The usual options after a failed slip test are a deep clean for contamination or residue, an anti-slip treatment on tile and stone, a slip-resistant coating, or replacement as the last resort. We do not start with a favourite product.
To make tiles less slippery, deep clean residue first, then apply an anti-slip treatment such as a chemical etch or surface treatment, or add a slip-resistant coating if the tile needs a new face.
Glazed porcelain, stone and some mosaics can take an etch. A worn or sealed tile that will not accept that treatment may need a coating instead. Replacement is the last resort when the tile has nothing left to work with.
The usual options after a failed slip test are a deep clean for contamination or residue, an anti-slip treatment on tile and stone, a slip-resistant coating, or replacement as the last resort.
We read the existing slip test report, look at the floor, trial the options on that floor, and recommend whichever solution works best on it. We work across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
A deep clean suits a floor that failed because of contamination or residue, such as polish, sealer film or the wrong detergent filling texture that is still there.
Some floors fail a wet-pendulum test because polish, sealer residue or the wrong detergent has filled the texture that used to provide grip. Tile, vinyl and sealed concrete all suffer this. If the covering still has a face that can work, the opinion may stop at a written cleaning method and a change of chemistry — and a warning that the next contractor must not put the old product back on.
That path only holds if the report and the surface agree. We will not hide a worn, polished-out floor behind a new mopping schedule.
An anti-slip treatment is a chemical etch or surface treatment on tile and stone, used when the covering can stay and still be made safer when wet.
Treatment means working the existing face so wet grip moves toward the required rating. Kitchens, bathrooms, entries and pool surrounds are common, and they are not interchangeable. A treatment that belongs on porcelain is a poor idea on a worn vinyl sheet. We name the approach after we have read the report, looked at the floor, and trialled the options on it.
We do not treat one product or brand as the only answer. If a system cannot be specified against the material in front of us, we will say so and move to a coating, a grind or replace.
A slip-resistant coating suits a floor that needs a new wearing face rather than an etch, when that substrate will hold a coating.
Coatings sit on the existing covering. They tend to suit sealed concrete, some vinyl, and tiles that will not take a chemical etch. The coating has to match the traffic and wetness of the space. We trial it on that floor before we recommend it for the whole area.
There is no single coating that is appropriate for every hospital corridor and every school wet area. If the face will not hold a coating, we say so and look at grind or replace.
Grind and profile after a failed slip test when the face of the floor has to be opened, or when profiling is the finish that lifts the wet slip rating.
Sealed or over-polished concrete, some terrazzo, and coatings that will not accept a treatment often need mechanical preparation. Grinding can be the whole remedy — a new profile that the pendulum can read — or it can be the step before a treatment is applied. The opinion states which, because the two jobs are priced and scheduled differently.
Grind is dusty, noisy and needs isolation. We would rather say that in the quote than discover it on the morning of the works.
Replace the covering after a failed slip test only when the existing floor cannot be brought to the required rating without destroying it. Anything lighter would be theatre.
Some finishes cannot be brought to the required rating without destroying them. A smooth, worn vinyl in a commercial kitchen, or a glazed tile that has no texture left to treat, is often cheaper and more honest to replace. Replacement is specified to the use of the space and the P-rating that location needs — not to a leftover roll in a warehouse.
If a lighter path will do, we will not talk you into a new floor.
We read the existing slip test report, look at the floor, trial the options on that floor, and recommend whichever solution works best on it. HB 198 and the NCC tell you what a kitchen, ramp, bathroom or healthcare wet area is generally expected to achieve. The report tells you what the floor did on the day it was tested. The gap between those two figures is the job.
We do not claim a treatment will hit a rating until the works are done and a retest has been arranged. The opinion is a contractor’s recommendation. A retest is a separate measurement. Our works report is not a compliance certificate. If the question is what to do with an AS 4663 report, start at how failed slip-test rectification works or the FAQ. Builders pricing a future test should read slip testing for tenders. A floor that has to be measured before practical completion is on slip test before handover.
To make tiles less slippery, deep clean residue first, then apply an anti-slip treatment such as a chemical etch or surface treatment, or add a slip-resistant coating if the tile needs a new face.
The usual options after a failed slip test are a deep clean for contamination or residue, an anti-slip treatment on tile and stone, a slip-resistant coating, or replacement as the last resort.
A deep clean suits a floor that failed because of contamination or residue, such as polish, sealer film or the wrong detergent filling texture that is still there.
Replace the covering after a failed slip test only when the existing floor cannot be brought to the required rating without destroying it.
Kitchen, bathroom, entry, pool, hospital, school or other — plus the PDF. We will write which path we would take, then quote it.