apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm glad to see this post... I actually collected my own smooth pebbles last year from a stream while camping, though I never did anything with them. My intention was to make a table runner! I was thinking of accomplishing that by using the mesh that is used on the back of mosaic tile sections to keep them held together. I suppose to make a bath mat you could do something similar and then add rubber strips to keep it from sliding.

i think a thick rubber mat, with no bevel and some epoxy would do wonders. i would say getting polished stones would be the best. or polish them yourself. i have always wanted to try this. its supposed to be great for the circulation of your feet.

I'll be half-useful and say that I remember coming across a how-to for this exact thing somewhere online in the past few years. I can't remember where, but it does exist. Maybe Craftster? Or a blog? I know I've seen it!

Get some 12" square pebble stone tile grids on eBay and tape them together?

There is a tutorial on this at craftster:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=37218.0

I've got one of those black pebble mats in my bathroom. I like it...morning foot massage, but I've got 3 caveats:

1) It's a bear to keep clean. Stuff gets down between the stones and the backing tends to hold onto it. After a week or two, it starts to look grungy. Which leads to:

2) It's pretty heavy, being, you know, rock and all. Don't make one bigger than you can comfortably lift.

3) My 6 year old definitely doesn't like it. It would seem the pebbles aren't a comfortable size for little feet.

P.S. - The one I have has a backing sorta like a very thick landscape mat. Tough and lets water evaporate. I think making it with a rubber backing would cause a mold/mildew issue.

slightly soapy water, bare feet and polished stone! WOOHOO! Why didn't anyone think of that!

I think this is a matter of 'how much is your time worth?' - for $40, I'd just buy one. I have better stuff to do than glue rocks to a rubber mat.

I have to agree with voodoodle...
With the cost of gas for trips to get the items, time spent laying out the rocks, and trial and error of getting the whole thing to work, it seems like more than $40 worth of time.

Yay, voodoodle, third that.

I think these are cool, but I don't get them -- what is the benefit? The water drains onto the mat I guess?

I liked this too until I saw it in person. It weighs a ton, and the stones are placed pretty far apart so you see the unsightly mat underneath. I was underwhelmed.

For a backing... go to linens and things or bed and bath ..or even the supermarket for... the rubber shelf liners or those non stick pads that go under area rugs. You know which I speak of.. rubber, anti slip but kind of foamy.

Then hot glue the rocks on it.

Wala...
River rocks also do very nicely as tabletops, but its good to either cover with glass or pour a heavy caot of poly inbetween the cracks.

I agree with mamnyc. I saw them the other day at CB2 and my only thought was "neat concept," but they don't look very nice. You'd need to be sure to have a backing that either compliments or blends in with the rocks. The rocks would need to be placed very strategically to avoid big unsightly gaps.

Or you get tiny little sharp ones and recreate your day at the shore and/or first visit to Pinkberry.

I've been thinking about this for a while also. There are some pretty wicked industrial strength adhesives at the hardware store that will easily hold stones onto a rubber mat or what have you.
On the other hand, a more attractive solution would be to make a shallow box/tray (with edges a little over half the height of your pebbles) out of a durable hardwood, then fill a little over halfway with black grout to hold the layer of stones in(covering a little over half of the rocks). Yes, it'd be heavy, but you'd be able to clean it in the same fashion as your bathroom tile.

That is, covering a little over half of EACH rock (the bottom half, since it would be sitting in the grout).

i think it would be a better look if the whole floor was pebbles..
this seems sort of like having a tile rug on a wood floor.

If you want a mat that won't get moldy and is easy to clean, make a cement or epoxy mold: build a 1" deep box as big as you want the mat to be, put a layer of sand in the bottom, pack in your pebbles, then pour epoxy or cement over it. Let it dry, then flip it over, pull off the wood mold, and dust off the sand. No cracks between the rocks, and nothing to mildew! Just add some stick-on rubber treads or non-slip material to the bottom so it doesn't scratch your floors. Almost every mosaic/tile craft book has this as a project if you want more details and pictures.

You could try this method that was posted on ATLA awhile back.