Epoxy Flake Floors in Homestead, FL

Epoxy flake floors are the finish we install most often in Homestead garages. A flake floor is a colored base coat with vinyl chips broadcast into it until no base shows, then scraped and sealed with a clear topcoat. The chips break up the surface visually, so dust, sand, tracked-in nursery soil and light tire marks do not stand out. They also leave a fine texture that gives better grip than a smooth gloss coat.

The dirt a Homestead floor sees

This is farm country. Wikipedia describes the Redland, just northwest of the city, as growing mangoes, avocados, guavas and lychees, with many ornamental nurseries, and notes that Miami-Dade has the largest greenhouse and nursery industry in Florida. Even if you do not work in it, the red clay and limestone dust find their way into garages on shoes, tires and yard tools. A solid-color floor shows every bit of that. A flake floor hides most of it until you clean.

Full broadcast versus partial broadcast

• Full broadcast: chips scattered until the base coat is covered completely. This gives the most texture, the most hiding power and a thicker system. It is what we recommend for most garages.
• Partial or light broadcast: a scattering of chips over a solid color. It looks cleaner and more modern but shows dirt more and has less texture.
• Chip size: larger chips read as a bold speckle from across the room. Smaller chips give a finer, granite-like look.

Choosing colors in a sunny climate

Blends with light grays, tans and whites stay cooler underfoot and show less dust than dark blends. Dark blends can look sharp in a garage that stays shaded, but they show white limestone dust quickly. We bring chip samples to the estimate so you can see them on your own floor in your own light. Lighting in a garage with the door open at 3 p.m. is very different from the light in a sample photo.

The topcoat is what you walk on

The chips are vinyl, and the clear coat above them takes the wear and the sun. Over a flake floor we use a polyaspartic or urethane topcoat. HomeGuide rates polyaspartic's UV resistance as excellent and epoxy's as poor to fair, which matters at the front of a Homestead garage. The topcoat is also where texture can be tuned. A heavier topcoat smooths the chips for easier mopping. A lighter one leaves more grip.

Prep under a flake floor

Chips do not fix a bad bond. We diamond grind the slab, remove any old coating, fill cracks and take a moisture reading before the base coat. If moisture is high, we change the primer. The base coat is then rolled out in sections and chips are broadcast while it is still wet, so the crew works the floor in a steady order from the back wall to the door.

Where else flake floors work

Laundry rooms, utility rooms, workshops, covered lanais and storage rooms all take flake well. Inside the house, a flake floor is easy to clean and handles wet shoes coming in from the pool. For full outdoor exposure we usually suggest a different system, covered on our patio and pool deck page.