What does broadcast to rejection mean?

It means throwing flake into the wet coat until the coat will take no more: no wet or shiny resin shows, and the extra chips sit loose on top until they are removed after cure. Broadcast to rejection, to refusal and to excess are three names for a full broadcast.

Can I mix flake into the coating?

No. Broadcast the flake onto the wet coat instead of stirring it into the resin. Rust-Oleum's chip data sheet says to broadcast chips onto the wet coat and never to mix them into the coating.

How thick should the base coat be for a flake broadcast?

As thick as your resin maker's system guide specifies, because published films vary. Laticrete broadcasts into a 4 mil polyaspartic coat, while Simiron's chip data sheet asks for at least 10 mils of resin.

Should I use an epoxy or a polyaspartic base coat under flake?

Either works, and we sell flake, not resin, so we stay neutral. Epoxy gives a longer working time but takes hours to overnight before you can scrape. Polyaspartic can be walked on in 1 to 2 hours and aliphatic polyaspartics yellow less in sunlight. Follow the resin maker's system guide and test any unfamiliar resin first.

What temperature should flake go down at?

Within your resin's limits, which govern the install. One flake manufacturer cites 60 to 80 F as the best range, while Sherwin-Williams' Accelera, for example, calls for a substrate of 50 to 90 F and at least 5 F above the dew point. Follow the resin maker's system guide.

Does flake act as a vapor barrier?

No. Flake does not protect against efflorescence, and vapor control is the coating maker's job. Follow your resin manufacturer's guidance for slab moisture before you coat.

The contractor's guide to decorative flake floors

Q: Can you put flake down without a topcoat?

Not on a full broadcast floor. A clear topcoat is required to lock in the flake and create the wearing surface; every flake system guide we reviewed includes one. The flake itself is thin and matte, so the clear coat supplies the gloss, cleanability and wear resistance.

What is decorative polymer flake?

Professional polymer flake, often called vinyl or acrylic chip, is integrally colored, random-shaped chips made from a water-based polymer binder, mineral fillers and pigments. It supplies the color and texture of a flake floor; the clear coats supply the gloss and the wearing surface.

One product, several names. Sherwin-Williams and Rust-Oleum call it vinyl chip, Simiron calls it vinyl paint chip flake, and Torginol calls it polymer flake. "Epoxy flake" just names the floor it usually goes into.
Thin and matte. Torginol's data sheet, for example, describes its flake as about 5 mils thick with a matte surface. That is why the clear coat matters so much: the chip does not provide gloss or wear on its own.
Fines come with the territory. Every box of flake contains some small particles by nature. How you handle the box decides how many more you create (see how to store flake, below).

What size flake is best for a garage floor?

1/4 in is a common size for garage and shop floors, and it is the chip size we stock. Every blend is stocked in 1/4 in flake.

A common size. Legacy Industrial calls 1/4 in its most common size.
Published rates to order by. A full broadcast of 1/4 in flake typically uses 0.14 to 0.20 lb per sq ft, so one 44 lb box typically covers about 220 to 310 sq ft. Order at the planning rate of 0.20 lb per sq ft. The range is the one Torginol publishes for its own flake, not a test of our blends.
Film thickness comes from the resin maker. Laticrete broadcasts into a 4 mil polyaspartic coat, while Simiron's chip data sheet asks for at least 10 mils of resin. Use the film thickness your resin maker specifies.

The flake calculator turns the 1/4 in rates into pounds and 44 lb boxes for a real floor, and every blend on the blends page is the same $85 per 44 lb box, before freight.

Full vs partial broadcast: what is the difference?

A full broadcast covers the base coat completely, while a partial broadcast lets the base coat show between the chips and uses a small fraction of the flake. A double broadcast repeats the coat and the full broadcast a second time. Flake use runs from 0.005 lb to about 0.40 lb per sq ft across the three.

Full broadcast (also called broadcast to refusal, rejection or excess). Throw flake into the wet coat until no wet or shiny resin shows. Extra chips sit loose on top and come off after cure. With 1/4 in flake, expect 0.14 to 0.20 lb per sq ft. Sherwin-Williams warns that any epoxy left visible after the flake settles will yellow, which is the reason to keep going until the whole surface is covered.
Partial broadcast (light, random, sparse or accent). Scatter chips so the colored base coat shows between them: about 0.02 to 0.04 lb per sq ft for a heavy partial and 0.005 to 0.02 lb for a light accent. The base coat becomes most of the floor's color, so choose it with care.
Double broadcast. The system applies a second body coat and broadcasts again, so it uses about twice the flake of a single full broadcast. Some double broadcast systems use lighter passes: Sherwin-Williams' Deco Flake II specifies 0.10 to 0.15 lb per sq ft per broadcast.

The flake calculator turns any of these rates into pounds and 44 lb boxes for a real floor.

Epoxy or polyaspartic base coat?

Decorative flake is broadcast into epoxy, polyaspartic, polyurea and urethane systems, and epoxy and polyaspartic base coats are both common. We sell flake, not resin, so we stay neutral: the differences that matter for the flake step are cure speed, open time and behavior in sunlight. Always follow the resin manufacturer's system guide and test any unfamiliar resin first.

What matters for flake	Epoxy base coat	Polyaspartic base coat
Cure before you can scrape (examples)	8 to 10 hours at 75 F (Sherwin-Williams Resuflor); overnight (Rust-Oleum)	1 to 2 hours (Laticrete Spartacote); 2 hours (Sherwin-Williams Accelera)
Broadcast window	Longer working time for the crew	Shorter; a fast cure leaves less time to broadcast
Sunlight	Standard bisphenol A epoxy has poor UV resistance and yellows	Aliphatic polyaspartics are light stable with a low yellowing tendency
Clear coat over the flake (examples)	Polyaspartic (Simiron) or urethane (Sherwin-Williams Deco Flake II)	Polyaspartic (Laticrete, Simiron)

Open time is the flake constraint. Simiron asks for a resin that stays open long enough to receive the chips, and warns that a system that cures too fast may not embed them.
Polyurea cures fast too. Simiron's polyurea base coat is ready to scrape in about 1.5 hours.
Mixing chemistries is common. Simiron's epoxy and polyurea system guides both finish with a polyaspartic topcoat.

What color should the base coat be?

Tint the base coat to one of the colors in the blend. A single full broadcast may not cover every speck of base, and at a partial broadcast the base coat is most of what you see.

Simiron recommends tinting the base coat to one of the colors in the blend for exactly that reason, and Sherwin-Williams pigments its base coat to match the primer for hide. A base color far from the blend shows through any thin spot. Every one of our blend pages lists the chip colors and their approximate shares, so you can pick the base from the mix.

How do you broadcast flake evenly?

Throw the flake up and let it fall straight down onto the wet coat, work in sections, and leave a strip of unbroadcast wet coating along the edge where the next section will join.

Prepare the flake. Pour it into a clean 5 gallon pail, break up clumps by hand, and leave the fines at the bottom of the box or bag (Rust-Oleum). Mix all the boxes for the floor first (see mixing below).
Throw, do not dump. Toss the chips up so they fall vertically. Do not dump or pile them. Sherwin-Williams compares it to spreading grass seed, so the resin is not disturbed.
Keep a wet edge. Leave an unbroadcast band of wet coating where the next section will tie in: at least 18 in for Rust-Oleum, 24 in for Sherwin-Williams Deco Flake II, and 6 to 12 in for the Rust-Oleum RockSolid kit. Sherwin-Williams' Crylaflor system broadcasts 6 ft back from the wet edge.
Keep the flake clean. Keep broom bristles and debris out of the chips, and do not walk on broadcast chips in spiked shoes (Sherwin-Williams).
Broadcast onto the coat, never into the can. Rust-Oleum says never to mix chips into the coating.

Temperature matters for the resin more than the flake. Torginol cites 60 to 80 F as the best install range, but the resin's own limits govern; Sherwin-Williams' Accelera, for example, calls for a substrate of 50 to 90 F and at least 5 F above the dew point.

When do you scrape a flake floor?

Scrape as soon as the base coat can be walked on: about 1 to 2 hours for some polyaspartics, and 8 to 10 hours at 75 F to overnight for the epoxies reviewed here. Remove the loose flake, scrape off chips that are loose or standing on edge, and vacuum until clean. Then apply the clear coats inside the resin maker's recoat window.

Wait for walkable cure. About 1.5 hours for Simiron polyurea, 1 to 2 hours for Laticrete polyaspartic, 2 hours for Sherwin-Williams Accelera, 8 to 10 hours at 75 F for Sherwin-Williams Resuflor epoxy and overnight for Rust-Oleum epoxy.
Remove the loose flake with a stiff synthetic broom, a vacuum or a leaf blower.
Scrape the whole floor. Laticrete uses a 12 to 14 in metal floor scraper in three directions (north to south, east to west, then diagonal) and warns that a poor scrape leaves an uneven texture and uses more topcoat. Simiron says to scrape gently so the coating and chips are not damaged.
Sweep or blow, then vacuum again until the surface is clean.
Apply the clear grout coat and topcoat at the resin maker's rate and inside its recoat window. Sherwin-Williams' Resuflor UVE must be topcoated within 24 hours or sanded first; Simiron's polyaspartic recoat window is very short.

The manufacturers disagree about reusing swept flake. Laticrete allows clean, unscraped excess to be re-boxed; Sherwin-Williams and Simiron say not to reuse swept or vacuumed chip unless extra precautions are taken. Never reuse scraped debris.

Why is a clear topcoat required?

A clear topcoat is required over a full broadcast to lock in the flake and create the wearing surface. Every flake system guide we reviewed includes one.

Rust-Oleum says a clear topcoat is required over a full broadcast and applies one or two clear coats to lock in the chips and leave a smooth, easy to clean finish.
Torginol recommends a clear topcoat to fully encapsulate the flake and provide a durable wearing surface.
Simiron seals the chips with a grout coat of epoxy or polyaspartic, and each of its system guides ends in a polyaspartic topcoat.
Sherwin-Williams relies on a urethane topcoat for wear and chemical resistance in its Deco Flake II system. It notes that acrylic and polyurethane finishes resist marring and scratching better, while epoxy finishes are harder but scratch under abrasive dirt.

Plan the clear coat by the system guide. Published examples: Laticrete grout coat at 160 sq ft per gal with an optional second coat at 300 to 400; Floorguard at 150 to 160 sq ft per gal; Sherwin-Williams Accelera grout coat at 125 to 200, then a seal coat at 150 to 250.

Will flake fade or yellow in the sun?

It can, and there are two separate problems: the flake color can fade, and the resin can yellow. Color fastness varies by blend, so for outdoor or sunlit floors, pair the flake with a UV-stable (aliphatic) topcoat and ask Adam about the blend's lightfastness.

Flake color. Torginol rates the lightfastness of each of its colors as good, moderate or poor after 1,000 hours of xenon arc exposure (ASTM G155), and says bold, bright colors can fade early outdoors. Even colorfast pigments may fade slightly in direct sun over time.
Resin. Standard bisphenol A epoxies have poor UV resistance, which is why polyurethane or acrylic topcoats are often used over them. Sherwin-Williams adds that even its UV-resistant epoxy can show yellowing in light gray and white, and that fast hardeners in topcoats yellow very quickly.
Aliphatic is "low", not "none". Polyaspartics made with aliphatic isocyanates are light stable with a low yellowing tendency. Do not promise a customer a floor that never yellows.
Light blends show it first. Yellowing is easiest to see on a light floor such as Coastline, Canyon or Stone Ridge, so the topcoat choice matters most there.

We have not published UV ratings for our blends. Email Adam before you use a blend outdoors.

Are flake floors slippery?

It depends on the system more than the flake. Flake adds surface texture, but slip resistance comes from the full system, especially the topcoat and any anti-slip additive. For wet or sloped areas, ask your coating manufacturer for a tested anti-slip build.

The system gets tested, not the flake. Sherwin-Williams reports static COF over 0.6 (ANSI B101.1) and wet DCOF over 0.42 (ANSI A326.3) for its flake systems. It notes that systems can be built to those values with textures and grit additives, and says to test a sample first.
The 0.42 benchmark. Under ANSI A326.3, a wet DCOF of 0.42 or more is the benchmark for level interior floors expected to be walked on when wet.
More clear coat means less grip. Simiron adds a second 6 to 8 mil coat when less texture is wanted, and Laticrete adds a second topcoat for a very smooth finish. Smoother cleans easier but grips less.
Grit goes in the clear coat. Sherwin-Williams back-rolls aluminum oxide into the grout coat, and its Crylaflor system broadcasts aluminum oxide into the first wet topcoat at 1.5 to 2 lb per 100 sq ft. Rates vary widely between products, so follow the topcoat maker.

How should you store flake?

Keep flake sealed, dry and at room temperature, handle the boxes gently, and use it within 12 months.

Torginol: store flake in an airtight poly bag in a dry place at room temperature, away from moisture and humidity.
Simiron: 12 months from the date of manufacture in the original unopened container, stored indoors at 60 to 85 F with humidity below 65%. Do not let it freeze.
Rust-Oleum: rough handling, such as throwing bags or boxes, breaks chips into small particles that change the look of the finish.

How do you keep color even across boxes?

Mix all the boxes for one floor together before you broadcast, so the color stays even.

Order every box for the floor at the same time.
Pour all the boxes into one large clean container, leaving each box's fines behind.
Mix by hand, then fill the broadcast pails from the mix.
Set aside a few pounds of the mixed flake, sealed, if the customer may want touch-ups later.

Torginol notes that variegated and marble flake can vary slightly from lot to lot and recommends intermixing lots before use. A base coat tinted to one of the blend colors also helps hide small differences.

Glossary

Term	Meaning
Broadcast	Throwing flake onto a wet coat so it embeds
Full broadcast	Broadcasting until no wet or shiny resin shows; also called to refusal, rejection or excess
Partial broadcast	Scattering flake so the base coat shows between chips
Double broadcast (DB)	A system that coats and broadcasts twice
Base coat, body coat	The pigmented coat the flake is broadcast into
Grout coat	The first clear coat over the scraped flake
Topcoat, seal coat	The final clear coat or coats: the wearing surface
Fines	Small particles at the bottom of a box or bag
Wet edge	Unbroadcast wet coating left where the next section joins
Recoat window	The time in which the next coat bonds without sanding
Lightfastness	How well a color resists fading in light
Aliphatic	Resin chemistry with a low yellowing tendency, used in UV-stable topcoats
DCOF	Dynamic coefficient of friction, the wet slip measure in ANSI A326.3

Sources

Manufacturer documents and references this guide relies on:

The contractor's guide to decorative flake