outdoor stairs slippery when wet

[John Savage]

We don't seem to have an Aussie equivalent to this group, so I hope I'm allowed to ask a question here.

Our stairs to the street are of a glazed terracotta tile. Despite each tile having 3 grooves to channel away water, the major part of each tile's surface is flat and it's very slippery after rain.

Is there a coating I could paint onto the glaze that would give it a durable non-slip finish? Probably it's needed only for a 1.5" strip along in from the edge and rolling over the curved edge itself.

The steps are subject to baking hot sun from midday on in summer, so a rubbery coating might soften or melt or soon perish. Something with sand or powdered glass might work, if it can be persuaded to grip the vitreous glaze and hang on. Is there such a paint? Is it durable?

I suppose the ideal would be sand in a clear base. Next best would be a white base.

[Richard]

No idea if would be acceptable from an aesthetic perspective - but what about yacht anti-slip paint?

HTH Richard (also Savage!)

[The Natural Philosopher]

G'day mate!

MM. water does that..

You have GLAZED tiles? With respect, chip em up and start over.

The ideal is NOT to use *glazed* ceramic tiles. Its bad enough in the bathroom...

[Cicero]

================================== I would suggest that you 'flat' the glaze with a coarse sanding disk or belt sander. The effect will be that the steps will look as if they're naturally worn by use.

Cic.

[John]

We had a similar problem here at work. I got a company to surface treat the terracotta like tiles and the problem went away. I can't remember their name but since they're UK that won't help anyway. Google for Non-slip floor treatments and you should find a local equivalent. It's like a mild acid that microscopically etches the surface.

John

[Mary Fisher]

Yes, we use deck paint for slippery-when-wet garden steps.

Mary

[Peter Parry]

You could varnish a strip and sprinkle a little carborundum grit on it. Carborundum is used on boat surfaces where a non slip surface is required and much better than sand as a friction material. You should be able to buy it from any boatyard or supplier of fibreglass materials. (You could also sprinkle it on a strip of GRP Resin painted on the step rather than varnish).

It would probably need touching up every year - the grit provides a secure surface so any twisting movement of the foot is passed to the varnish which won't adhere brilliantly to the tiles and will wear with time. It isn't a big job to touch up though.

[nightjar]

There ought to be something in the 55 different products on the pages you can reach from here:

not, these people also do a range of non-slip products:

Bignell

[Jim Alexander]

"nightjar .uk.com>"

A

[John Savage]

Thanks to all for the helpful replies. Deck paint looks like the best solution. A strip of light grey will highlight the edge of each stair for night safety, too.