Epoxy Flake Floors in Missoula, MT

Epoxy flake floors are the finish we put down most in Missoula garages. Snow sits on the ground here about 120 days in a typical year, per Wikipedia's climate figures, and for much of that stretch your tires drag in traction sand and dried brine. A flake floor is a resin system with thousands of colored vinyl chips locked into it. The speckled pattern hides that winter film between washes, and the chips give the surface a slight tooth underfoot.

How the layers stack up

We start on bare, diamond-ground concrete with its cracks and pits already filled. A tinted epoxy or polyaspartic base is rolled out one section at a time. While each section is still wet, we toss chips over it by hand. After it hardens, we run a steel blade across the whole floor to knock off any chip standing on edge, then vacuum the loose ones away. A clear topcoat goes over everything and seals the chips in. Skip a step and the floor ends up rough or patchy.

Sand is the real test here

City crews spread sand once it gets colder than about 18 degrees, NBC Montana reported, and Missoula County mixes salt into its sand at roughly 1 part to 15. That grit rides in on your tread and gets twisted into the floor every time you turn the wheel. On a thin paint or kit coating, it wears a dull path within a season or two. On a flake floor the wear lands on the clear topcoat, which is thick and hard. When that layer finally looks tired years later, we can clean it, scuff it and roll on a new one without touching the chips.

Brine haze and the blend you pick

The county also uses a magnesium chloride brine of about 32 percent. When it dries on a floor it leaves a pale haze. Blends that mix a dark chip, a mid-tone and a light one hide that haze well. All-gray or all-white floors give it away fast. If your garage has a single ceiling bulb, like many older alley garages near downtown, a lighter blend will brighten the space, though you will mop more often. We leave sample boards with you so you can look at them in morning and evening light.

Coverage and chip size

Most garages get chips to full rejection. That means we keep throwing until the wet base will not hold any more. It gives the most grip and the most hiding power. A lighter scatter over a solid color suits a basement rec room or hobby space where looks matter more than grit. Chip size changes the feel of the room too. Quarter-inch chips read as a fine speckle, and larger ones look bolder from the doorway.

Alley garages, new subdivisions and shops on acreage

Missoula's median home was built in 1981, according to Census survey figures summarized by Point2Homes, and about 13 percent of homes date to 1939 or earlier. An old alley garage often has a thin, uneven slab with paint on it, so grinding and patching take longer. A newer attached garage on the valley floor may still carry a builder's cure-and-seal that has to come off. Metal-sided shops out toward Frenchtown and Lolo bring oil and hydraulic fluid, which we degrease and grind out before any resin goes down.

Keeping chip waste out of the aquifer

The Missoula Valley aquifer is an EPA sole-source aquifer and supplies the valley's drinking water. Our grinders run with a vacuum attached. Scraped chips, dust and leftover resin get bagged and leave with us. Nothing is rinsed into a floor drain, the gutter or the yard.

Day-to-day care

A push broom or wide dust mop picks up sand. Through the winter, squeegee meltwater out the door and hose the floor every few weeks so brine does not build up. Use a pH-neutral cleaner. Citrus degreasers and stiff scrub brushes will dull the clear coat over time.