Flake epoxy floors
Vinyl chip broadcast into a pigmented base and locked under clear. The most requested floor Shanks installs.
The build-up, step by step
Every flake epoxy job Shanks installs follows the same order, because skipping a stage is how floors fail. Taylor is on site for all of it.
Profile the slab
Diamond grinding to a CSP 2 to 3 profile. Nothing gets rolled over a sealed surface.
Base coat
Pigmented epoxy, chosen to sit behind the flake blend rather than fight it.
Broadcast to refusal
Flake is thrown until the base will not take any more, which is what gives the floor its even, seamless field.
Scrape and topcoat
Loose chip is scraped and vacuumed the next morning, then one or two clear coats depending on the texture you want underfoot.
Right room, right system
Garages, basements, laundry rooms, porches, and light commercial rooms. The chip hides dust, tire marks and the odd repair better than any solid color.
Where it is the wrong call
Rooms where you want a mirror-flat, uninterrupted gloss. Flake has texture by design.
Back in service: Foot traffic next day, vehicles at five to seven days.
Compare the other systems
Why this floor costs what it costs
Two floors the same size can land a long way apart on price. These are the variables that decide it:
Condition of the slab
A clean, sound slab grinds in a morning. One carrying old paint, carpet glue, or a failed coating can take a full day longer before anything can be applied.
How much repair it needs
Cracks, spalled edges, pitting and old anchor holes are filled and ground flush before coating. A slab that needs a lot of this can add a day on its own.
Size and shape
Bigger floors cost less per square foot, because the setup, the mixing and the cleanup are much the same whether the room is 400 or 1,400 square feet. Cut-up rooms with lots of edges take longer than open ones.
Which system you choose
Build thickness and the chemistry of the topcoat are the two biggest material costs. A heavier commercial build genuinely costs more than a residential one.
What Alabama slabs do
Most of the housing around Anniston, Oxford and Jacksonville was poured between the sixties and the eighties, and those slabs were hard-trowelled to a tight, closed surface. They look clean and they take a coating badly until they are properly ground, which is why a store-bought kit so often lets go here within a year.
Out toward Gadsden, Southside and Pell City there are a lot of walk-out basements cut into a hillside. Those slabs sit against earth on three sides, so they get moisture-tested before a quote rather than after a failure.
Where the trailer goesWhat the days actually look like
The schedule matters as much as the finish when it is your garage or your shop. A normal run:
Before Taylor arrives
The room has to be completely empty, including anything mounted low on the walls if the coating is being coved up. Freezers and fridges need somewhere else to live for a few days, and the breaker for the room should be reachable.
Grinding day
The loudest day. Grinders run on HEPA vacuums so dust stays contained, but it is not quiet, and it is worth knowing that in advance if somebody works from home.
Coating days
Once resin is down, the room is closed. Pets and children need to stay out, and doors get taped so nobody wanders in overnight.
Getting it back
Foot traffic the next morning. Vehicles wait the full window, and putting a car back early is the one shortcut that visibly damages a new floor.
Keeping it looking new
Sweep it, and mop it with warm water and a neutral cleaner. Skip anything with citrus or ammonia, since both attack the topcoat over time. Felt pads under anything with a metal foot, and a mat under the jack stand if you work on vehicles. Years down the road the clear coat can be scuffed and recoated, which brings the gloss back without touching the flake underneath.
Anything Taylor installs comes with a walk-through at handover covering exactly this, plus what to avoid in the first two weeks while the coating reaches full hardness. If something does go wrong later, tell him about it rather than living with it.
The owner is the installer
Shanks Concrete Coatings is Taylor and Heather Shanks, working out of Anniston. Taylor trained directly with Brian Phillips, The Epoxy Dude, in southern Indiana, and he runs the grinder and pulls the squeegee on every job himself. Licensed and insured, Alabama #2602341.
If a flake epoxy floor is not the right answer for your room, he will tell you that on the first visit rather than sell it to you. More about how Shanks works, or send over the details of your floor.
Flake Epoxy questions
Is it slippery when wet?
Less than a smooth coating. The chip edges break the surface, and the topcoat can carry an aggregate if the floor gets wet often, like a pool bath or a basement door landing.
Can I pick the colors?
Yes. Blends are mixed to the room rather than pulled off a chart, and Taylor will lay a sample board so you see it in your own light before the base goes down.
How thick is it?
Typically 20 to 30 mils once the base, chip and clear are all in. That is many times the thickness of a rolled garage paint.
Does it fade in sunlight?
The polyaspartic topcoat is UV stable, so a porch or a garage with a west-facing door holds its color.
How much flake ends up on the floor?
Broadcast to refusal means the base coat physically will not accept any more, which is roughly twice what a thin “flake accent” job uses. The excess is scraped and vacuumed the next morning, and that full coverage is what makes the field look seamless.
Four questions worth asking any installer
Ask these of Shanks and of whoever else you are talking to. The answers separate a floor that lasts from one that looks good for a season, and a straight installer will not mind being asked.
How are you preparing the slab?
The only acceptable answers involve a diamond grinder or a shot blaster. Acid etching and a scrub with degreaser is not preparation, and it is the single most common reason a coating lets go.
Are you testing for moisture?
On any basement or ground-level slab this should be a yes with a number attached. Vapor pressure will push a coating off no matter how good the product is.
Who is actually on my floor?
Worth asking whoever quotes you. With Shanks the person who quotes it is the person who grinds it and coats it, and that is not true everywhere.
What is the topcoat?
A UV-stable polyaspartic or aliphatic urethane holds its color. A cheap job leaves a standard epoxy as the top layer, and it will amber in daylight within a year or two.
Other systems for the same room
Flake Epoxy is one of twenty-two systems Shanks installs. If the room is telling you something different, these are the closest alternatives, and Taylor will happily point you at the cheaper one if it is the right answer.
Metallic Epoxy
Another system Shanks installs across the same sixty-mile area.
Garage Floor Epoxy
Another system Shanks installs across the same sixty-mile area.
Grind and Seal
Another system Shanks installs across the same sixty-mile area.
Start with a look at the slab
Square footage, what the room is used for, and what the slab looks like now. That is enough to get you a real number on flake epoxy.