You are considering giving your house a well deserved facelift. This is the time when you got to part with a lot of hard earned cash. Right? Wrong! You may save your dollar and spend your dime if you will spend some time.
Tiles are the way a floor gets its ball gown. The Cinderella must spend the time at the ball and who is the fairy godmother who helps things along? You!
Remember the time when your grandpa laid the path to your house with cobble stones? It turned the entire fronting into something from out of a picture book. Well you could do the same with your flouring.
The answer is the river rock tile. This is the simplest thing which could turn the house into another picture book effort. Give it a try.
First you should plan the whole thing down to the smallest detail.
- Get your pebbles
- Make the tiles
- Lay the tiles
The fly in the ointment is of course getting your hands on the pebbles. There are many streams in our locality and some of us are located literally next to the river. So, you are almost home if you would do one thing. Allocate some time to getting those pebbles.
The thing you have to remember is that the pebbles should not be too big. They must be a size too big to bite and a size too small to be a handful. Try and get those which are flat because they are easier to work with.
The colors do not matter unless you are planning to match them up with the interiors of the house. Mainly choose all those which have the same color pattern. The colors may vary from off white to bright reddish brown, or they may be shades of dull blue to black.
Making your own river rock tile is easy. You start off with some chicken wire or any workable wire mesh. This is to seat the tiles when the mortar is setting. Place your mortar mould on the floor and mark out the edges. (A mortar mould is nothing but the steel plates which is approximately 20cm x 20 cm. It is shaped like an open box and the height of the box is about 6cm to 10cm).
Now what you want to do is to put all the pebbles on the floor which has been marked out by the outlines of the mortar box. Within each box, assign a number of pebbles which are matching each other. Now your tiles are ready to be laid. Put some sand mixed with sawdust on the floor for a fixed height of 2cm. Put your tiles in the sand and press them down. Use some wriggling movement to make sure the river rock or pebbles are exposed on the other side. Then scatter some packing case foam or cotton waste over the entire assembly. Clean the rocks. Put in the mortar and even out these spaces between the rocks with a trowel. Remember to wipe out the rocks before the cement hardens and discolors the rock or pebble.
River rock tile makes a very compatible work material because it is cheap. It is available locally in most places. It only takessome time to make the tiles yourself. The colors are splendid and you have redecorated your floor with the latest kinds of designs which is sure to become the envy of the neighborhood.Pebble tiles are having an uneven appearance and will have protrusions here and there. But it will only add to the beauty and liven up the room in which it is laid.
