What You Need to Know About Epoxy Flakes
One way to enhance your floor’s beauty and durability is using epoxy flakes. Epoxy flake coating is a great option to achieve a dramatic transformation in your garage, commercial kitchens, and many other surfaces in your building. This article looks at everything you need to know about epoxy flake coatings.
What are Epoxy Flakes?
Epoxy flakes are polymer paint aggregates made from a combination of vinyl resins and acrylic. The result is a 4 – 5 mils thick flake that is UV stable and available in more than 150 colors.
If you’ve been keen, you have come across epoxy flakes before. Ideally, an epoxy flake floor features numerous little colorful flakes or decorative vinyl flakes. Epoxy flakes result in something similar to granite. Of course, there are numerous ways to make flakes, including metal flakes, wood flakes, and quartz flakes. The type of flake you choose will depend on the purpose you want to achieve and your unique preferences.
Your color of preference is achieved by blending different colors, and the solution is then applied according to your preference. You can choose between different coverage rates, including light, medium, heavy, and full refusal.
If you opt for full refusal, the entire floor will be covered by color flakes. In other words, the color flakes will be applied until they can stick no more. The best thing about full refusal color flakes is that it lets you customize your floor to the combination color of your choice. Of course, you should consider your base color when choosing the color of your flakes. Depending on your base color, you may want to use the same color tone range for your epoxy flakes.
Reasons to Apply Epoxy Flakes
Here are the benefits of installing epoxy flakes on your floor:
Enhance the Floor Look
One of the reasons why customers would consider buying an epoxy flakes floor is to enhance the look of their floor. As mentioned earlier, epoxy flakes come in many different colors, which presents an excellent opportunity for decoration.
Epoxy flakes can make your concrete floor look good. As such, you would want to make it as attractive as possible because it’s an extension of your home. The same should apply to the company and business floors as they should also look fancy and practical. That’s why people add chip flooring on the concrete floor to have an attractive floor that can impress customers and staff.
Hide Imperfections
If you’re looking for a perfect way to cover up flaws on your floor, epoxy flakes would be the best choice. Ideally, epoxy flakes offer an excellent way to conceal imperfections in your concrete to give an amazing look. The truth is that adding epoxy alone isn’t enough to completely conceal the flaws in your concrete. However, adding flakes to it provides excellent results.
That means you should not worry about peaks and troughs in your concrete. You can conceal them using epoxy chips for a smooth, even appearance.
Customizable
Contrary to what most people think, epoxy flakes don’t come only in black or gray flakes. The only reason why these colors are commonly used is that they don’t clash with most interior designs.
However, if you want a color flake that matches your interior design, you should choose beyond these colors. The best part is that chipped epoxy flooring comes in various color options, including yellow, red, tan, white, green, and many other colors you may want.
Boost Durability
Epoxy flakes don’t only enhance the look of your concrete; they can also help increase durability. The maximum epoxy coverage is about 5 millimeters thick. The result is a strong and elastic material that is resistant to impact. This protects your concrete and enhances its durability.
Easy Maintenance
Lastly, cleaning your epoxy flake flooring is easy. That means cleaning your space will take a few minutes to ensure it remains in good condition. The best part is that epoxy flakes are UV stable, so you don’t have to worry about wear and tear when exposed to ultraviolet rays.
Things You Should Know Before Installing Epoxy Flakes
Despite the above benefits of epoxy flakes, here are important things you should know when considering epoxy flake coatings:
Epoxy Flakes will Change Your Floor Appearance
Epoxy flakes solution creates a thick layer on top of your floor. Some services add colored flakes to the epoxy mixture to enhance design and texture. However, the end product depends on the skill and expertise of the service provider working on your floors.
Preparation Stage Can Get Noisy
One of the ways to apply flake coating on your floor is the grinding method. This method involves using a machine to sand your tiled floors to make a rough surface to ensure epoxy can bind and stay on the floor.
It’s, however, important to know that this process will damage your tiles, which can be a major setback, especially if you have installed expensive tiles.
Freshly Applied Epoxy Will Emit Strong Fumes
Preparing epoxy flake coating involves mixing chemicals at high temperatures to form a thick and hard layer on the floor. To be safe, you and your family may want to be away during this process. The contractor should ensure the room is well-ventilated and wear protective gear to protect themselves from harmful fumes emitted during the application process.
Handling of Epoxy Material Should be Left to Professionals
Only professionals should handle epoxy chemicals because they have the right materials, gear, and know-how to handle such materials properly.
Issues with Epoxy Flakes Flooring Can Be Difficult to Fix
Like any application process, it’s not uncommon to experience issues during or after the epoxy flakes application. However, if you notice such issues, you should let professionals do the scraping or grinding to remove them.
Epoxy flake coatings form a thick hard layer when dry, resulting in a coating that can withstand pressure for a long time. Correcting coating issues can be complicated and cause additional damage to your existing floor resulting in more repair work.
That’s why you need to let highly-experienced professionals do the work for you.
Wet Epoxy Takes Time to Dry
Another thing you need to know when considering applying epoxy flakes on your floor is that it will require a long drying time. Ideally, it can take anywhere from 1 week to 30 days for your epoxy to dry completely.
That means you may be unable to use some of your spaces after the contractor has applied the epoxy until it’s completely dry. For instance, you may not be able to use the bathroom or toilet for a few days, which can be inconvenient.
This also means that your family will be exposed to harmful chemicals until your epoxy is completely dry. That’s why you should work with a reputable contractor that can help keep things safe for you.
Epoxy Floor is Durable
Properly installed epoxy flakes are extremely durable. The keyword here is ‘properly installed.’ If it’s not properly installed, you will get lesser-than-perfect results, and it won’t last long. Some things that determine the durability of the epoxy flakes include the quality of prep work and the quality of materials used.
That said, some of the steps you can take to extend the lifespan of your epoxy flakes include:
- Regular maintenance. Sweep the floor daily to remove dirt and dust. Also, clean it with a soft scrubber every week to maintain its shiny appearance.
- Reapply the coating. You may also want to reapply your epoxy coating after a few years if you receive a lot of traffic. This is especially advisable for commercial properties that experience huge foot traffic and heavy machines.
- Don’t do it yourself. The most effective way to have durable epoxy flakes is to have professional installers do the work. Avoid doing it yourself and ensure high-quality products are used.
We Can Install Epoxy for You
If you want a perfect epoxy flakes application job, you must work with the best. Our professional installers are highly trained to apply the perfect epoxy coating for your residential or commercial building. Be it garages, basements, or commercial spaces; you can trust us to provide the best service. Contact us today, and you will be connected to our professional epoxy installers.