Steps were the order of business today…
Vernon had them all cut and ready to go, so it was up to me to sand and stain today. Vernon helped some, but he admits that finishing isn’t his “thing”, and I sand a bit more than he does!
The stain actually matches the mud room cabinets, and doesn’t look too bad with the kitchen cabinets one room removed!
Tomorrow the first of multiple coats of poly goes on… hopefully I can get quite a few on before he gets too anxious and nails things down! Once they go down, I know they’ll never be as clean again!
I have a question for you! We had to put laminate down on the landing at the doorway, it was the only thing thin enough to work… but I’ve already slipped on it coming in with snow on my boots. Do you think I could put grit or sand in some clear poly and coat the laminate to add traction? I don’t know how poly and laminate would work together, and I’m not sure how easy it would be to clean either.
Ideas, folks??? A rug isn’t going to work there now… too thick for the door to open over, so I’m stuck in thinking up other ideas…
Find me here!
How about the non slip appliques for bathtubs ??????????????
I add sand to my paint to help. But, I think the gritty strips would work really well. Better option. Yes a bit harder to sweep. Would not extend the strips all the way to the walls. That way you can sweep around them. I KNOW you will come up with a great idea.
I like this idea, Ginger, thanks.
We ended up altering the bottom of our door and putting a new threshold there so we could use a mat designed to trap dirt and moisture. Didn’t cost that much and works great.
Carol I had the same problem after putting wood stairs and landing in. I know your landing is laminate but they are both really sllippery when wet. I do have a rug on the landing, which you said won’t work for you. I also installed handrails and got into the habit if grabbing a rail as soon as I get in the door.
The wood stairs are also very slippery so I did add grit to the poly. That helps some but I didn’t think it was enough so I added the rubber edge strips. I hated pounding nails into that beautififul wood but did not want to fall so went ahead and did it anyway. I used a darker brown strip on the light wood so have the added advantage of contrast which also helps falls for those wearing bifocals or fogged up glasses.
Great tips, Mary… thanks for sharing your experiences!
Grit in poly may just get very lumpy, not sure. There are strips that are added to outside concrete step that are like sandpaper. Home Depot and Lowes carry some of these.
I’m afraid nothing will stick to the laminate floor surface paint/coating wise. That stuff is baked on – and what you try to add will just peal up quickly.
The strips is an option. Rubber duckies like you use in the bath tub?
(sorry, the image stuck in my head so I had to throw that idea out….)
Wellll…..I guess you could always sand the bottom of your door to fit what ever you use on the floor.
….whoops….Could you use a non-skid, washable area rug there or one of those rubber ones that clean your boots?
When I stained my front porch concrete to match the redwood colored shingles, Lowe’s (my home away from home for all projects) had something gritty? you could add so the concrete wouldn’t be slick. I think it came in a jar. There must be something like that at a builder’s supply place for your project. Or maybe you could texture it someway while wet. Could y
How about using the gritty strips used for the edges of stairs? Poly with grit is still going to be slippery.