Tips for a stone floor (was: Beacon Hill dollhouse)

[Sanborne]

Hi Everyone:

I haven't been on here for a while; I am still building the Beacon Hill dollhouse.  This is my first build.  I was thinking of using a stone floor in the Beacon Hill kitchen.  I was wondering if anyone having these thoughts on that idea.  I know I have to add in the wall in the bay window.  Would it be difficult to put  the wall and bay window in with the stone floor?  Of course I would be careful to keep the stones away from the slots that the tabs have to go into.  Any thoughts?  

Thank you in advance.  

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by fov
Edited title to be more descriptive

[havanaholly]

I did "stone" floors in my Glencroft pub.  I used a stone-looking RL wallpaper for the kitchen floor:

and spackle for the bathroom floor:

[KathieB]

I'd think about using egg carton stones as they will have a lower profile than real stones and yet look "real". Or use a piece of real vinyl tile and carve the grooves with a V-shaped carving chisel, then paint.

[Sanborne]

Thank you everyone.  Havanaholly those floors look great.  KathieB egg cartons, very creative idea.  I bought brown cut stone veneer from miniatures.com.  They are very pretty but I was wondering if they would be too thick or high. I will have to give it some thought.  When I finally finished the house I will try and post pictures, I'm a little computer challenged.  Thanks again

[Kells]

10 minutes ago, Sanborne said:

I bought brown cut stone veneer from miniatures.com.  They are very pretty but I was wondering if they would be too thick or high.

The veneer stones are perfect for foundations but will not work for flooring. The thickness varies too much. You'd end up with an extremely uneven floor that would look pretty bad in an indoor room. Greenleaf sells mini vinyl tiles already finished and cut into 1" x 1" squares. One bag covers 288 sq. in. and they're on sale right now for a bargain $9.95. Listen to me, I sound like a Greenleaf sales rep, lol.

https://shop.greenleafdollhouses.com/miniature-scale-vinyl-floor-tiles-brown/

[havanaholly]

You go right ahead, Kells!  I an a HUGE fan of Greenleaf's floor

tiles:

and of the "wood" flooring strips, too:

[Sanborne]

Thank you Kells, I appreciate the info.  I needed someone to talk me out if it lol.  They are beautiful stones but I didn't think they would be good for the kitchen floor.  I actually bought the wood square tiles from Greenleaf and used them for 1st floor hallway.  Your vinyl tile floors look great.  Thanks again everyone this was very helpful. 

[Medieval]

What about paper clay stones for the floor? See these 3 you tube videos:

 

 

[Khadi]

I use the vinyl tiles that look like stone that you can get at Home Depot.  I bought a vinyl floor cutter and use vinyl tile grout.  They look like real stone.  (Sorry, no matter how hard I try, I can not get my pictures to be only 10.58 KB.)

[fov]

53 minutes ago, Khadi said:

(Sorry, no matter how hard I try, I can not get my pictures to be only 10.58 KB.)

It sounds like you're trying to attach the picture and have used up most of your attachment space. You can free some up by deleting old attachments (click your username in the upper right corner and selecting My Attachments). Or post the photo in the gallery instead, since there's no space limit there. You will still have to keep the photo under a certain size but it won't be that small!

[grazhina]

I've used drywall compound or spackle to make stone floors. 

 

[IndyCindy]

I've used the 2nd YouTube tutorial that Medieval posted above. Definitely a fun process! (Also a little messy, but in a good way.) 

 

[havanaholly]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with messy, and the results are usually worth it.

[fov]

Last weekend I was looking at some life-sized mosaic tiles thinking they might work for a foundation. They could also work for floors. The thickness could be a problem but you might be able to hide this with trim.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TILE-CONNECTION-Sticks-Tile-Grey-11-3-4-in-x-11-3-4-in-x-9-5-mm-Indonesian-Marble-Mesh-Mounted-Mosaic-Tile-10-67-sq-ft-case-xl3rgy/303563741

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ivy-Hill-Tile-Countryside-Interlocking-11-81-in-x-11-81-in-Gray-Floor-and-Wall-Mosaic-0-97-sq-ft-sheet-EXT3RD105046/313258281

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Emser-Trav-Ancient-Tumbled-Silver-12-in-x-12-in-x-12-mm-Travertine-Mesh-Mounted-Mosaic-Tile-0-98-sq-ft-1116232/302440646

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Solistone-Indonesian-Balinese-Nights-12-in-x-12-in-x-6-35-mm-Natural-Stone-Pebble-Mesh-Mounted-Mosaic-Tile-10-sq-ft-case-6011/100632904

 

Also this isn't for floors, but here's a nice tutorial for making stacked stone out of cork: https://www.paperdollminiatures.com/2018/02/modern-miniature-faux-stone-veneer-tutorial.html

 

[Medieval]

10 hours ago, grazhina said:

I've used drywall compound or spackle to make stone floors. 

That is an amazing room. I've seen your Victorian blog, but not that one. More reading and research material!

[havanaholly]

Emily, I've been thinking of using cork scrapbook "paper" to make a "stone" kitchen floor for my Tuscan villa.   I used a styrofoam sheet to make a "stone" surround for the stove.  I had some really thick ceramic tiles that were in the poor pitiful Laurel I rehabbed:

that I salvaged and reused in the Laurel's bathroom:

Because of the wall I added to the bathroom the wowser thickness isn't so noticeable.

[Khadi]

20 hours ago, fov said:

It sounds like you're trying to attach the picture and have used up most of your attachment space. You can free some up by deleting old attachments (click your username in the upper right corner and selecting My Attachments). Or post the photo in the gallery instead, since there's no space limit there. You will still have to keep the photo under a certain size but it won't be that small!

Thank you.  I had no idea that you could delete attachments.  I had pictures going back for years.

[Khadi]

21 hours ago, Khadi said:

I use the vinyl tiles that look like stone that you can get at Home Depot.  I bought a vinyl floor cutter and use vinyl tile grout.  They look like real stone.  (Sorry, no matter how hard I try, I can not get my pictures to be only 10.58 KB.)

Here is the picture of the vinyl tile floor during construction.  I usually put a coating of polyurethane on the top to seal it.

[KathieB]

6 hours ago, havanaholly said:

I had some really thick ceramic tiles

I solved the too thick tiles problem by dropping them below the floor to keep the surface level. This worked as the tiles were on the ground floor and the bulk of the tiles is in the crawlspace. It would be trickier to do this on an upper floor. See it here. 

[steiconi]

What kind of stone do you have in mind?

I used index cards for a slate floor: cut into somewhat irregular shapes, fit together, layer smaller pieces on top, then paint.

Handmade paper has a nice texture for building stone. 

Styrofoam and paper egg cartons give you two different stone textures.  Smooth Styrofoam might be better for a floor, paper for a wall.

For a rough stone wall, I cut strips of foamcore, cut through the foam to get two strips, each with one side paper and the other side rough foam, then cut those into blocks.

For marble, either print it on paper (nice for checkerboard floors) or hand paint.  The joints are usually tight, so just a printed line looks better than cutting the tiles apart. 

Cutting stones/tiles apart gives them an uneven, rustic look.  For a smoother, more refined finish, just score the stones with a stylus.

Edited July 31, 2021 by steiconi