Thread: Slippery wood floor

Is there an industry standard regarding slippery wood floors? I requested this information from the National Wood Flooring Association, but have not received a reply.

Thank you for your help.
Jack

Are you asking if there is a friction coefficient for wood floor finishes?

There is a thread in the forum about a kid that was sliding on engineered flooring and was injured.

People use to was the begebbies out of their flooring, it was like ice skating at times. But that is a thing of the past.

It would depend on the finish, the type of wood, and is likely published in the information from the manufacturer ... note that there is no specified coefficient of friction for residential floors - is this in a residence or elsewhere where the Residential Code would not apply, where the Building Code would apply?

Think of it this way: in a residence, lighting is required ... to be present, whereas in a commercial setting the lighting is not only required present, it is required to be on, and to meet minimum lighting levels.

The residence has the choices of turning the lights on or off, the commercial setting (most areas where the public goes) is required to illuminated (lights on).

If its a residence, the floor could be, as Garry said, used as a sock skating rink (my wife's cat uses it as such all the time ... just cannot seem to stop or turn where it wants to once it starts galloping across the floor).

I have tongue and groove oak flooring. While most of it is not slippery when in socks, there are sections which become slippery, but this is always after my cleaning lady has been here. I have asked her what she puts on the floor such as sprays, and she says she only uses a dam rag with water. However I am thinking there is overspray when she uses furniture polish which gets onto the floor.

Could this be the case in this situation?

Originally Posted by Raymond Wand

I have tongue and groove oak flooring. While most of it is not slippery when in socks, there are sections which become slippery, but this is always after my cleaning lady has been here. I have asked her what she puts on the floor such as sprays, and she says she only uses a dam rag with water. However I am thinking there is overspray when she uses furniture polish which gets onto the floor.

Could this be the case in this situation?

Could be ... that dam rag could be spreading that dam furniture polish all over ...

I think that is what happening. Fortunately I have caught myself from falling more than once. Either that of my cleaning lady is trying to kill me.

Originally Posted by Raymond Wand

I think that is what happening. Fortunately I have caught myself from falling more than once. Either that of my cleaning lady is trying to kill me.

Raymond,
It may be that the cleaning lady is spraying the cat and the cat is polishing the floors. Or maybe the cleaning is using the cat as a polishing cloth.

Now there is a leap. Jerry has a cat and I transfer it to your situation... Though I would go with the cleaning lady is after you, possibly directed by your wife...

When I wrote "Are you asking if there is a friction coefficient for wood floor finishes?" I was trying to understand the basis of the question. I am sure that the floor finishes are tested by manufactures for many different things, yet they are for manufacturing and warranty purposes. Could a finish be made that is so slick that it would be a hazard, I would think that it could. Durability and cost are the driving forces in manufacturing. Slippery is not one that I've heard of.

If it is a question on liability of the owner for potential hazards then that is a very different topic.

If wood floors are slippery you can try putting a Custom Area rug on it . It might help to some extent.

Originally Posted by Raymond Wand

I think that is what happening. Fortunately I have caught myself from falling more than once. Either that of my cleaning lady is trying to kill me.

If the "cleaning lady" is your wife, then that could be a concern.

For the record I am single. All my life I have been looking for a woman who is well endowed, with a big bank account, and not necessarily in that order! Still looking. They seem to have one or the other but not both...

Some men are brave, others are bachelors!

Originally Posted by Raymond Wand

For the record I am single. All my life I have been looking for a woman who is well endowed, with a big bank account, and not necessarily in that order! Still looking. They seem to have one or the other but not both...

Some men are brave, others are bachelors!

Still doing those visual inspections, huh?

Need to look beneath the visual and start doing real inspections, only then will you truly find what you are looking for.

I can't imagine doing inspections without a flashing, screw driver, tools, ladder, and the other stuff which allows one to do more than just a "visual" inspection - I suggest transferring your inspection business thinking to your search for a good mate.

I like the single life, no commitments, I can buy what I want, do what I want, play the field.

Originally Posted by Raymond Wand

... play the field.

I prefer having the home field advantage ...

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Still doing those visual inspections, huh?

Need to look beneath the visual and start doing real inspections, only then will you truly find what you are looking for.

I can't imagine doing inspections without a flashing, screw driver, tools, ladder, and the other stuff which allows one to do more than just a "visual" inspection - I suggest transferring your inspection business thinking to your search for a good mate.

Jerry is "Flashing" as standard act we should practice every day - I need to get a trench coat if that is the case

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

I can't imagine doing inspections without a flashing, screw driver, tools, ladder, and the other stuff which allows one to do more than just a "visual" inspection - I suggest transferring your inspection business thinking to your search for a good mate.

Originally Posted by Dwight Doane

Jerry is "Flashing" as standard act we should practice every day - I need to get a trench coat if that is the case

Dwight,

I was expecting someone to say something about the next item in my list, and hesitated including it, considering the crowd here.

That "flashing" should have been "flashlight", but I was typing from my phone and, while I like auto correct most of the time ... sometimes I don't catch what it auto corrects to ... and that was one of those times - dang it! Guess you would also need one of those Groucho Marx nose and glasses disguises ...

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Dwight,

I was expecting someone to say something about the next item in my list, and hesitated including it, considering the crowd here.

That "flashing" should have been "flashlight", but I was typing from my phone and, while I like auto correct most of the time ... sometimes I don't catch what it auto corrects to ... and that was one of those times - dang it! Guess you would also need one of those Groucho Marx nose and glasses disguises ...

Frankly , I thought it was priceless. We need more humor in the world. Sure beats dragging a leather Shoe across the floor to measure how slipery it is or is not then measuring the dust and moisture content of the floor finish.

Originally Posted by Jack Wingo

Is there an industry standard regarding slippery wood floors? I requested this information from the National Wood Flooring Association, but have not received a reply.

Thank you for your help.
Jack

What caused you to ask this question?

Jack , while we have all had a bit of fun with this you are talking to the wrong people. You need to be talking to the manufacture first to get their testing information - if they have it. You might even have to go back to the floor finish manufacture that the manufacture uses to get that information. Johnson Wax , now Diversity (I think) had a laboratory and actual experts on this subject. Having run a cleaning and maintenance company that routinly maintained large floors (wood , VCT , Stone) I sought out the best products but also a company that would stand behind me and the products. In fact I believe (don't quote me on this) but I believe it was Johnson wax that built the standard(s) for floor testing along with the science and testing methods which I learned at one time and could actually test a floor. (Yes I am a nerd). This is not comon science , I would doubt you could even find anyone who can do this but that is just a guess.

I put everything together because I wanted to learn the science and actually test some of the floors I was refinishing. The testing however is very time consuming.

I did a quick search and came up with this research paper which may help you - if not contacting the person or professors / advisers for this paper may assist you.

http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/...008hunterd.pdf


also this person is in the right part of the country for this work as Johnson wax is/was located in Wisconin (it may be under the Diversity brand these days)

Originally Posted by Garry Sorrells

What caused you to ask this question?

a heated debate with the cleaning lady concerning her overuse of floor cleaner

Originally Posted by Mike Pagozalski

a heated debate with the cleaning lady concerning her overuse of floor cleaner

That one could be a slippery slope. Often a contributing factor ( use as directed ) rinse with clear water

Originally Posted by Jack Wingo

Is there an industry standard regarding slippery wood floors? I requested this information from the National Wood Flooring Association, but have not received a reply.

Thank you for your help.
Jack

Jack,
What was the cause for the question?

I posted the question more or less out of curiosity. My sister in law had tongue and groove wood flooring with a high gloss finish installed though out her house, shortly after installation it became extremely slippery. A manufacturer rep has looked at the flooring and basically claims that something other than clean water has been used to clean floor. Whatever the cause she now has flooring that is like ice. Not that I've had that much ice walking experience.

Enjoyed reading the responses and friendly banner.

It sounds like it goes back to the foor finish and how it was applied. For this very reason I used to use only finishes from Johnson Wax. They had the research, technical expertise and data to bck up their products. I am not sure but they might have even developed the floor slip testing methods.

Originally Posted by Jack Wingo

I posted the question more or less out of curiosity. My sister in law had tongue and groove wood flooring with a high gloss finish installed though out her house, shortly after installation it became extremely slippery. A manufacturer rep has looked at the flooring and basically claims that something other than clean water has been used to clean floor. Whatever the cause she now has flooring that is like ice. Not that I've had that much ice walking experience.

Enjoyed reading the responses and friendly banner.

Question makes more sense now. Kinda thought that was where you were coming from.

Then there is the question of was the flooring refinished or was it applied on site?

If it was a prefinished flooring which I think it was, then the installers may have cleaned/dust mopped over the floor as they cleaned up. They probably did use some type of cleaner to get up the dust and remove dirt/spots from installation. Dollars to donuts the cleaner had some silicone in it. Even though typically the floor is just vacked post installation.

Originally Posted by Lon Henderson

If the "cleaning lady" is your wife, then that could be a concern.

This is so funny...

This is also my concern since I have kids always running wild around the house.

Originally Posted by PeterPan88

This is also my concern since I have kids always running wild around the house.

The best way to solve that problem is to not let them run wild around the house.

After slipping, falling and getting banged up a few times, most kids grasp the fact that they have control over slipping, falling and getting banged up - the process is called "learning".

I suspect that we have all "been there, done that" and "learned" from doing it - let the kids "learn".

Of course, you could possibly coat the floor with a sticky substance which would require special effort to pull each foot up as one walked across the floor ... that would certainly slow them down ... but it would be a bit of a pain to keep clean (then again, the dirt would be stuck down, so why try to 'clean' it).

A LIKE to Jerry

Next thing we will hear is that there is a law suite over a splinter in one of the kids buts.
Sounds a little familiar??? And it will be the manufacture's/installer's fault????

Solution::::: Kids running on slippery floor = = = TRACK SHOES or spiked golf shoes or let them run with cups of juice. Ecco friendly friction once dried.