Non slippery stones

[Aaron Fude]

Hi,

I have a path made of (what I'm guessing is) keystone slats that goes from the sidewalk to my house door. When it rains the stones become

*very* slick.

Is that the property of all stones or are some stones more slippery than others? I'd like to stick with natural stone if possible.

Thanks,

Aaron

[ransley]

Is it a new walk, I dont know what Keystone is but my old Limestone in shade becomes moldy and slippery in a year or so, Muiatic acid and a powerwash opened up the pores so I dont slip, now I just spray bleach on it twice a year. Slate and moldy concrete is slipery when wet. If its new and slippery , its the stone, but mold can grow quickly in shady areas. Old slate can be like Ice, here some people have slate sidewalks that are killers.

[Salmon Egg]

I presume that almost all slate id prepared by splitting along cleavage planes, Purring such plates horizontally on a walk seems like a sure way to slip.

I have no idea if it will work, and it is bound to cost by but try to pieces of slate into the ground with the cleavage plane vertical. That way, as the slate crumbles from usage, new rough surface gets exposed.

Bill

[fftt]

The walk way / patio stones I've used are referred to as Arizona Flagstone. The material is some what rough and not slippery when wet when the light tan / beige stones are used; grey or blue / green / grey stones tend to be less rough and more prone to being slippery.

As Ransley mentions, any kind of slime / mold growth can be VERY slippery. Also drainage water can carry soil "fines" onto the stone & leave it covered with a thin layer of slippery mud.

cheers Bob

[dadiOH]

The smaller the particles making up the rock the smoother it is. The smoother the stone the more slippery it is. For example, shale/slate is smoother than sandstone/quartzite.

[gfretwell]

I have a "silver/gold quartzite" flagstone around my pool that is very slip resistant when wet. This is a hard natural stone from Idaho. It splits with a rough surface.

These still have the haze from the mortar. Once you clean them up they have a lot of color with silver specks..