Nonskid on a Varnished Ladder

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by billgewater

If you use a non skid additive, then it's a pain when you do any future re-varnishing. Plus as the varnish wears off the granules of grit, the colour changes in the irregular wear places.

While this is certainly true of sand, walnut shells, etc, it is not true of the polymeric spheres. They sand down easily with the varnish and leave no telltale color. In fact, it is very hard to see the non-skid at all, other than the uneven surface reflections.

Greg

[sailor_ed]

I would consider pads made of the Grey faux wood planking they use for house decks. Somewhat non-skid and should last many years.



I lucked into some dock planking that was being replaced. I wish I knew what kind of wood it was. These pads are completely unfinished and have lasted 20+ years of full time liveaboard use with almost no visible wear. They don't get wet much though.

[jamhass]

For the last teak ladder I built, I cut 1/8-inch deep saw curfs every 3/4-inch or so. Blade was at 45-degrees. For an existing ladder, you might be able to do the same with a v-bit on a smaller trim router.

[magentawave]

Rustoleum and Krylon both make a clear texture in a spray can. I have used it on the nose of many surfboards and it works great. I recently sprayed it on my varnished ladder.

[dfelsent]

Tradition says don’t varnish the rungs. The side rails sure.
Bare wood is pretty good nonskid.

Lacking that the 3M tape is excellent. I’ve used that as well.

[Panope]

A very permanent solution:

https://www.porttownsendfoundry.com/tread-plate