Advice Needed for Coating on Non-Slip Wooden Decking Please Ask questions and find answers on all your decking problems and issues

[moags]

Hi there. After reading many horror stories of extremely slippy decking, I have had non-slip wooden decking (with strips of grit set into groves in the wood) installed. Over the winter it has been fantastic and worth the (considerable) extra cost but it's time to seal it. What should I use, how many coats and what about those strips of grit, I'm assuming I need to avoid these? Advice appreciated.

[diydoctor6]

You could try a Anti Slip Coating, like this one:
https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/DIY-superst ... litre.html

You will need to ensure that the decking is taken back to the bare wood before applying the Liberon Anti Slip Coating, as it does take if there's anything else on the wood.

[neil-the-handyman]

Hi,
I have been laying decking for years and can't for the life of me understand why I see it laid groove side up. The grooves, rather than is mistakenly assumed will provide grip, capture biomass, as part of the groove is always in shade it always remains damp and thus you have the perfect environment for algae/moss etc to thrive. If you think about it you also have less surface area so its bound to be slippier and its harder to clean. Aesthetically it just looks over-powering and unnatural. The moisture trapped by the grooves also upon freezing expands and becomes hazardous.
I always lay my deck with a 1:40 fall in whatever direction leads to sunlight (or away from linking pathways, ideally a flower bed). Thus any rain etc flows off and dries up naturally in the shortest possible time.
Sand can be used to provide additional traction. I recommend treating the surface on a hot spell with a decking oil. This allows the oil to be soaked into the wood and provide a permeable barrier promoting the water to run off thus reducing any issue.
The grooves underneath also acts as a drip tray thus preventing osmosis drawing the water between the decking boards and the carcass and trapping it. This reduces the biological attack and prolongs the life of the structure.

[DavidJatt]

Hi guys, sorry to jump in but I was going to ask a question about decking grip and found this thread. I had looked into matting for decking but all of the options were thick rubber industrial mats. As an alternative, I found some grip sheets and tape here (https://www.firstmats.co.uk/collections/floor-grip-and-safety) which I thought would be more discreet but the grip strips that go in the grooves just add another option for me to consider!

Would anyone care to recommend either matting, grip sheets/tape or the grip strips based on experience? Not sure what to go for now

[Baldy0021]

I have used Retrogrip non slip inserts on my parents decking. They look really good and were very easy to fit. I did not cover the whole deck, I just created a 1m wide pathway from the back door to the steps so they had a safe path to walk across the deck during winter when it was slippery. I bought them direct from the manufacture Gripdeck. They do sell them through a number of supplier but were offering 10% discount if i bought direct from them. They have been down for 3 years and still look like new