Any problems with a no flake epoxy floor?

[Shadowdog500]

Last night I was in a really big aircraft hangar that had a smooth grey epoxy floor with no flakes. It didn't have that showroom shine, but I'm not really looking for a showroom shine. I really liked the plain one color floor. Are there any really problems of not putting in flakes?
Thanks,

Chris

 

[nate379]

Flakes are mainly for looks. Most industrial settings is just solid grey. Flakes go in my cereal bowl, not on the floor.

 

[Ruddy]

The flakes just help to break it up and maybe hide some future damage. I just went with some light flake coverage over my gray floor, but it also looked nice right before I added them.

 

[AlphaGarage]

Besides the appearance there's another benefit to flakes, they do cover a host of sins. If your floor is rough, and you don't want to, or can't, fully smooth it out, flakes will hide those imperfections. Another sin (to some) is dirt, and vast smooth monochromatic floor will show any and every spec of dirt, flakes will help mast the dirt. Finally over time you might drop or drag something that dings or scratches the coating, flakes will help mask them.

You don't need a lot of flakes to gain those benefits, even as little as 0.005 lbs per ft2 (that would be just 2.5 lbs for a 500 ft2 floor) will do the trick.

But if you like the look of a solid color floor, and they can look sharp, your vision trumps the look of flakes, so forgo them and enjoy!

 

[tncatadjuster]

I can't imagine putting flakes in a floor, but it is the trend. Try finding a c-clip on a flake floor. I like the aircraft hanger look myself. Most of the floors on this board are more aesthetically oriented than functional. Pimp my garage stuff.

One color for me.

 

[TheBanker]

The don't use a clear top coat in those hangers either, they use no gloss stuff. I think a lot of guys on here, like myself, use high gloss.

 

[Twizzstyle]

I've been struggling with deciding what color/flake/clear coat I wanted to do for my new house... I finally decided to just go as simple as possible, since this is a working shop, not just a place to park my cars to look nice. So I settled on plain taupe, no flakes, no clear coat.

 

[texas-saluki]

I've been struggling with deciding what color/flake/clear coat I wanted to do for my new house... I finally decided to just go as simple as possible, since this is a working shop, not just a place to park my cars to look nice. So I settled on plain taupe, no flakes, no clear coat.

I have a garage which I consider working... wood and automotive. I am planning to grind off my old coating (8 years old with no clear) and replace with a gloss finish I think it will be easier to keep clean as now it has paint and stain all over it an looks like a mess.

I cannot decide on the no flakes.... I currently have no flakes but the look is growing on me

Something to think about

 

[tncatadjuster]

The don't use a clear top coat in those hangers either, they use no gloss stuff.

 

[AlphaGarage]

Nice hanger and beautiful plane!

Is that flake on that floor?

 

[joelietz]

Wow.. now that's a clean hangar.

I'm with the mechanical crowd on the flakes! We just did bamboo flooring in the house and you can't find anything that drops without a flash light due to the random 'texture' of the flooring.

I know when we decide on the garage floor it's going to be a single color.

 

[gabeancounter]

I think you put the floor down that matches the space. For most attached garages I think the flake works because its dresses up the house. These are usually finished areas with drywall and paint.

Now a detached workshop or garage is a different story. Normally a much larger area than an attached garage. I think the solid color with the clear gloss looks great. Just need to put in much more prep to ensure all cracks, chips and joints are filled and sanded. Everything shows with a solid color. Like Alpha said flakes covers sins.

Everyone has a different opinion of the amount of flake, but I say go heavy or don't use them. I'll agree the flakes add the "pimp my ride" look but I like that show! lol

 

[TheBanker]

^^^^^^^^^^
what he said

 

[shopnut]

I went no-flakes five years ago and I'm still happy with the decision. Although I prefer the no-flake look only slightly over flakes, the benefit of being able to find a small dropped part really made the decision easy.

As far as the no-flake showing dirt more - a smooth seamless epoxy floor is so easy to sweep up, I find myself doing it every night, so it's really a non-issue for me.

 

[noisufnoc]

I can't imagine putting flakes in a floor, but it is the trend. Try finding a c-clip on a flake floor. I like the aircraft hanger look myself. Most of the floors on this board are more aesthetically oriented than functional. Pimp my garage stuff.

One color for me.

I've been thinking the same thing myself. As nice as flakes can look, the added "noise" would make it a pain to find a screw or other small part. I drop alot of things.

 

[Hammerdown]

Flakes are a nice decorative touch and their colors can compliment your wall color and "really tie the room together", so to speak. They also help hide imperfections in the concrete and dirt/debris. If this is a "working" garage they will also hide small parts that are inadvertantly dropped, so a solid color would probably be your best choice.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

After hearing of issues with dropped parts, I opted for no flakes and gloss coat on our 3200 sq. ft. shop. I LOVE IT! It does show dirt more, and yes, the little spots in the floor that aren't perfect show, but hey, it's a shop for cryin' out loud! We have had it almost a year now, and I still smile when I walk in and pull the doors up and look across the shop. Nice finish!

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[haugy]

How about this scenario. I've got a 1200sq/ft shop with two large bays. I'll be wrenching on a rockcrawler in one, a boat in the other. The surrounding areas will be where all my tools and fab work will be done.

I'm thinking about putting down flake in the areas where I will park a vehicle, and no flake everywhere else. I think that would break up the floor to hide any imperfections, and the spots where I abuse the floor will be masked with flake. The main sections where I will need to see the floor will be one color.

Basically creating two big Flake filled bays, everywhere else the same color but just solid.

Thoughts?

 

[AlphaGarage]

How about this scenario. I've got a 1200sq/ft shop with two large bays. I'll be wrenching on a rockcrawler in one, a boat in the other. The surrounding areas will be where all my tools and fab work will be done.

I'm thinking about putting down flake in the areas where I will park a vehicle, and no flake everywhere else. I think that would break up the floor to hide any imperfections, and the spots where I abuse the floor will be masked with flake. The main sections where I will need to see the floor will be one color.

Basically creating two big Flake filled bays, everywhere else the same color but just solid.

Thoughts?

Works for me.

I think that looks cool.

We had someone who had a light density of flakes on most of the floor, and a heavy density just in the walkway areas, sharp presentation.