wheelchair ramp painting

arie

hi everybody, this is the first time i post a question.
we have a wheelchair ramp made from preasure treated wood, about 20 feet long, its too steep, but i cant do anything about it. when its wet it becomes a little slippery. i put strips of outdoor tread from 3m, on each plank, after four months it started to curl. then i nailed it. and its worst now. i want to remove the tape and paint or stain it with sand additive, what should use oil or water base. should i prime? oil or water base. also when the tape comes off, there is glue residue. i leave in the NE. thanks for you help.

Harpmaker

HI arie, welcome to the forum!

I expect you will get answers from others more qualified than I am, but I'll just throw my $0.02 in here since I built a wheelchair ramp some time ago and it worked fine for me for two years, after which time the ramp wasn't needed and was removed.

If possible, I would remove the residue from the wood after removing the 3M strips with something like odorless mineral spirits or lacquer thinner. I would then use a good exterior primer (this may not be necessary) and then paint with a good oil-based porch paint. Before the last coat of paint dries (if you need more than one coat) sprinkle the sand onto the paint. The idea is to have the sand sink into the paint so it stays in place, but it does not submerge to the point where it is below the paint surface.

Thurman

I work with a group of volunteers who build ramps for the needy. We use an epoxy paint which has tiny glass beads in it on our ramps for traction. This is blended in at the paint store. It is very important to shake the paint can properly just before using also. We have paint donated by both Sherwin-Williams and Porter Paint with these glass beads in it. Works better than sand for us. To save on paint, we usually paint two wide bands the length of the ramp. This is where most of the traffic is anyway.

mazzonetv

you could also look into a product called "Sure Step" from Insl-x. Any Ben Moore dealer will be able to get it for you (insl-x is a division of Ben Moore). If you wanted a specific color you could probably use a solid deck stain and add an anti-skid additive..

good luck

arie

i still Wait for more reply, than ill make a decision, meanwhile i thank everybody who took time to reply.