Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Shattered Mirror Floor

"Broken glass floor - great for a bathroom floor or countertop. Just lay broken mirrors on the floor and top with polyurethane" 


I don't even know where to start with this one. That's not what this is an image of. The image quality makes me believe it came from a magazine of sorts, but I'm having a hard time finding the source. My first thought when seeing this image is that it was an artsy spread of some sort in a magazine, not some great DIY home design project.

I'd like to point out there is no sealant or polyurethane in that photo, it's just broken mirrors. Also, as someone who has done a lot of refinishing including the floors of my house, polyurethane is an extremely thin sealant - I think what the creator was the pin was thinking more of would be an epoxy resin, which on the floors wouldn't work easily, takes days to set up, and bubbles like crazy unless it's set just so or with a heat source. 

So yeah, this isn't even doable if you ask me, at least not as a DIY home project. 

30 comments:

  1. May I say, I actually grew up in a rented house that had two broken mirror walls. The previous owner or tenant set shards of broken mirrors in the plaster and just let it set. My mom needed the house b/c it was cheap, but was terrified b/c my sister was a toddler and holding on walls to walk around. We had to block the walls with furniture.

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  2. Oh man at first I thought you mean the faux broken mirrors (I guess it would be a more marble effect really) which we had in our living room (to help off set all the wood paneling) but I can't even imagine who thought setting broken glass into plaster was a good idea!

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  3. I saw this on pinterest and also noticed that there is no sealant of any kind over the glass. Besides, what kind of crazy person would do that to a floor even if it was possible? I can't imagine how much money one would lose in resale. I've done the broken mirror trick on a tray with epoxy. It had kind of a mosaic look. But it DID have a lot of bubbles--which was kinda cool for a tray.

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    1. Anonymous29/4/22

      I believe there is a resin encasing the mirror shards.


      Most likely poured over slowly
      In one litre or less batches untill all glass was submerged then flood leveled with the same resin mixed with styrene to lower the viscosity to that of water.


      This isnt hard to do at all.

      This is th reason that the photograph is lit from behind the camera with a singular bery bright light source. Its the only way to create the iusion that there is just broken glass on the floor.


      Clear resin lit from any other angle would be easy to see the surface of from the teflection of the surroundings showing on the flat surface OVER TOP of the reglections in tne mirror

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  4. Anonymous9/2/14

    Might be interesting to do as a bar top though. Bar top epoxy can be applied at a much greater thickness, thus preventing bleeding to death accidentally. But without a really long pole to stick a heat gun on, you'd end up with a very bubbly floor with this method.

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    1. Anonymous15/7/15

      Problem with that is the amount of reflected light coming from the bar top would interfere with the guest experience greatly.

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    2. They actually knew of a Broken mirrored covered Bar Top just as you speak at a "contemporary " Gay Bar in the Lower West Side of Manhattan in the late 90's it was a Bar within a Bigger Bar and was on the Third Floor..they lit it from the bottom with blue and kept the room cocktail bar dark and it looked AMAZING!!

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  5. Anonymous17/7/14

    So is this possible to do? I mean yes it may take a long time to set up and such but can it be done? I want to try this but not with broken mirror. I want to try it over thin log slices layed out.

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  6. Anonymous8/10/14

    I imagine a similar effect could be done the way people inlay glass tiling but it would utilize smaller pieces.

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  7. Anonymous6/1/15

    Yes this can be done... and really done well. I doubt putting mirrors on a floor is a good idea... unless you are fond of looking at your own... yanno... or sharing it with others.
    But on a table or bar top.. it would be awesome...a lot of work getting the epoxy right.... I would suggest doing it in layer to avoid bubbling... but there is no reason why this isn't a doable project.
    Just not on the floor! lol

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    Replies
    1. Hahaha! Never thought of the “yanno”!

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  8. Talk about a lot of years of bad luck..........lol

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  9. Anonymous10/2/15

    Seconded.. As I have been working with glass in the last 10 years, this is not a doable project. Although, you can do awesome tabletops with a 3-layered laminated glass, where the middle layer glass heat-tempered is. Then you punch lightly with a hammer on the side of the middle layer and it breaks. The layers laminated on top and bottom keep the glass together. The effect is quite marvellous.
    I have a coffee table at home like that.

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    Replies
    1. oh that sounds neat! Do you have any photos to share?

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  10. Anonymous19/9/15

    I think you could probably do this but as a tiled mosaic and would require extreme caution due to the sharpness of the glass. I probably would not use large pieces in fear of having them crack from walking on them. Broken glass under bare feet doesn't seem like the best of ideas. Lighting would be fine if one used a dipped bulb of sorts. As for women living in that house, opt for wearing pants unless you like your hooha reflected off the floor.

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  11. Anonymous17/12/15

    Where's the end resuls ?

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  12. Anonymous28/12/15

    Is nobody superstitious anymore? First, I would never go in a room/ house with broker mirror's on the floor. Second, its ugly and I only commented to make it 14 COMMENTS NOT 13, LOL

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  13. Yes I to would love to see the end result!!!

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  14. Not a diy thing but could be done. Dry set the glass in wetbed than trowel down epoxy over top

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  15. Anonymous30/7/17

    What if it's a vinyl picture put on the floor first then epoxy on top. That I think would work. And then light wouldnt matter.

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  16. I just finished this diy broken mirrored floor in my hallway. This was an absolute bitch to do and let me tell you why. First your floor must be level no exceptions. Second you must adhese the pieces to the floor and on top of each other. This must be a project that is not lengthy for as dirt dust particles will find its way to the glass and you will find yourself cleaning it constantly before even pouring any sealant. The polyurethane does not pour on clear like it shows it in fact will turn yellow. this is a doable project and it does look rather cool however I would suggest painting the bare floor letting it dry laying broken glass pieces evenly instead of stacking them pouring half a polyurethane and trouting that after drying do the second half of the floor and then finally a final coat over the entire portion of the project I added glitter and some accessories that came out quite nice. Caution: very important don't shake the polyurethane cans this will cause bubbles on your flooring. Also: very important that you trout evenly and use borders along the sides to prevent spilling over your project. good luck have fun

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