Summary for shiny aluminium walkway Discussion
Shiny aluminium on a heavily trafficked walkway is the issue in this thread, with the original poster asking how to make diamond-deck aluminium matte again. Tolgay Özer describes the surface as diamond deck aluminum and says the simplest fix is to apply self-adhesive anti-skid strips, similar to 24-grit sandpaper, preferably with rounded ends and about 1 inch wide. James Watts agrees that abrasive blasting gives the roughest finish, but says it is messy for many applications; he suggests polyurethane coating with grit added while wet, or replacing worn strips as needed, and mentions fiberglass sheet with cast-in particles as another option. A later answer says abrasive blasting is the roughest route, while temporary relief may come from strong pH chemicals, with ocean salt water suggested as a cheap example. The discussion favors practical anti-slip coverings over trying to permanently dull the aluminium surface.
Q. We have a walking way made up of aluminium checkerboard with heavy pedestrian traffic. Especially in the summer time, aluminium gets extremely shiny. How to make it matte?
Tolgay Özer
Technology Materials – Ankara, Turkey
2003
A. I am assuming that you are talking about what we call diamond deck aluminum. The simplest solution is to apply strips of anti skid. This is like 24 grit sandpaper with a self adhering glue on the back. I would look at pieces that have rounded ends and are about 1″ wide and a few inches long.
Grit blasting is too messy for most applications. Polyurethane coating could be painted on and appropriate grit added while it is still wet will work, but not as well in the long run as it will be harder to patch when required than removing and replacing a few strips.
You could cover it with the 1/4″ thick fiberglass that has particles cast into it on manufacturing.
James Watts
– Navarre, Florida
A. There are a couple of ways to go. For the roughest surface, you can’t beat an abrasive blasting system. For temporary relieve, any strong pH chemical should effect the surface finish. Maybe the best and cheapest of these is ocean salt water.
AF Kenton
retired business owner – Hatboro, Pennsylvania