Overview
Facilitating smooth and safe movements is vital in crowded public areas. London Heathrow Airport is one of these public areas where many people congregate, travelling to a destination abroad or returning home. One of the challenges the airport was facing was finding a sustainable, easy to clean, long term solution for slippery floors.
Challenge
In intensively used places like the Departures area and jet bridges at Gate 12 of Heathrow airport, passengers were experiencing slip issues when entering the sloped surface of the jet bridge caused by wet or damp surfaces. This occurred mainly during the winter months. Creating a safe, well-maintained anti-slip floor was therefore the result desired by Heathrow Airport. There was also a need for an anti-slip system that could be easily cleaned and maintain slip resistance.
Solution
Recoat’s partner AGS One suggested the application of Recoat’s transparant non-slip system consisting of Recoat Cleaner, Recoat Multi Primer Clear and Recoat Floor. The universal, waterborne, clear primer adheres exceptionally well to most substrates and has a very high yield.
Recoat Floor is specifically developed for maintenance and repair of various types of floor. The transparant coating extends the design life of the treated surfaces and is invisible due to the extremely matt finish. Recoat Floor has unique anti-slip properties on both dry and wet floors, without the floor becoming rough. This makes the floor easy to clean. In addition, the coating is resistant to chewing gum: it prevents the gum from adhering to the surface which solves a lot of annoyance for both passengers and cleaning staff.
Specific benefits for Heathrow Airport are:
- Recoat Floor is dry to walk on in very short working times in standard weather conditions.
- It has all international fire ratings needed for Airports and London Underground.
- It is easy to clean and has great anti-slip properties.
- Recoat Floor can also be applied to Vinyl, marmoleum as well as hard surfaces e.g. tiles.
- Reduces cleaning time and cleaning frequency, no harmful chemicals required.
- Chewing gum does not adhere on Recoat Floor.
Outcome: significantly reduced slip potential even on sloped surfaces
After thoroughly removing wax, polish and dirt, the floor was cleaned using Recoat Cleaner. Subsequently, Recoat’s anti-slip system was applied and tested by the AGS One team. The surface has improved dramatically in appearance as well as anti-slip levels*. These are well within the low level of slip potential as seen below, whereas before they were undeniably in the high slip potential range.
Please contact us if you require any additional information. We look forward to helping you with sustainable protection that lasts.
*A detailed report on the tests carried out by AGS One is available upon request.
| Average dry | Average wet |
| A significantly reduced, low slip potential of 66 | A significantly reduced, low slip potential of 54 |
Indication of slip values – Pendulum testing
| Slip potential | Flat PTV* | PTV for tested slope angle |
| High | 0-24 | 0-32 |
| Moderate | 25-35 | 33-43 |
| Low | 36+ | 44+ |
* PTV = Pendulum Test Value
Recoat FLOOR anti-slip system: easy to apply, a very short processing time and ongoing slip resistance
Start applying the treatment at 9:45 PM | Floor is dry to walk on at 05:30 AM.
Figure 1: Applying Recoat Cleaner at 9.45 PM.
Figure 2: Applying Recoat Multi Primer at 10.10 PM.
Figure 3: Applying Recoat Floor at 11.45 PM, finished at 01.03 AM. The floor was dry to walk at 05.30 AM.
