Free tool

Epoxy flake calculator

How many boxes of flake to buy for a garage or shop floor. Answer three quick questions; the typical rates are already filled in, and you can fine-tune every number.

Low-angle close-up of a black, white and gray flake garage floor with a flag on the far wall — Close-up: black and white flake More floors

How it works

How the flake calculator works

Flake is ordered by the pound. The pounds you need are the floor area divided by the coverage rate; then you add a little extra and round up to whole boxes.

Pounds for the floor = area (sq ft) ÷ coverage rate (sq ft per lb).
Pounds to order = pounds for the floor × (1 + extra %).
Boxes = pounds to order ÷ box size, rounded up.
Cost = boxes × price per box; cost per sq ft = cost ÷ area.

Worked example: a 20 × 20 ft garage

400 sq ft, full broadcast of 1/4-inch flake at 6 sq ft per pound, the middle of the typical 5–7:

400 ÷ 6 = 66.7 lb for the floor.
66.7 × 1.10 = 73.3 lb with 10% extra.
73.3 ÷ 40 = 1.83, so 2 boxes (80 lb), with 6.7 lb left over.
2 × $115 = $230, or $230 ÷ 400 = $0.58 a square foot.

At the low end of the range (5 sq ft per pound) the same floor takes 80 lb before the extra, exactly two boxes; with 10% extra you would buy a third.

Flake is one line of the job. The base coat and topcoat it sits between come from the coverage calculator, and your price from the job pricing calculator.

Typical coverage, square feet per pound

Flake coverage in square feet per pound, by size and broadcast type
Flake size	Full	Partial	Light scatter
1"	9–12	25–50	50–200
1/2"	7–9	25–50	50–200
1/4" and 1/8"	5–7	25–50	50–200
1/16" and hybrid	3–5	25–50	50–200

These are approximations: real coverage depends on how you throw, how thick the base coat is and how dense the customer wants the look.

Before you order

Measure the floor, not the room: leave out stairs, built-in benches and anything you won't coat.
Keep one blend from one production lot where you can; color can vary slightly between lots, so mix boxes together if you have more than one.
Broadcast into a base coat that is still wet; a full broadcast is done when no wet spots show.
Scrape and vacuum the loose chips after the base coat cures, before the topcoat.

Defaults

How we set the defaults

Input	Default	Why
Floor size	400 sq ft	An example: a 20 × 20 ft garage. Enter your own floor.
Coverage rate	6 sq ft per lb	The middle of the typical 5–7 for a full broadcast of 1/4" or 1/8" flake. Other sizes and broadcasts use the middle of their own range, as in the table above.
Box size	40 lb	The standard carton for broadcast flake.
Extra for waste	10%	An allowance for uneven throws, touch-ups and spills. Change it to match your own jobs.
Price per box	$115	Inside the typical $90–125 for a 40 lb box of 1/4" flake. Blends and suppliers vary, so use your own price.

Questions

Epoxy flake: frequently asked questions

How much flake do I need for a two-car garage?

For a 400 sq ft floor with a full broadcast of 1/4-inch flake, the typical 5–7 sq ft per pound works out to about 57–80 lb, so two 40 lb boxes. A 600 sq ft floor, or the same floor with 1/16-inch or hybrid flake, needs about three.

How many square feet does a 40 lb box of flake cover?

About 200–280 sq ft at a full broadcast of 1/4-inch or 1/8-inch flake, about 120–200 sq ft with 1/16-inch or hybrid flake, and about 1,000–2,000 sq ft at a partial broadcast.

What is the difference between a full and a partial broadcast?

A full broadcast covers the base coat completely: you throw flake until the wet coat cannot take any more. A partial broadcast scatters flake over a colored base coat that stays visible between the chips, so it uses far less: typically one pound for every 25–50 sq ft, and one pound for 50–200 sq ft for a light scatter.

Does flake size change how much I need?

Yes. Smaller flake takes more pounds to cover the same floor. Typical full-broadcast rates are 9–12 sq ft per pound for 1-inch flake, 7–9 for 1/2-inch, 5–7 for 1/4-inch and 1/8-inch, and 3–5 for 1/16-inch and hybrid blends.

How much extra flake should I order?

The calculator adds 10% by default, an allowance you can change under “Fine-tune the numbers”. Flake is sold in whole boxes, so rounding up usually adds more. Running short in the middle of a broadcast is worse than a partial box left over.

Watch every step before you do it

The Epoxy Playbook: full installations recorded start to finish, which you can replay as often as you need, plus pricing, quoting and selling the job.

See what the Playbook covers