Epoxy Floor Flake: What It Is, and the Sizes It Comes In

What flake is made of

The trade calls it vinyl chip, paint chip or color chip, and Torginol, a major maker, adds a fourth name: its 2019 sheet says the product is commonly referred to as flake, chips or fleck. What it is made of is less settled than the name suggests. Torginol’s current data sheet says its flake is composed of water-based resin materials, organic minerals, additives and various pigments, and that it is integrally pigmented. The word vinyl does not appear on that sheet, although Torginol’s own 2008 sheet called the product decorative vinyl color chips, and Sherwin-Williams and Simiron still describe their chips as vinyl. None of the sheets we read names the polymer.

Two properties matter more than the label. The color is part of the chip, in Torginol’s words integrally pigmented, rather than a coating on the surface. And the chip is decorative, not a wearing surface: Torginol recommends a clear topcoat to fully encapsulate the flake and provide a durable wearing surface, which is why every full broadcast flake floor ends in clear coats rather than in chips.

The sizes it is sold in

Sizes are nominal. Within a size the chips are random in shape, and Torginol notes that a small amount of finer particles will be present in every box. The ranges three makers publish:

So 1/4 inch is Simiron’s standard and one of Sherwin-Williams’ two color cards, and it is the chip the default rate on the flake broadcast calculator assumes. Any other size needs the rate from its own data sheet.

What the chip size decides

Three things on the floor follow directly from the size of the chip, and each is covered where it matters:

• How coarse the blend reads. The same percentages in a larger chip give fewer, bigger flecks of each color. The other side of that is a small chip, which pulls a blend together. Flake color blend ratios covers the blend.
• How much flake the floor takes. Chip size is the biggest single thing that moves a coverage rate, which is why the rate has to come from the data sheet of the size you ordered. How much flake for a full broadcast explains it.
• How a throw lands. A larger chip is heavier and travels less far, so technique tuned for a small blend leaves a large one patchy. Flake bald spots covers the correction.

What the chip size does not decide

You will find plenty of advice online that matches each size to a feel: small chips smooth and easy to clean, large chips textured and grippy. We looked for a maker that says so and did not find one. The comparisons come from installers’ marketing, and this page does not repeat them as fact.

What the sheets do say points somewhere else. Torginol’s feature list claims flake texture provides anti-slip qualities, without tying it to any size. The two system sheets that discuss texture both set it with the coats over the chips: Sherwin-Williams says the surface finish can be smooth or textured, and gets its anti-slip version by back rolling aluminum oxide into the grout coat; Simiron says to apply a second topcoat if less texture is wanted. On a scraped broadcast the texture is a topcoat decision, and grip is a media decision that the slippery floor page covers in full. How a flake floor feels against a quartz one is on flake vs quartz.

What flake cannot do

• Not every color is made for sunlight. Torginol says most of its colors use lightfast pigments, but some have moderate or poor UV stability, and colors with poor lightfastness are not recommended where there is direct sun. Fluorescent and phosphorescent colors are not UV stable and are for indoor use only. Check the lightfastness rating on the color card before specifying a floor with a sunny doorway or a glass wall.
• A lightfast chip does not make the floor exterior grade. Torginol says the coating system’s own specification decides whether a floor is suitable outside. A chip that holds its color under a topcoat that does not is still a yellowed floor, and epoxy floor yellowing covers which layer that is.
• It does not cover a thin broadcast. Wherever the base coat shows between chips it is exposed, and Simiron warns that its base coat will yellow over time, so spots not covered by chip will discolor.
• It does not stop moisture. Torginol states that flake does not protect against efflorescence and points to the coating system for vapor protection outside. Efflorescence on concrete floors covers what that white deposit says about the slab.

Handling it on the job

• Keep it dry. Torginol says to store flake in an airtight poly bag in a dry place at room temperature, away from moisture and humidity.
• Mix the lots. Torginol’s variegated and marble flake may vary slightly from lot to lot, and it says to intermix multiple lots before use. A custom blend needs the same treatment, mixed in full before the first throw.
• Keep it clean. Sherwin-Williams says to keep impurities such as broom bristles and debris out of the chips.
• Throw it up, never dump it. Sherwin-Williams likens the broadcast to spreading grass seed, and Simiron says not to dump the chips or let them pile on the floor. How to install a flake floor runs the whole sequence, scrape included.

Mica: an accent, not a flake

Mica is sold beside flake but is a different material: Torginol describes its mica as derived from a group of sheet silicate minerals with a natural shine. It can be broadcast alone for a metallic look, or used to accent ordinary flake by adding a small percentage to a color blend. Like flake, Torginol recommends a clear topcoat to fully encapsulate it.

What this guide does not cover

• Coverage rates. They change with size and product, and the ones on the sheets we read do not even agree across one maker’s own editions. The flake broadcast calculator takes the rate from your data sheet.
• Choosing colors. The blend and its arithmetic are on flake color blend ratios and the flake color blend calculator.
• Quartz. A different aggregate with its own sizes, compared on flake vs quartz.