put those flakes in with the epoxy, or as before mentioned, coins, bottlecaps, etc. on bar tops, and once a decent thickness of epoxy is overtop of it, it seems to me that whatever is underneath the epoxy, wether it be album covers, coins, stickers, paint, etc. that it should be fine, because you're not walking on top of the album covers, coins, etc. but on top of the epoxy.
Actually, I like the idea. I'm not sure how one would accomplish it though.
There are glass products for flooring that you could use. Here's one: 
In any case, thanks for bringing this interesting topic to us.
