Anti Slip Coatings For Floors

If you want to make your home or business safer for your family and visitors or customers then one of the number one things you can do is apply anti slip floor coatings to all walking surfaces. There are over one million slip and fall accidents that occur in the US every year. Over 20,000 of these accidents result in death. In fact, these types of accidents are the second highest cause of deaths in this country after traffic accidents. Slippery floors are so dangerous that over 25,000 people are hospitalized each day, on average, due to losing their balance and falling. It is a $100 billion yearly problem.
With these kinds of statistics I am sure you see how important it can be to apply an anti-slip coating to the floors in your home or where your customers and employees walk and work.
Anti Slip Mats
There are really three main ways you can deal with slip problems. The first, which is the easiest and quickest to apply, is with anti slip mats. These work great, are easy to use, easy to clean, and offer great protection. The problem is they are really unsightly and can sometimes cause a slip hazard. You generally will not see these in a home except as anti slip bathtub mats or bathroom mats. The are also used as anti slip garage mats but for the results you would be better off to apply a garage floor coating of epoxy with non skid granules added on top.
Anti Slip Tape

The next method is by applying a special tape on the floor that has an adhesive back along with a gritty material glued to the face. This is a relatively quick solution but there are some considerations that need to be addressed. First, the number one complaint with tape is sometimes it doesn’t stick down. This is usually because the floor surface was not adequately cleaned before the tape was applied. A good cleaning and scrubbing are needed to be sure you get all contamination off the surface. The tape product at the right works very well for most applications and is really great for stairs because you really only need the outer few inches of the treat covered in order to get good protection. Check out this ISC brand tape which is top of the line by clicking on the picture.
Anti Slip Paint
The best, long term solution for a slick and slippery floor is going to be a paint type product. You can buy these either with a grit material already mixed into the paint, or you can purchase a regular paint along with a box of gritty friction material which can be spread on after the paint has been rolled out but before it skins over. That is, before it starts to cure you want to get the gritty additive spread out.
As with the tape, in order to get a long lasting job you will want to be sure to have the floor or walkway surface well cleaned in order to have good bonding. If the floor is concrete you will need to let it age for a month and then etch it before applying the coating. This will help with the adhesion. If the floor is new wood then be sure to apply an adequate primer before using either the premixed anti slip coating or the standard paint that you will be painting and then spreading the mixture on top of. Also, if the floor already has a coating of some time be sure any loose material is removed and the surface is scuffed up to allow the paint to stick well.
The fact is, protecting yourself, your family, and your customers and employees by applying an anti slip paint coating can be one of the absolute best things you can do to improve your safety.

If you find this article helpful, check out these other posts:

Anti Slip Paint Choices

The Different Options for Anti Slip Flooring

Non Slip Floor Paint

Anti Skid Paint – Protect Yourself Against Falls

Cement Paint – Give your Garage or Basement a Whole New Look

For more information:

Gripguard.com.au

Astantislip.com

Algrip.com

Slipfix.net