A flake floor is three choices stacked on one slab: the color blend, the chip size and how heavily the chips are thrown. Those three decide what the floor hides in February, how it feels under a wet boot and how hard it is to mop. Work through them below before anyone talks price.
The speckled background is a drawing made with CSS, not a photo of a floor.
Flake is one finish on a full coating system; the grinding, moisture testing and repairs under it are the same as any epoxy floor coating job, and they matter more than the blend.
"Broadcast" is how many chips go into the wet base coat. It changes the look, the texture, the amount of material and the number of topcoats, so it is the first thing to settle.
Walt Tools, which sells flake kits, describes it plainly: "Keep broadcasting until the next chips you throw just sit on top of the previous layer (rejection)." The base disappears under chips. That gives the most texture and the most hiding power, and it is the build most garages get.
Here the thrower stops early. In Walt Tools’ words, "You stop broadcasting before rejection, leaving portions of the tinted base coat exposed as part of the design." It uses fewer chips, and the same guide says it needs two layers of topcoat to protect the exposed resin.
The two squares above are drawings of the difference, not photos.
| Layer | Published rate (Walt Tools flake kits) | For 400 sq ft (our arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|
| Base coat | 100 sq ft per gallon, or 150 over a primer | About 4 gallons, or about 2.7 over a primer |
| 1/4" chips, full broadcast | About 8 sq ft per lb; 5 to 10 depending on chip size and technique | About 50 lb, anywhere from 40 to 80 lb |
| Clear topcoat | 175 sq ft per gallon, per coat | About 2.3 gallons per coat; double it for a partial broadcast |
Why this is worth knowing: when a written estimate lists chip pounds and gallons per coat, you can check that a "full broadcast" really has enough chips in it. A bid that is light on chips by half is a partial broadcast with a full-broadcast name.
Sources: Walt Tools flake flooring guide (broadcast definitions, coverage rates, chip size, topcoat layers) · UV: Benjamin Moore HP4300 epoxy TDS, APF Polyaspartic 7500 PDS, Duraamen Perdure P90. We cite these makers to show typical numbers, not because we use a particular brand.
Most blend regret comes from one of two things: picking from a 2-inch sample that looks far busier across a whole floor, or picking a color that fights the dirt your garage actually gets. Try the combinations here, then go look at real chips.
Build a flake blend
An illustration drawn in your browser, not a photo or a color match. Real chips vary by maker and production lot and look different under garage lights. Choose from physical samples on your own floor.
1. The blend
Mid gray, black and white chips over a gray base.
Hides The widest mix of garage dirt: dried salt film, sand, dust and most tire scuffs all land on a chip close to their own color.
Shows Not much. A fresh oil drip shows as a shiny spot until it is wiped up, as it does on any blend.
Tradeoff From standing height it reads as plain speckled gray, which is the point for most garages and a letdown if you wanted color.
Tan, brown and cream chips with a few dark brown flecks over a tan base.
Hides Sawdust, dried mud, sand from the street and light-colored dog hair.
Shows Black rubber from tires and the white crust road salt leaves behind, both more than a gray blend does.
Tradeoff Warm next to wood shelving and a cedar-sided house; next to gray steel cabinets it can look like a mismatch.
Blue-gray, light gray, white and black chips over a blue-gray base.
Hides Salt film and fine dust well, because the white and light gray chips break it up.
Shows Sawdust and tan sand sit on a cool background and stand out a little.
Tradeoff The blue reads stronger under cool LED shop lights than it does on a 2-inch sample in daylight. Look at it under your own lights.
Black, red, gray and a little white over a dark gray base.
Hides Tire marks and oil stains, thanks to the dark share of the blend.
Shows White salt film and light dust on the black chips.
Tradeoff The loudest of these. A team-color floor you love on a sample can feel like a lot across 400 square feet, and it is a taste the next owner may not share.
Mostly white with light gray and a sprinkle of black, over a light gray base.
Hides Dried road-salt film, which is close to its own color, and it brightens a dim garage.
Shows Tire marks, oil, dark dog hair and anything tracked in on a wet tire.
Tradeoff Looks clean in a showroom and needs the most sweeping to stay that way in a salted garage.
Charcoal, near-black and gray chips with a few white flecks, over a charcoal base.
Hides Rubber, oil and grease, which is why dark blends show up in shops.
Shows Exactly what winter brings: white salt film, tan sand, sawdust and light dog hair.
Tradeoff A dark floor also makes a garage feel smaller and darker. In a Cedar Rapids winter it will look dusty white most mornings.
2. Chip size
The common size for a garage broadcast. Each chip reads on its own from standing height. Walt Tools builds its flake kits on 1/4" vinyl chips and notes they are "larger and lighter than quartz," which makes an even throw easier.
A tighter, more granite-like speckle. The blend reads closer to one overall tone from a few feet away. Torginol, a flake maker, lists its blends in 1/4" and 1/8".
Fine enough to read almost as a single color with texture. Torginol’s 1/16" flakes are sold through flooring distributors. Good for a basement or a small room where a big chip looks out of scale.
3. Broadcast density
Chips go into the wet base until it cannot take more. No base color shows. The most texture, the most chip material and the best at hiding dirt.
Chips are scattered and the tinted base shows between them as part of the look. Smoother and easier to mop, but the open base shows dirt like a solid-color floor, and it needs a second topcoat.
4. How far away you are
Roughly what you see holding a sample chip pile or a small board.
Closer to what you see from the door. Contrast adds up over a whole floor: low-contrast blends melt into one tone, high-contrast ones get busier.
Chip sizes: Walt Tools flake guide (1/4" vinyl chips) · Torginol (1/4" and 1/8" blends) · a distributor listing for 1/16" flakes. Blend names here are plain descriptions of chip colors, not product names.
A garage that sees salt all winter wants white and gray in the blend. A shop corner with a leaky mower wants dark. The dirt test below lines them up.
If two blends feel close on the sample, the calmer one usually wears better. Contrast multiplies across a floor, and a third of it ends up under cars anyway.
On a full broadcast nobody sees the base. On a partial broadcast it is half the floor, so it should be the blend’s dominant chip color, not a contrast color.
If what you actually want is a floor that looks poured rather than speckled, a metallic pour is the other decorative route. It is glossier and more dramatic, and it hides far less of a Cedar Rapids winter than any blend on this page.
Texture is a trade, not a feature. Every bit of grip under a wet boot is also a bit of surface that holds grit and drags on a mop. The chip edges under the topcoat are what you feel, and the finish choice decides how much of them comes through.
Here that trade is set by winter. The high temperature at the Cedar Rapids airport stays at or below freezing on about 55 days a year, so snow packs into wheel wells on the drive home and melts into slush on the garage floor. Add the grit from the city’s sand and salt mixes, and a floor that is easy to squeegee out the door is worth as much as one that grips.
The honest part: a full broadcast is rougher on knees than a smooth floor, and it is harder to mop. If you change oil lying on the floor or roll a creeper across it, that matters more than slush grip, and a second topcoat or a smaller chip is the better build.
Source: NOAA 1991–2020 normals, Cedar Rapids airport (55.2 days a year with a high at or below 32°F).
Compare the finish options
Grip on wet slush: good. Mopping and squeegeeing: harder.
The standard garage build. Chip edges stay close to the surface, which gives a fine sandpaper feel. Grit settles into the texture, so a push broom works better than a string mop.
Grip on wet slush: fair. Mopping and squeegeeing: easier.
The second coat fills the texture and buries the chips deeper. It feels smoother on knees and bare feet and squeegees cleaner, at the cost of some grip and another cure window.
Grip on wet slush: the most. Mopping and squeegeeing: the hardest.
A fine aggregate goes into the final coat. It gives the most bite when the floor is wet, and it also catches the most dirt and chews up mop heads. It can be limited to the walk path between the car doors and the house door.
Grip on wet slush: low. Mopping and squeegeeing: easy.
Smooth resin between the chips gives the least texture of the flake builds. Fine for a basement or a garage that rarely sees slush; slick under a wet boot.
Grip on wet slush: the least. Mopping and squeegeeing: the easiest.
A glossy film with nothing in it. Easiest to clean, slickest when wet, and every bit of dust shows.
The bars rank these finishes against each other. They are not slip-resistance test results, and we don’t quote numbers we haven’t measured.
Hiding dirt is the main reason people pick flake. Which dirt it hides depends on the blend’s tone. Pick a real Cedar Rapids garage mess and see it on a light, a medium and a dark blend.
Flake is the most forgiving decorative finish there is, which is why it gets sold for everything. These are the cases where we would steer you elsewhere or tell you to wait.
Chips over a failing film fail with it. Find out why it let go and take it off first. Our repair and removal page walks through that call.
A busy blend hides a stain, not moisture pushing up from below. If the readings are over the data-sheet limit, the job needs a mitigation primer or it waits. That is true in a basement more often than in a garage.
A full broadcast with one topcoat is hard on knees and shirts. A home mechanic or woodworker may be happier with a smaller chip, a second topcoat, or a smooth solid color with mats where it matters.
Flake always reads as texture and speckle. If the picture in your head is a glassy, poured look, no blend gets there; a solid color or a metallic finish does, with less dirt-hiding.
Name the blend you liked in the builder (salt and pepper, earth, slate, garage red, domino or charcoal), the chip size and full or partial broadcast, or just say you’re not sure. Add photos of the floor from the door and of any old coating, and we’ll tell you whether that blend makes sense for what your garage goes through.
Rather talk? (319) 302-3992 · info@cedarrapidsepoxypros.com
You should, and on your own floor. Lay physical chips or a sample board on the slab under your garage lights, then look at it from the door, not just in your hand. Screens shift color, and even chip and kit sellers say their photos are only a guide: Walt Tools writes that its pictures "are not exact representations of how every floor will appear after installation." The builder on this page is a drawing to narrow the list, not a color match.
Yellowing usually comes from the clear coat over the chips, not the chips. Benjamin Moore’s data sheet for its HP4300 epoxy says it "will amber and chalk if exposed to ultraviolet light," while APF, Duraamen and Ameripolish sell their polyaspartic topcoats as UV stable and non-yellowing. If your door faces south or west and stays open on summer afternoons, the topcoat matters more than the blend. If color hold of the chips themselves matters to you, ask for the chip maker’s data on the blend you pick.
Less than a smooth one, but slush is slush. A full broadcast leaves a fine chip texture under the topcoat, and a partial broadcast is smoother and slicker between the chips. If grip matters most, an anti-slip aggregate can go into the final coat, at least in the walk path from the car to the house door. Decide before the topcoat goes down. A mat at the house door still does more than any texture.
Yes, if the slab passes a moisture test or gets a moisture-mitigating primer first. A basement doesn’t need dirt-hiding or slush grip, so many people pick a smaller 1/8" or 1/16" chip or a partial broadcast, which is smoother underfoot. Keep the sump lid, floor drain and any radon suction point open and accessible; a coating is not radon mitigation.
Only over an old coating that is still bonded everywhere, and only after it is ground or abraded so the new base coat has something to grip. Data sheets ask for that even between fresh coats: APF and Benjamin Moore both call for abrading before recoating once their epoxy is past about 24 hours. If the old coating is peeling or lifting under the tires, it comes off first; see coating repair and removal.
One over a full broadcast is the standard build in the kits we cite: Walt Tools puts one clear coat over its full-broadcast floors at about 175 sq ft per gallon. A partial broadcast needs two, because the exposed base needs protecting. A second coat over a full broadcast is an option, not a fix: it fills the texture, so the floor mops easier and grips less, and it adds another cure window to the schedule.