Quantity of flake for full broadcast

[Majeztic]

I have about 2100 square feet of floor and my supplier recommended 150 lbs of flake for a full broadcast. I questioned this at the time and he assured me it would be enough. He even threw in an additional 10 lbs to ease my concerns.

We're finally getting around to doing the floor and I'm double checking the materials. Everywhere else I see the recommendation of 1 lb per 5 or 6 square feet. That puts me at about 400 lbs total.

How much flake do I realistically need?

 

[Dakotadadv8]

Follow the instructions provided helps.

 

[FJ4FUN]

For 2100sf we would recommend 315lbs. 150-160lbs would not be enough to cover the floor, especially not to the point of "rejection," and you would, more than likely, run out of flake way before you ran out of floor.... Extra flake is cheap (well... not so "cheap") insurance when you consider the cost and effort to correct the effects of a poor flake distribution.

 

[Shea]

Bingo... AlphaGarage hit the number. We have an article below with a chart to figure out how many pounds of color flake you need based on the intended coverage you want. Full flake floors require more flakes than you think. We get many questions from readers about how to fix the multiple bare spots that were exposed once they applied the clear coat. They all stated that they had a bunch of flakes left because they thought there was plenty on the floor already.

How to Use Color Flakes and Color Chips for Epoxy Coatings | All Garage Floors

Vinyl color flakes for epoxy garage floor coatings can be confusing. Learn how to apply them, choose colors, and coverage rates for a great looking floor.

allgaragefloors.com

 

[Armorpoxy]

Our experience we recommend approx .1 lb/sq ft plus a safety factor, and we have been using this number for over 25 years without issue. So for your garage in the 250 range would be fine.

 

[FJ4FUN]

The body coat qty/thickness also comes into play when determining flake qty. Thicker coating depth will drive the lbs per sf up.

Oh, and BTW, you should have lots left over... again, cost of insurance.

 

[Majeztic]

AlphaGarage, Armorpoxy, & Shea, thank you for the recommendations. I purchased additional flake so I now have 330 lbs. I'll post back with the actual amount we used when the project is finished for anyone curious.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Great, keep us posted.

 

[Majeztic]

We got the epoxy and flake down on Friday. I mapped out the floor in sections to be sure we didn't run out towards the end. Each section was 235 sq ft and I had a little less than 40 lb box for each section.

For the first section, I was broadcasting cautiously and I used a little over 20 lbs of flake. After the floor cured, I collected the flakes, and I could see a few shiny spots that were missed in that first section. They are very minor and hardly noticeable but, in hindsight, I could have tossed a few more pounds of flake in that section.

After the first section was broadcast, and it was obvious that I would have plenty of flake for the entire job, I was broadcasting more generously to the point that I ended up broadcasting a total of 320 lbs or about .15 lb/sq ft. It was obvious while I was throwing it that the amount I was using was excessive but I had it to spare and I didn't want to deal with any missed spots. Everything else came out near perfect. I could have gotten away with 23-25 lbs per section (.1 lb/sq ft) but, if I were to do this job again, I would have planned for and broadcast about 30 lbs per section (.13 lb/sq ft).

I collected 160 lbs of loose flake.

So, my conclusion is that I could have easily gotten the job done with Armorpoxy's recommendation of .1 lb/sq ft. However, for any future projects, I will plan for .13 lbs/sq ft which is closer to AlphaGarage's recommendation; I appreciated having that safety margin.

Prior to collecting loose flake:


After scraping and vacuuming:

 

[Armorpoxy]

Thanks for the update! Glad that the actual usage was close to our recommendation. Enjoy your new floor. Make. Sure to scrape or Sand well the floor to eliminate the high spots from the overlapping flecks before clear coating.

 

[FJ4FUN]

Looks good... ProTip. When applying the clear flood coat you can very carefully sprinkle in some flakes over any bare/shiny spots just do so sparingly so as they lay down flat. After you apply the final clear coat you won't be able to tell the difference.

EBAY is your friend or maybe someone on GJ is looking for some slightly used flakes?...