One really nice way of getting a non-slip finish…..That is to use a ‘hard’ varnish by which I mean a two pack poly or epoxy and a peel-ply. This works in much the same way as when you use a peel-ply cloth to get a uniform smooth finish on your epoxy laminating…..you do all do that don’t you?….if not I highly recommend it.
Anyway to get a nice non-slip use a nylon cloth with a wider weave…..plastic deck-chair cloth works well…..put one layer of varnish/paint/epoxy down as a key, let it pretty much go off and then lay another layer down but this time put the cloth on top….make sure cloth is fully saturated by varnish/paint/epoxy. Let it get to tacky stage and then peel the material back off, which will leave the surface of the material embedded into the surface of the varnish. Works a treat….although I would recommend testing first….as it can also all go horribly wrong. certainly works well for epoxy coating…..this is how the non-slip was applied to custom windsurf boards…..where they just used another bit of laminating cloth….and just remembered to pull it before it went hard!!!!!
A FF came down to Roadford a couple of years ago and all sitting-areas of deck were non-slip and looked great. I asked how he did it, without looking too close….and was amazed when he told me….and I looked closer. He had got some sticky backed plastic sheeting, like you get for covering books and stuff on a roll and used that. It had a really nice finely grooved surface, with all the lines running in waves down the lines. He had applied it really well with no bubbles or crap caught under it. Looked really good and of course was soft enough to sit on etc.
eib