Slip-Resistant Coatings Create Safe Seamless Floors

When selecting a floor finish one of the most important issues to be addressed is safety. Seamless floors composed of epoxy or polyurethane polymers are ideally suited for environments with high traffic loads (either foot or wheeled) due to the long term wear and ease of cleaning. When selecting these systems in both decorative and industrial environments, slip resistance must be considered in determining the flooring system itself and the maintenance procedure.

Highly aggressive surfaces as required in parking decks and some wet environments utilise aggregates incorporated into the flooring system to maximise the peak-to-trough differential. Aggregate selection in these systems will affect the long-term slip resistance. Sand is typically used as an inexpensive aggregate in textured floors, but is best used only as a full scatter rather than a very light scatter because it is not as strong as other aggreagtes such as aluminium oxide. This can be substituted to provide a much harder, longer lasting profile. Aluminium oxide is available is several different size ranges to yield a light texture (54 mesh) to a slightly more aggressive texture (36 mesh) or even higher as required for a finish. Deciding the correct finish should take into account the level of non-slip texture required and what cleaning regime will be needed to maintain the finish to the necassary standards in a particular facility.

The binder resin itself plays an important role in maintaining long-term slip resistance. Thin coatings can provide flexibility but cannot hold an aggregate as well as high build systems so only fine aggregates should be selected and for light scatters only. Where a full scatter is being used to build up a thickness as a composite system the base coat has to be applied at a certain film thickness to encapsulate the aggregate securely.  Utilising silica, polypropylene or aluminium oxide aggregates in the topcoats as a light scatter can provide a relatively smooth finish with a modest degree of slip-resistance which can still be cleaned with a modest housekeeping regime. Where full aggregate scatters are applied to create a heavy duty texture an appropriate more intensive and regular cleaning regime will be required to maintain good hygienic standards such as those required in a food factory.

When selecting a flooring system consider performance first followed by appearance and design. Your floor system must withstand the chemicals of exposure, the abrasion anticipated, and any temperature variations. Within this selected group the appearance (colour) and texture (finish coat) can then be specified.