Water-resistant, textured porcelain, and pebbled stone tiles are some of your top options for a slip-resistant shower floor. They're ideal for new installations and renovations, while specialized adhesive treads and mats are good choices for existing floors.
Having slip-resistant bathroom flooring should be a top priority for every homeowner, but it's even more crucial if you have an aging loved one at home. Seniors are more prone to slips, trips, and falls due to age-related physical health changes (e.g., reduced balance and strength).
Indeed, the U.S. CDC says over one in four adults 65 and older experience a fall each year.
By better understanding anti-slip shower floor options, you can make the bathrooms in your home safer and more secure for everyone.
What Shower Floors Are Not Slippery?
Shower floor tiles that aren't slippery usually feature textured or matte finishes or surfaces. Unlike glossy options that are smooth and shiny, these secure shower floor options have patterns, such as grains or grooves, pressed onto them.
Their pressed patterns give them multiple points of contact with the feet or footwear. The result is more friction and traction, which helps minimize the risk of slips.
Excellent examples are non-slip shower floor tiles made of matte or textured ceramic and natural stones like granite, marble, or slate. Other options to enhance shower floor safety are pebble and stone mosaic flooring.
You'll also find products that offer water resistance, easy cleaning, and moisture control, such as Marazzi, Stepwise, and Tile Choices modern bathroom tiles. You can choose from designs like mosaic and old road street styles and materials like brick, stone, and pebbles.
How Do You Slip-Proof a Shower Floor?
Patterned, textured, or matte-finished tiles are long-term, slip-resistant shower floor solutions, as they already have "built-in" grains, grooves, or finishes when you buy them. Such features make them an ideal solution if you're looking for permanence.
Likewise, consider these anti-slip shower flooring options if your project is a new installation or a more comprehensive shower remodeling or renovation. It's particularly popular among households with aging adults or seniors, as it serves as a crucial aging-in-place (AIP) feature.
According to a report from the Wausau Area Builders Association, non-slip flooring has gained popularity as an AIP upgrade or project, as it can significantly reduce risk in areas that get lots of traffic.
If you already have existing, albeit slippery, floors, and you're on a tight budget, you can slip-proof your shower floor with lower-cost but temporary solutions like adhesive strips or anti-slip mats.
Adhesive strips are rolls of tape or individual stickers that you can apply to smooth surfaces, such as:
- Shower stalls
- Bathroom tiles
- Bathtubs
Anti-slip mats, on the other hand, are mats made from materials like rubber or vinyl and typically have textured surfaces or suction cups underneath.
What Are the Key Features of a Slip-Resistant Shower Floor?
The primary feature that makes shower floors anti-slip is their patterned, textured, or matte-finished top layer. Not only do they provide multiple points of contact for the feet or footwear, but they also help channel liquids away with their water-resistant aspects.
Here are other critical features to look for in your next shower floor if you want it to help reduce the risk of slips and falls.
Enhanced Traction
Some materials, such as vinyl and matte-finished stone, ceramic, or porcelain tiles, have additives and technologies that boost their slip resistance.
Vinyl shower floors, for instance, may have aluminum oxide or ceramic beads infused into their top layer. Such an addition helps increase surface friction.
There are also stone, ceramic, and porcelain tiles that feature innovative technologies like nano-structured coatings or infused surfaces. Their primary purpose is to increase traction, particularly when the tiles are wet.
High Coefficient of Friction (COF) Rating
Before you go shopping for shower floor tiles, it's best to familiarize yourself with COF, which is a slip-resistance rating system used and published by tile manufacturers. They're a reliable way to determine how slippery a specific tile will be under dry and wet conditions.
COF ratings can be as low as 0.04. The lower the number, the more slippery a tile can be, which is why you'd want your shower floor tiles to have a higher COF rating, indicating better slip resistance.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recommends that areas that people are likely to walk on when wet should have a COF rating of at least 0.42 (e.g., toilet facilities). Showers, on the other hand, should have floors with a 0.60 COF rating at least.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Consequences of Slips Caused by Slippery Floors?
Slippery floors, whether in the kitchen, toilet, or bathroom, can cause slip and fall injuries. They can range from minor ones like bruises, scratches, and strains.
The more severe the fall is, the more likely it is for a person to break their bones, hit their head, and sustain spinal cord and brain damage. Severe injuries due to falls are common, and they can be particularly dangerous, even deadly, for seniors.
According to the National Council on Aging, over half of older adults who fall receive hospital care. They're also the leading cause of fatal injuries in the elderly population.
Even in younger people, slips and falls can still be severe and lead to long-term effects like chronic pain and disability.
What Is the Lowest Maintenance Shower Floor?
Porcelain tiles are among the lowest-maintenance shower floor options, as their moisture resistance helps them repel mold and mildew, too. Other non-porous and properly sealed floors (e.g., stone and pebble tiles) are also easy to maintain and highly durable.
It's vital to note, however, that in general, textured, anti-slip flooring requires more maintenance effort than smooth, shiny, and sleek floors. Their grooves and grains are more susceptible to dirt and dust accumulation.
Minimize Injury Risk With a Slip-Resistant Shower Floor
If you want to improve your home and make it safer, consider installing a slip-resistant shower floor, such as water-resistant options like textured, patterned, or matte-finished porcelain, pebbled stone, or ceramic tiles. With these in place, you can minimize the risk of injury-causing bathroom slips and falls.
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