Products To Alleviate Slick Tile Floors

kirbymurphy

The house we bought has beautiful new ceramic tile floors, but I have never seen a floor as slick as this one. Two drops of water and it's worse than ice. Twice I've hit the floor.

I found this page with several products, but it's hard to tell the good from the bad:
http://www.homeexpo.com/HE/n0010.htm

Any recommendations from the pros?

One product i tried to buy a sample from, www.slipguard.com , never returned a call or E-mail.

cleveman

advertisement?

exaggeration?

kirbymurphy

Neither. Just an appeal for help.

I was hoping input from pros that work with tile and have real technical experience beyond cutting, gluing & grouting. I was amazed when I asked several tile contractors, and none knew of such products. They all offered to prepare bids to replace the tile.

This ceramic tile is unlike any I have ever seen. They all present a danger when damp or a bit of grease is on the surface, but this is the floor from HELL.

The tile looks great, but is useless (to me) in its current condition. Several firms offer coatings, but the microscopic etch seems most appealing. The result is to increase the surface friction.

I did find one that took $7 of my money via PayPal. I'll post the results if they ever ship the sample.

CleaningMike

You might want to check out a product called Gecko Grip (http://www.geckogrip.info/index.php?code=28082004). It might be a little hardcore, but from what I've heard it's effective.

__________________
Bianco Japan
http://www.biancojp.co.jp/english/index.html

cleveman

What brand tile?

What makes them so different? Are they slicker than a polished marble or granite or porcelain?

Are they really ceramic? What size?

I suppose if it is an unglazed polished porcelain, you could unpolish it. You might even be able to unpolish a glazed ceramic or porcelain to a certain extent without ruining it. Or go ahead and ruin it and call it distressed.

kirbymurphy

12" tiles and I believe they are glazed ceramic but I'm not that knowledgable on tile. It looks like standard ceramic and it has a very shiny glaze. Knowing the purchasing habits of the guy I bought it from it's probably the lowest price product available.

It looks like every other tile floor I've had but it by far the slickest.

I want to avoid a surface coating product since I like the way the floor looks and a bit of Googling makes me think micro-etching is the way to go. There are just so many products out there and they all claim to be the best.

Thanks!

KitchenSync

Without seeing it, it sounds like the previous owner may have installed wall tile on the floor. Even if it's not, it sounds like something most of us would never specify, especially given the painful reasons you've experienced. My sympathies.

If it's a glazed ceramic, micro-etching may be a possible solution. (After that second fall, I'd be breaking the tiles with anything I could get my hands on and replacing them, but I'm a tad prejudiced there, so don't mind me. )

Micro-etching's been performed outside the States for some years, but isn't that well-known in the U.S. residential field. I don't have any recommendations for product, but here's some things to consider:

• Whatever you select, consider a test patch first for any possible slight coloration issues. You'll be "roughing" your floors, which means a slight reduction on the shine as the micro-etched floors will have a slightly rougher texture. (They may also grab the dirt faster than your current polish, but I'd take that over falling any day!)
• Some (not all) products suggest adding a sealer after abrading the top layer of ceramic tile.
• Consider researching the instructions for their recommended cleaners (and cleaning methods) as well.

The treatment usually isn't long term, varying anywhere from 1-4 years depending on traffic areas (you may wear the abrasion down in high traffic areas, depending on tile quality and other factors), but I think it's definitely something to consider.

Good luck with your search!

kirbymurphy

Thanks!

I went to the Gecko Grip web site and submitted a request for info on sales or distributors. All I got back was a Spanish version of the request I sent them in the web site form.

Still waiting for the sample from http://www.xtread.com/sample/
Sent them $7 via PayPal.

I hope the etching works because I expect to sell the house in about a year. I hate to spend the money and time to rip up the old tile when they look so good. Looks like really hard work to me.

kirbymurphy

Just an update.
The sample came and it worked pretty well. Instructions said to apply it and let it stay on for 5 minutes, occasionally rubbing with steel wool or another abrasive.

5 minutes didn't do much so I did it again for 10 minutes, same partial area of tile. You can see where the glaze lost its luster, and a wet finger dragged across the tile suddenly has significantly more resistance when rubbed over the processed area. When I get a full batch, I'll apply it for the 15 minutes that worked the last time.

They warned of the fumes and I suppose you should use with good ventilation, but I couldn't smell it during the process.

The folks at Geko have never responded.

Thanks!