Non-Slip Floor Coating Review
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink… does the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner make you think about your bathroom or kitchen floor?
What happens when water or some other moist or oily material gets on a hard surface floor? The reality is, you’ve just created a skating rink. The coefficient of friction drops to zero and you and your feet start flying in very different directions.
Most commercial businesses think about this problem daily and not just because of the litigation issues surrounding the slip and fall accident. Supermarkets, restaurants, hair salons, warehouses, and any business with a restroom must think about the effects of spilled water, oil or grease on their employees and customers. Lost time from accidental falls costs business billions each year, far more than all the litigation costs put together.
Many homeowners also think about this problem, usually after they or a family member have slipped and fallen.
When hotels, restaurants, homes and businesses spend money on the appearance of their facility, it is to find that magic balance between the safest floor surface and keeping the beauty of the floor they paid for in the first place.
Your goal can be the same – beautiful floors without the fear of someone slipping and falling.
Think about a concrete patio without sealant - it has a very good, high coefficient of friction even when wet. But, as soon as you seal it or put a beautifying coating on it, the surface takes on the same characteristics as a highly-polished tile floor.
So what is the solution?
There are really only four alternatives:
- Coat it. Use a product like the coatings designed for warehouses and garages. Roll on an epoxy-based paint; then apply an aggregate compound; finally add a sealant coat on top. It might be ugly but it will be effective.
- Cover the floor. Place non-skid mats or add tape strips that provide an intermittent surface similar in look and feel to alternative 1.
- Etch the floor. Apply a product that changes the surface characteristics (etches the surface) and therefore alters the appearance of the floor.
- Treat the floor. Use a product that bonds with the flooring material and changes the surface structure without altering the appearance of the flooring material.
For any floor where the integrity, both from a structural standpoint and an appearance perspective is important, only option 4 provides a good alternative.
Posigrip® provides exactly that solution. It is a treatment, not a coating. It works by bonding on a molecular level with the floor’s surface and altering that surface, increasing the coefficient of friction, creating a non-slip surface – all without altering the appearance of the floor.
Take a look at what three of our commercial customers had to say.
Christo’s Place
“We recently had our restaurant and kitchen floors treated with Posigrip ®. The treatment stopped our slip and fall incidents and also made our floors look significantly cleaner.”
Checkers Pizza
“Since you treated our floor in early March the difference has been dramatic. The carpets are in storage, and my customers and I can enjoy the beauty of the tile. I have peace of mind knowing my floors are as safe and close to slip proof as possible.”
US Postal Service
“The design feature of our glazed tile made for some unique problems, but after your treatment process to our floors, the slipping problems have ceased. Our goal was to provide an area to our customers that would allow them to safely access our Post Office, and it worked!”
The peace of mind you’ll have knowing that you’ve dramatically improved the safety of your home may be priceless, but also remember what Christo’s said, “…and also made our floors look significantly cleaner.” A Posigrip treatment will significantly improve the appearance of your floors or bathtub and make them safer at the same time.