Nearly everyone who calls us has seen both finishes and is not quite sure which one they want. They are both epoxy, they are both seamless, and they will both outlast bare concrete by a wide margin. Beyond that they are quite different floors.
The short version
- Flake is the workhorse: textured, speckled, genuinely slip resistant, and forgiving of dust and tyre marks.
- Metallic is the showpiece: smooth, high gloss, with a one of a kind pattern made by hand on the day.
- Rooms that get worked in, parked in or wet usually suit flake. Rooms that are meant to be looked at usually suit metallic.
- Both sit on the same ground and prepared slab, and both stand or fall on that preparation.
- The right answer comes from how the room is used, not from which photo looks best.
What a flake floor actually is
Flake is the workhorse. Coloured vinyl chips are broadcast into the wet base coat until the surface is fully covered, the excess is scraped back, and the whole thing is sealed under clear topcoats. You get a thick, textured, speckled floor with genuine grip underfoot.
That texture is the point: it gives slip resistance where the floor gets wet, and the speckle hides dust, tyre marks and everyday mess far better than any plain surface. If the floor is going to be worked on, walked on in wet shoes, or parked on daily, flake is usually the answer.
What a metallic floor actually is
Metallic is the showpiece. Metallic pigment is suspended in the resin, poured out, then moved and worked by hand while it is wet so the colour separates into swirls with real depth. It cures into a smooth high gloss surface that reads more like polished stone than a coating, and because the pattern is created on the day, no two floors are ever the same.
Grip, cleaning and daily life
The two finishes live differently. Flake has texture, so it grips underfoot when wet and disguises whatever the day drops on it. Metallic is smooth and glossy, so it wipes clean easily but shows dust and footprints sooner, the same way a polished bench shows more than a textured one. Neither is hard to look after. They just suit different kinds of traffic.
Which rooms suit which finish
Garages that get parked in every day, workshops, laundries and anywhere water lands lean flake. Showrooms, entries, feature rooms, retail spaces and garages that are as much display space as workspace lean metallic.
There is no rule against crossing over. Plenty of garages carry a metallic floor and look spectacular doing it. The point is to choose with eyes open: the finish is a decision about how the room is used, not just how it photographs.
Price and durability
Both systems sit on the same foundation: a slab that has been diamond ground, repaired and checked before anything goes on. Metallic carries more hands on time, which is the main reason it costs more, and the full cost picture is in what drives the cost of an epoxy floor. Durability is decided by the preparation far more than by the finish, which is covered in why epoxy floors fail.
Deciding
Look at the decorative flake and metallic epoxy pages, then think about what the room actually does all week. If you are still torn, get in touch: quotes are free, and it is easier to choose with the slab in front of us and samples in hand.