Hello AT,
I'm in the process of re-doing my teeny tiny bathroom and have been thinking about using smooth black river rocks/ stones as the floor instead of tiles. Hoping all the AT'ers can advise me on where to purchase the stones, how to install and especially how easy/difficult it would be to keep clean. Anyone have thoughts on the tiles vs. the
loose stones?
Thanks! RL
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Whichever feels best on the soles of your bare feet. Both will break any glass/ceramic that is dropped on them.
view Lady J's profile
jamaligarden.com sells river stone. i believe they have a few different colors to choose from. if you're in NYC they're in the floral market on 28th at 7th ave. also in the floral market is b. j. floral supplies on 28th closer to 6th ave. they've got stone as well. you can probably work some bulk deal with them.
view homo_wner's profile
If you're gonna do it, just bite the bullet and buy the pre-made sheets of stones sold by tile retailers. You will save HOURS of time. And they have already been preselected to give a fairly even surface.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
Check out IslandStone.com
They make river pebbles on a web backing that can be installed like tile.
Will probably give you a better finished product than installing individual pebbles.
view David n DC's profile
It is a great look. I think p2's advice is on the mark.
view Mason's profile
We used the 12" by 12" sheets of river rock in our bathroom, although they were used as an accent band on the wall along with slate tile. The pebbles look great and on the walls of the shower have stood up well, two years after install. They need sealing. Installation was somewhat labor intensive. We were contemplating doing the floors with the pebble tile but were concerned about difficulty in cleaning and since we were expecting our first child we thought ahead to the years of toilet training. We paid about $25/square foot and bought a local tile place in PA. Good luck!
view reef's profile
You don't have to install one by one. You can buy mesh mounted stones in sheets from a tile supplier. This will save you tons of time, the result will be even, clean. You'll be grouting just the same as you would tiles, so maintenance is nothing special.
view vick's profile
i'd definitely consider any effect on resale value the stones would make. it's a trend, and what do trends do? ;) i'd stick with tile - dark stones could darken the tiny bathroom, be a pain to clean, effect resale, etc. tiles, simple nice tiles, have no downside :)
view kdkaboom's profile
Off topic, sorta:
reef, how do you keep your shower clean? We have a travertine (honed) shower with slate accents and floor. We have a real problem with soap scum/hard water deposits on the slate floor. The only way I've found to remove them is with hardcore chemicals followed by re-sealing. Any advice?
view Jon_B's profile
Tile is boring. Go with the stones, it's a gorgeous look.
view Monkeyme's profile
I once did a kitchen backsplash for a client using river rock that comes in bags from the craft store. It turned out AWESOME, but it was mucho labor intensive. It's a much more dimensional look and feel than using the sheets of rock that are sold for tile.
I also did our shower floor and a lot of a wall using bagged glass globs from the craft store (the bathroom I'm referring to was featured here during bathrooms month). Again, super labor intensive but super cool looking. It feels great on the feet and is virtually slip-proof. Overall, the floor is working out great, but the glass globs probably differ from rock in that they are relatively even in thickness.
When my shower floor is due for a deep cleaning, I spray it down with grout cleaner and go over everything with a scrub brush, so it's slightly more work than just mopping, but not enough to cause me any pain. I would imagine a floor in a non-wet area would require less maintenance.
Whatever you choose, I'd make up a sample board first to be sure that you are going to like the finished product once it's grouted. There is definitely an art to setting plain old river rock and getting it to look nice without too much blank space. One of the biggest mistakes I've seen with installed rock tile of any variety is leaving too much grout in the joints with not enough rock showing.
view splatgirl's profile
http://www.flickr.com/photos/splatgirl/sets/185957/
scroll down. they're toward the end.
view splatgirl's profile
Ann Sacks makes something like this that comes on mesh sheets. It is most likely more expensive that the DIY version but the mesh makes it easy to install and helps it adhere.
http://www.annsacks.com/onlinecatalog/program.jsp?cat=272104&coll=278904&prg=1040204
view Laura's profile
hakatai also sells these river rocks on a mesh backing for tiling - much much much cheaper than ann sacks.
view sassy's profile
I bought a whole bunch of the pebble tiles from Zation stone on clearance. They are the 12 x 12 on mesh. I'm just about ready to start tiling.
I would go with the mesh tiles instead of messing with the individual stones. The one problem I could see with laying individual stones in the mud is that your fingers will start to get gooped up and after a while the stones may get really covered in the thinset leading to a huge scrubbing project. And that would be before you grout. The grouting is not going to be easy. Those things will eat up a lot of grout.
I am also going to go with any grout other than white because of the large gaps.
Good luck with your project.
I used to think about resale value and now just kind of take the "who cares" attitude. As long as it is tasteful, simple and complemented with good fixtures it's nothing that can't be enjoyed by another owner or easily replaced by another owner.
view art's profile
I've used www.coverallstone.com for several projects.
Mesh-mounted river rock definitely is easier to install than loose pebbles. The only challenge is monitoring spacing between the sheets so you can't see the outlines of the sheets. The Coverall Stone products and most others are mounted on sheets that can be arranged in an interlocking pattern to reduce the probability of ending up with a patchwork look.
view WendyInIndy's profile
while i enjoy innovative hard surfaces in bathrooms, number one consideration should always be safety ... pebbles, rocks, etc are damn slipper. ya, i know, your not going to fall or have a mat ...
view bud smith's profile
a friend did this a few years ago, in her small bathroom and shower... it looks great.
she found a supplier for the mesh backed sheets (for about 1/3 home expo's price) on ebay.
it does need to be sealed every year, but is not slippery.
good luck.
view momma's profile
check out costco.com and search "tiles"
its seems to be a pretty good selection overall and reasonable
prices......one indonesian beach stone mesh backed was
priced 10 sq feet at $79.99
the best part is i see that you can email for samples on some
foe example the one above.
view jacq's profile
wow, splatgirl, congratulations on your amazing house. I like how you made the glass tiles a sort of Japanese-tattoo design, and that you have them flowing up from floor to wall.
view Shannon's profile
i love the rocks in the bathroom idea. i have seen this application and im always dissapointed by the amount of grout that sits between the rocks. perhaps if its done one rock at a time, the result would look better. more work of course, but somehow the tighter rock pattern would be much more flattering.
view itsthehouseshow's profile
the thing about the stones is, in my experience, it is hard to clean if they are very uneven and also sometimes a few stones will become loose and come out in addition to the grout issue mentioned by some people--this just in my experience. i plan on having tile or wood floors in my new bathroom.
view wwoolsey's profile
Jon_B-
We had the slate sealed with a natural look sealer (the brand was Aqua Mix) and when it's time to clean we, okay the husband, uses concentrated "Stone Cleaner" by "Aqua Mix". It works a treat! We've not had to reseal in the two yaers we've had the slate. Good luck.
view reef's profile
Oh, a few people have mentioned that the stones can be slippy and may come loose. We only have the stones on vertical surfaces so I can't really say from experience but I would think with the large amount of grout in between the stones they wouldn't be slippy. We've had no issues with stones coming loose either. Our tiler was great so I wonder if the stones loosening depend upon how skilled the installer is?
view reef's profile
I have a large collection of foreign coins accumulated over years of travel, and would dearly love to use them in my kitchen or bathroom -- perhaps in the floor, but perhaps set into a countertop or backsplash. Has anyone tried this? any suggestions?
view Deborah's profile
Deborah,
Check out Cheng's concrete website, http://www.concreteexchange.com/?referrer=Google&gclid=CNyP9eyM-I0CFRjBWAodpknXLg
You might find some information on setting objects such as coins into poured concrete.
view art's profile
Sassy mentioned that Hakatai sells the river rocks, I ordered a sample from them as a contender for my kitchen backsplash and though I did not use them, they were really lovely (I went with an irridescent glass tile instead). Also, like many places Hakatai tiles are half off to the trade so if you can get someone to order them for you (my contractor did), obviously they are much cheaper. My tiles went from $16 per square foot to $8.
view CyNyC's profile
These type of pebble tile is becomming very popular. I have them on my kitchen backsplash and in my shower pan.
Try getting them here: Pebble Tile
I have also ordered from Natural Pebble Tile and love both of these products!
Hope this helps!
view asdf3001's profile