University Park Flake Epoxy
A flake floor is built in a set order: a colored base coat, a heavy broadcast of chips thrown until the base will not take another one, a scrape and a vacuum, and a clear topcoat sealing all of it in. For a family garage it is a sensible pick, because the chips swallow the dust, drips and tire scuffs a working garage produces. Below is how each layer goes down, and how the floor lives once it is yours.
Base Coat, Chips, Scrape, Clear Coat
The base coat goes on first, rolled over a ground and primed slab in a color chosen to sit underneath the chips. While it is still wet, we broadcast chips by hand, tossing them up and letting them rain down so they land evenly instead of in clumps. We keep throwing until the base is fully covered and will not hold one more chip. Installers call that point refusal, and it matters, because any bare patch left in the base shows up as a dull spot in the finished floor.
After the base cures, the garage looks a little like a gravel lot. The whole surface gets scraped with a long-handled blade to knock down any chip standing on its edge, and then everything loose comes up with a vacuum. What stays behind is a tight, flat layer of chips locked into the base coat.
The clear topcoat goes on last. It fills the small gaps between chips, seals the color in, and becomes the surface you actually walk on. Its thickness and texture decide how smooth or grippy the finished floor feels underfoot, which we get into a little further down.
What the Chips Hide and What They Show
A busy flake floor is forgiving. A gray and white blend is a good example. Road dust, a drip of coolant, a few grass clippings and a tire scuff all fall somewhere between a light chip and a dark one, and they disappear until the next time you mop. A floor of one flat color would put every one of them on display.
Blends can lean darker or lighter, and the lean changes what you notice. A darker mix keeps tire marks and grime out of sight but lets pale dust and pollen stand out. A lighter mix brightens a dim garage and hides lint, while black rubber marks from tires show up sooner. A middle mix of grays and whites with a little black in it tends to cover the widest range of everyday dirt.
Chip size plays a smaller part. Bigger chips read as a bolder pattern from across the garage, while smaller chips blend into a fine speckle that looks almost like stone from a few steps back. We bring sample boards to the walk so you can see them in your own garage light, which is usually dimmer and yellower than any showroom.
Bare Feet, Wet Shoes and the Feel Underfoot
Run a hand across a flake floor and you can feel the chips under the clear. How much you feel comes down to the topcoat. A single full coat leaves a slight tooth that grips wet shoes coming in out of the rain. A second coat fills more of that texture, so the floor turns smoother and easier to mop, with a little less grip.
For most garages we aim for the middle. Someone stepping in barefoot from the backyard, or carrying groceries in wet sneakers, should feel steady, and a mop should still glide across. If the garage doubles as a home gym or a play space for the kids, we talk about going smoother. If it gets hosed out often, we lean toward more grip, especially at the step into the house.
All of it rests on the slab underneath. Here is a different garage right after grinding. A flake system needs that open, clean concrete to bond to, even though the chips will cover the old stains once the floor is done.
The Wall Line and the Lane Beside the Car
A flake floor shows its quality at the edges. Along every wall the chip coverage has to run right into the corner, with no thin band where the broadcast fell short. We throw the last handfuls toward the wall on purpose so the edge ends up as full as the middle. Then the topcoat is cut in with a brush, leaving a clean line at the drywall or along the top of a cove base.
The narrow lane beside the car is where people notice everything, since it is the stretch of floor they walk every single day. Picture a strip between a parked car and the wall, a step ladder leaning there and a trash bin at the far end. That lane collects drips from the car, dirt off the bin wheels and grit off shoes. On a good flake floor it looks every bit as finished as the open center of the garage, with even chip coverage and no roller marks.
See the chips in your own garage light.
Cody brings sample boards out to the slab, reads the concrete, and gets you a firm price within 48 hours.
Day-to-Day Care for a Flake Garage
Most weeks a flake floor needs nothing more than a dust mop or a soft broom. When it does get dirty, a mop with warm water and a little mild cleaner handles it, and a garden hose with a squeegee works for the big spring cleanout as long as the water has somewhere to run. Wipe up spilled oil or coolant with a rag before it has time to sit.
A few things to avoid. Skip the acid-based cleaners and harsh degreasers sold for bare driveways, since they can dull the topcoat. Set a scrap of plywood under a jack stand or a motorcycle kickstand so the point does not press into the surface on a hot day. Rubber-backed mats can trap moisture and stain the clear coat, so choose a vented mat or lift it now and then to let the floor breathe.
Our flake epoxy page explains how we build it anywhere around Dallas, and the gallery has more finished floors to look through. Sherwoods works out of Dallas, and Cody leads every install himself, from the first pass of the grinder to the last stroke of topcoat. Most flake jobs get scheduled two to three weeks out.
Flake Floor Questions, Answered Plainly
What does broadcast to refusal mean?
It means we keep throwing chips into the wet base coat until it will not hold any more. The surface ends up fully covered, with no base color peeking through. Stopping short saves chips and leaves thin spots that look dull once the clear topcoat goes on.
Is a flake floor slippery when it gets wet?
Less than a smooth single-color floor, since the chips leave texture under the clear. A single topcoat keeps more grip, and we can add a light grit to the topcoat in spots that get wet often, like the step into the house or the lane beside the car.
Which chip blend hides dirt best?
A mixed gray and white blend hides the widest range of dirt, which is why the floor in our photos looks clean even in daily use. Darker blends hide tire marks and show dust. Lighter ones brighten the room and show tire marks sooner. Sample boards settle it fastest.
Can I use a pressure washer on it?
A garden hose and a soft brush are all it really needs. A pressure washer on a low setting, held well back from the floor, is usually fine, but a narrow tip held close can scar any coating. Most owners find a mop and a squeegee quicker anyway.
What happens to the loose chips after the broadcast?
They get scraped and vacuumed. After the base cures, a long-handled blade knocks down any chip standing on its edge, and a shop vacuum pulls the loose ones off the floor. Skipping that step leaves sharp points poking up into the clear topcoat, which you would feel under bare feet.
Can flake go in rooms besides the garage?
Yes. Laundry rooms, mudrooms, back entries and workshops all take a flake system well, since they see water, grit and steady foot traffic. We can look at each room on the same walk, and the chips can match the garage so the house reads as one floor.
Other Systems We Install in University Park
Not sure flake fits your garage? Talk to us; Cody can tell you on the walk whether chips suit the way you use it.
Getting to University Park
We work in University Park, home to SMU and next door to Highland Park, from our base in Dallas. The University Park page lists each service here, and our Dallas County page shows where else we install floors.