We used two part clear epoxy and a bunch of coins to make a penny countertop that has held up remarkably well under all kinds of abuse, and never fails to stop new visitors in their tracks.
Replace a boring surface with a cool, durable, and cheap new countertop.
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We have included the two page printable guide we handed out at the Bay Area Maker Faire 2012.
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We bought some “mold release” spray which I sprayed onto the exposed part of the foil tape before pouring. This turned out to be doubly bad. Not only did the tape not release well from the Epoxy, the mold release contributed to the tape not sealing well against the edge of the old counter material in some places and the epoxy leaking through and either causing bulges in the tape or drips onto the appliances/drawers below (luckily the latter were easy to remove.)
I ended up using a knife to trim the tape off flush, then used a drum sander to remove the bulges and painted the edge black. Then masked the floor and cabinets with paper and let the second coat run over the edge so it’s seamless and shiny.
Next time, I would do it by picking an edge I wanted to be there permanently and applying it first, making sure it left an appropriate lip. Then I would do multiple layers with the goal of ending flush with the trim.
We bought ours at Lowe’s. By the gallon I think it was around $60. A quart was like $48, so when we needed more, we bought another gallon. It’s not cheap, but for the counter at least, it worked out to $7.50/sf including the pennies which is less than half of the $17/sf it would have cost for Lowe’s to install a cheap laminate counter top in its place, and almost 1/10th of what granite or quartz would have cost.
Actually, I did intent to cover the foil with copper flashing tape for the second coat. But once I got the copper and held it up there, I realized that it sort of detracted from the pennies. That’s why I ended up painting it, the contrast of the black edge really made the pennies shine.
That would be cool! I think it would be best done by building one of those sorting machines that could read the coloring and construct the image for you.
You don’t want to mix more than 1qt at a time really. The Epoxy cures somewhat as an exothermic reaction. The more you mix at once, the more heat it will generate and the shorter work time you will have. So the instructions say not to use larger batches unless you’re really experienced. That’s also why you don’t want to do overly deep pours in one shot.
As long as you don’t let dirt or dust come in contract with it between pours, there is no problem seaming multiple pours together. (Don’t do it while doing construction in another room.) The instructions recommend wiping it off with Acetone or similar solvent to be sure no oils or anything will interfere with adhesion.
Sorry for the slow response. I would recommend going with something a little harder than we used – like the system 3 stuff, and I would *definitely* make sure you put down the marine varnish. It smells nasty, but it renders it nearly immune to solvent damage, and makes it much more rigid than just the epoxy. We lived with ours for four years, and left it in place when we moved. If was good enough condition that the property owner left it in place, and the new owners still adore it. We have no kids, but we cook and we bake extensively, and it survived many, many parties and baking sessions with flying colors.
Warm items are okay, hot items are a definite bad idea. We worked around it by keeping a felt bottomed granite sink cut out on part of the counter. The felt kept the granite from scratching the surface, and was the perfect surface for hot stuff – we even use them to cool cakes and brittles.
One of the best things about this in terms of durability is that it is infinitely patchable. If it gets scratched up, all you have to do is sand it smooth and put down a new skim coat and it is as good as new – the epoxy fills the scratches in perfectly.
Agreed. We have switched over to the System III line ( we still aren’t doing a tremendous amount of this, and the other commercial resins are rather expensive to experiment with ).
It’s a bit harder to work with – more prone to micro bubbles, but the final outcome is more than worth it.
I think they said $77 worth of pennies…7,700 pennies
You would need to order a specific floor grade resin to do that. None of the “bar top” type resins will hold up under foot traffic.
http://keytoflow.blogspot.com/2011/07/penny-floors.html
The mix is self leveling. As long as you don’t disturb it once it starts to thicken ( 30-40 minutes ), it will set smooth and level.
I wish someone would answer your question cause thats exactly what I was thinking too..
Sorry, I missed the original post. Ours was about 12 feet long and 3.5feet wide. Coat was probably 1/8″ above the top of the pennies.
Weight wasn’t a big concern for us. Solid surface ( granite/marble ) counters will generally be a lot heavier than anything you are likely to coat with Resin. If you have a properly constructed base, then an extra few hundred pounds is going to be trivial.
Do NOT use MDF in your kitchen unless you completely seal all 4 surfaces, not just the top. If you have to replace the base substrate, I would recommend a good .75″ sealed plywood base.
looks good
Ours turned out really good. We had a difficult design as we were installing the counter-top on some hand-build cabinetry for a kegerator (specifically the hole for the tap). We decided to use wood glue to fix doll-house baseboards to the edges and around the hole.
This created a lip of about 1/8 inch which was perfect for holding in the initial two coats. We let our final coat spill over the edges so that we had a rounded boarder. Since we spray painted the entire counter black before applying the pennies… it left a really clean looking black boarder on the counter. We’re kind of obsessed.
Thanks for posting this!
How do I find your two page instruction to download?
Can I use something other than pennies as the base?
A lot of good info here, thank you for sharing! I am wanting to do my kitchen counter tops the same way but with shells, sand, sand dollars, sea fans, etc.. I’m a little nervous because we are totally remodeling my kitchen, we bought new cabinets & I couldn’t find a counter top that I liked. Our concerns are what to do with sides, should we use a wood trim?? and I need to know what the best epoxy product to buy, I don’t care if its more money. Also guess we should use a propane torch, right? How do I keep things from moving around when I pour the epoxy in? I thought about putting one coat in then putting the stuff in but I don’t know how that would work with sand. I wanted a sink that fits under but with making the holes & all maybe we should get the other type that sits on top of the counter??? what do you think? appreciate any additional advice you could give us. you don’t live anywhere near Tampa do you :) ? Thanks again! Kim
Do you have suggestions for specific brands of epoxy for this project? I’m feeling overwhelmed with making sure I’m using the correct product!
You can use pennies for the edge as they create a ‘pencil edge’ but would require being clipped to not create the gap on the bottom edge….if you use the older pennies you can clip them in half an then polish them with various courses of grinder, the resin would stay put by using a painters tape and folding up slightly from the bottom endge until its folded over the entired edge…the same as you would do to make a 3/4″ into a 2 1/4″ for detailed edges and lightweight marble, onyx
Would this on the kitchen counters hold up to the heat? I’m concerned that someone will put a hot pan from the stove to the counter top and damage it. I love this look but need to be practical, too. Will definitely do a back splash with pennies.
1. Re counter top surrounding edge for under mount white sink: would you use gorilla glue adhesive to hold the pennies on the edge before applying resin, or another adhesive?
22. Re using painters tape to “hold resin” when letting it drip down the sides, is that strong enough to stop the resin and will it peel off the underside once dried, or maybe just let it drip all the way down and trim with a razor blade before completely dry?
3. Also, I covered a 60″ round table with pennies 12 years ago, heads, tails, heads, tails, etc. Covered with varathane, a type of polyeurathane (pardon my spelling), many coats. Can I resin over this surface now?
4. Re floor: Do you recommend a specific brand of resin for floor use, especially with large dogs running around?
5. Also, I’m concerned about wear and tear on the counter once complete. Accidental cut marks, heat from pots and pans when cooking, etc. Suggestions?
Thank you so much!
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Thanks to your penny counter top instructions we decided to do something similar except with shells. we built our countertops then painted the plywood top with paint & a paint brush then found some spray paint with little chunks in it that looks like sand, everyone that sees it thinks we put sand in it. we was very nervous doing this because the epoxy was very expensive but much cheaper than a new counter top. we are very pleased, I think they look awesome. we just need to put up our backsplash to finish our kitchen. if you have any questions about trying this yourself you can email us. [email protected]
pics
how much $ are the pennies? (joke)
One square ft. of surface does not hold 288 pennies. A penny has a diameter of three quarters of an inch. Therefore a square ft -144 inches /.75= 192=$1.92.
12″/.75=16. 16×16=$2.56
That’s assuming they’re arranged in a square grid, but they’re arranged in a triangle grid which fits many more. This tool will calculate it for you. It actually shows 270, but I included the partial pennies, half on one side, half on the other equals one more, etc. http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/circles-within-rectangle-d_1905.html
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