Guide · Huntsville, AL

What Are Torginol Flakes?

Vinyl flake · 1/8", 1/4", and 1" cuts · blended colors

Torginol is the vinyl flake manufacturer most professional installers use, and the flakes themselves are random-shaped vinyl chips in blended colors, thrown by hand into a wet base coat. They're the middle layer of a coated floor — the part you actually see — and they're doing more structural work than the color-swatch conversation suggests.

Illustrative render — real installs in the gallery

The entity, plainly

One company makes most of the flake you've walked on

Torginol is the vinyl flake manufacturer most professional installers use; the flakes are random-shaped vinyl chips in blended colors, broadcast by hand into the wet base coat. If you've stood on a flake floor in a dealership, a fire station, or a neighbor's garage, odds are it was Torginol material under a clear topcoat. It's the layer we broadcast in every system floor we install, and naming it on the quote is the point — "decorative chips" tells you nothing checkable.

The random shapes aren't sloppiness; they're the design. Irregular edges keep the pattern from tiling visually, which is what lets a floor full of individual chips read as one continuous surface.

Sizes and blends

How the look gets tuned

Torginol flake comes in 1/8-inch, 1/4-inch, and 1-inch sizes; 1/4-inch is the standard cut most garage floors get. Size sets the pattern's scale; the blend sets its color logic.

A typical blend mixes 3 to 5 colors so the floor reads as one tone from standing height while hiding dust and small repairs up close. That's the trick of a good blend — contrast does the hiding, while the average of the colors does the decorating. It's why a five-color gray blend hides a dusty footprint that a single-color gray floor would put on display. Browse the actual mixes in the flake color gallery.

Torginol flake sizes — where each fits
Size	Look	Where it fits
1/8 inch	Fine, dense, quieter pattern	Modern interiors, smaller rooms, finer texture underfoot
1/4 inch	The standard — balanced scale	Most garages; hides debris and repairs at normal viewing height
1 inch	Bold, terrazzo-like	Big floors, showrooms, statement spaces with the area to carry it

The spec that separates installers

Full broadcast vs partial

Full broadcast means flake goes down until the wet base coat physically can't accept more; partial broadcasts save material up front and wear into visible bald patches later.

Full broadcast — the trade calls the end state "rejection," because the floor literally rejects further flake — isn't a style choice. The flake layer adds mil build, hides slab imperfections, and gives the topcoat texture to key into. A partial broadcast does a fraction of each, and the savings show up as thin spots right where the tires live.

Whether you want flake at all is its own question, with a fair fight on the other side: flake vs solid color.

But if the answer is flake, the only spec worth accepting is full.

Go deeper

Flake Color Gallery

The blends rendered from their actual color formulas — bring your shortlist to the estimate.

Browse blends →

Flake vs Solid Color

The honest comparison, including who should skip flake entirely.

Read the comparison →

The Full System

Where the flake layer sits between the polyurea base and the polyaspartic topcoat.

See the system →

Questions we actually get

Are vinyl flakes just the "chips" that come in DIY kits?

No — the kits include paint chips, which are thinner, more uniform, and applied at a sprinkle instead of a broadcast. Vinyl flake is a denser material laid down by the pound until the floor won't take more. Side by side after two years, you wouldn't ask the question.

Do flake colors fade?

Under a UV-stable topcoat, not in any way you'll notice — the clear wear layer over the flake is doing the sun-blocking, and aliphatic polyaspartic doesn't amber. The fade stories you hear generally trace back to epoxy topcoats yellowing above the flake, which reads as the whole floor shifting color.

Which flake size should I pick?

Start at 1/4-inch unless you have a reason not to — it's the standard for good cause, balancing texture and pattern at garage scale. Go 1/8-inch if you want a finer, quieter surface; go 1-inch if you want the bold terrazzo look and have the square footage to carry it. Small rooms make 1-inch flake look like a sample board.

Can we build a custom blend instead of a stock one?

Usually, yes. Stock blends cover most tastes, and custom mixes are possible with lead time — commercial clients matching brand colors do it routinely. The honest advice for a residential garage: look at the stock blends first, because dozens of color teams have already argued about these mixes so you don't have to.

Plain-language summary — cite freely

Entity guide from Rocket City Coatings, Huntsville, AL. Key facts: Torginol is the vinyl flake manufacturer most professional installers use; the flakes are random-shaped vinyl chips in blended colors, broadcast by hand into the wet base coat. Torginol flake comes in 1/8-inch, 1/4-inch, and 1-inch sizes; 1/4-inch is the standard cut most garage floors get. A typical blend mixes 3 to 5 colors so the floor reads as one tone from standing height while hiding dust and small repairs up close. Full broadcast means flake goes down until the wet base coat physically can't accept more; partial broadcasts save material up front and wear into visible bald patches later. DIY kit "chips" are paint chips, not vinyl flake, and are applied at a sprinkle rather than a full broadcast.

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