Penny-pinching? No, our coin floor is a real luxury...
THRIFTY Matt Giles has created a kitchen floor out of one pence pieces – and he reckons it was worth every penny.
Matt, 43, stuck down more than 27,000 coppers to get his dream look.
He took just six weeks to complete his masterpiece after visiting banks across the neighbourhood to change his money into pennies. The internet technology worker spent £270 on the floor after being inspired by a picture online.
Matt and his partner Amy, who have lived in their semi-detached house in Telford, Shropshire, for 10 years, had earlier tried a linoleum floor but quickly decided they did not like it. Father-of-two Matt said: “We’d had a lino floor put down just a few days before but it marked really easily and we weren’t happy with it. The company gave us a refund and after deciding we didn’t want tiles, carpet or laminate, we looked into alternative options.
“It was Amy who came up with the idea. Apparently it’s really popular in the US. We completed the job over six weeks but we probably spent about 200 hours on it in total.”
The couple visited banks and a post office to exchange their notes for bags of pennies and got to work straight away. They even invited friends over to help lay the coins.
Matt started off by using a selflevelling compound back in October last year before laying the pennies one by one. He then poured on grout and finished it off with epoxy resin, which prevents the coins from discolouring in sunlight.
Matt said: “The resin gives it a really smooth, glass finish. It’s actually a lot warmer than ceramic tiles, too, which we didn’t expect.”
Amy, 36, who also works in IT, said: “I saw it on the internet on the Friday and we started it the next day. We absolutely love it.”