About:

Ceramic tiles are the hard surface flooring of choice for areas where the greatest slip-fall hazards exist and the most foot traffic.  This creates the greatest number of slip and fall flooring incidents.  It is second only to family bathtubs, which creates unacceptable, slippery and soapy conditions for elderly, infirm, medicated, intoxicated and unwary persons.

Slippery pool deck tiles are commonly the most misunderstood and feared condition facing property managers, parks boards, janitorial services, residential and public works people.  When an architect originally selects the ceramic tile, it is to provide a surface with the ability to maintain a sanitary environment, ease of cleaning and maintenance, chemical resistance, slip-resistance, a long service-span, etc.  Quality vitrified ceramic tiles have durability attributes that last.  It’s unnecessary to prematurely replace tiles.  Often a simple rejuvenation or housekeeping is all that needs to be performed.

Shiny versus Matte, Glazed versus Unglazed, Wet versus Dry, Light versus Dark, Rough versus Smooth, Hard versus Soft… there’s many things to consider when trying to better understanding ceramic tile.

There are many myths concerning slip-resistance of different surfaces.

It is often thought that a matte glazed surface will be slip-resistant. This is not true. Even rough glazed tiles can be slippery when wet, if not treated with the 'Safe Solution®' anti-slip treatment.

Everyone wants easy-clean tiles but they are willing to trade some of the ease of cleaning for greater slip-resistance and safety. Even to buy a slip-resistant tile initially is to trade some of this ease of cleaning.

Finding the balance between 1 to 10 needed and wanted attributes:

Level 1: slippery, easiest cleaning-ability, aesthetics, slippery (smooth glaze), colour (intensive), stain resistance, high gloss finish.
Level 5: chemical resistant, stain resistant, reasonable cleaning, slip resistance (not too much), durability, desired aesthetics, low maintenance.
Level 10: rough, reduced cleaning-ability, durability, slip-resistance, texture, unglazed, sand glaze, raised disk.

The objective is to find a middle ground; to choose a tile with acceptable target qualities. To find a point where it is acceptable for cleaning and maintenance but no longer slippery. It’s not a question of shiny versus matte or even shiny versus dirty. The alternative is treating a glazed tile. It can still leave it more cleanable and slip-resistant than if an unglazed tile or a slip-resistant tile was initially selected for the floor.

Sanitary Environment:

Clean ceramic tiles will not provide a surface for bacteria, algae, or fungi or any other organic materials to grow. Even the pH level of grout joints is 11 and they are denser, harder, and far more resistant than may be suggested by some. They will not be affected by periodic acidic treatments. Even the manufacturers provide 'Sulfamic' acid cleaning treatment; however, acid is NOT a practical recommendation for repeated cleaning, using higher acidic or vinegar solutions. This is commonly recommended in janitorial and maintenance manuals but is unacceptable for both the tile and grout.

Chemical Resistance:

Tiles are specifically manufactured with this attribute in mind. They do not include materials other than inorganic and vitrified (glass-like) mineral components. The primary element used is quartz. Quartz is highly chemical and acid resistant. Even laboratory beakers are composed from similar minerals.

Slip Resistance:

This is one of the key issues facing ceramic tile. No hard mineral surface remains slip-resistant permanently, not without some periodic rejuvenation. The ceramic tile manufacturers go to added lengths to produce and have tested tiles in accordance with industry standards and slip-fall requirements.

Most pool deck tiles are unglazed, mosaics extruded clinker or dust pressed porcelains. They have a service-span of hundreds of years. The substrate and building construction will usually start to deteriorate long before the ceramic tiles. Even several Roman baths are still working 2000 years later with the original tiles. Tiles have been installed for thousands of years using cementitious materials. There's no need for anything more than thin-set and standard cementitious grout. In the county borough of "Bath" in Somerset, England there are medicinal springs noted since Roman times and which were very fashionable in the 18th century, a time of much of it's architecture.

Our point is that these are popular, even today, baths have been there for centuries with nothing but cement materials used to bond and fill the mosaic joints. Stick with these materials and their most historically recent chemical improvements and you can't be wrong.

A product such as the Safe Solution® anti slip treatment will rejuvenate the ceramic surface to their original slip-resistant characteristics. In addition, tiles that are specified incorrectly can be altered to provide an acceptable slip-resistance without needing to remove them. This is a considerably different process than heavy scoring, sandblasting, harsher multi-acidic etching, grooving, etc., which damage tile surfaces.

Ease of Cleaning:

There are rough, sandpaper-like tiles on the market. These are unnecessary to provide adequate fall prevention. In fact, all such tiles will only create cleaning difficulties and become a trip-fall hazard. The purchase of a good quality, smooth surfaced unglazed mosaic or floor tile pavers is all that is needed.

For daily cleaning, use a quality cleaning solution, such as: the Clean Step™, which has specifically been designed for cleaning tiles and has a pH compatible with the grout joints. The nature and formulation of the 'Maintenance Solution' allows it to act also as a superior general high performance cleaner on most all surfaces.

The 'Clean Step™' is a non-caustic formulation that will also not harm pool filters. It is fully compatible with any pool environment. Regardless, it should clean a surface and be flushed away. Any residues will be insignificant and harmless if entering a pool.

Long Service-Span:

Pool decks are predominantly unglazed, mosaics extruded clinker or dust pressed porcelains. They do not have a glaze that wears out. Quality tiles are uniform throughout their bisque or biscuit (body) and have a hardness of Mohs 7. They are between 9 to 12.5 millimeters thick. Normal footwear will remove about 65 microns of surface within a 2 to 3 year lifespan of the tile, but pool decks are virtually unaffected by footwear. Subjected to extremely light traffic, regular maintenance and cleaning conditions, a quality unglazed ceramic tile on a pool deck has a lifespan of between 450 to 625 years. Rejuvenation of the pool deck surface is all that is needed every 7 to 15 years.

Treatment and maintenance of these unglazed tiles is not a problem and visually is unnoticeable, other than the improved slip-resistance. They are designed to last and to provide the long-term easy maintenance and slip-resistant surface for wet traffic environments.

Ceramic tiles, simply by their unique properties, have the ability to provide extended service dynamics. Replacement is not always the best solution.

Everything depends on “location, foot traffic, and cleaning regimen”.

In the typical Commercial Kitchen, the normal life between maintenance is about two to three years. It will only wear out as the tile itself wears out.

We provide a cleaning and Clean Step that maximizes both the safety and longevity.

In applications around Swimming Pools, the maintenance life could be as long as 10 years, simply because bare feet will not wear the surface down as fast and the cleaning activities and surface residues are far less than in a kitchen environment.

For a Shopping Center’s Exterior Entrance, the maintenance life may be only several months, depending on the hardness of the tile and surface dirt. This is the most challenging area. Ceramic tiles are made from silicate, based materials. The sand and grit found in dirt, often tracked over the area, can act as an abrasive that will defy treatment longevity. If kept clean and swept, and properly maintained, the treatment will remain considerably longer.