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I have a path (in Indonesia; rainfall 4000 mm per year) that is a combination of steps and slope.

This picture shows a relatively steep slope over a brief section that's a bridge over a hole. The total path length is around 50m and I guess it climbs around 10m over that distance.

slippery path

It probably had some sort of gravel finish at one point, as on this part of the path:

surfaced

but now it's basically just slippery.

Basically I'm constantly falling over, and I want to fix it up.

Is it sensible to just try and resurface it, subject to some sort of maximum gradient, or am I better just to make the whole path completely flat with stairs?

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    That's a 20% grade, which seems too steep for a path. I'd look at installing steps instead.
    – isherwood
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 18:42
  • Is it bare dirt now, or gravel, rocks, or something else?
    – mmathis
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 19:06
  • it's a concrete path as shown in the picture. some parts steps, some parts ramp
    – thelawnet
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 10:58
  • They make 2-part epoxy garage floor paint to which you can add coarse grit. Don't use it. Epoxy does not like sunlight, it will degrade rapidly from the UV light and leave you with a mess.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 15:18

3 Answers 3

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Anything you add on top will likely wash away. So I agree with the rest that steps would be the best solution.

An easy way to add steps may be put a board on edge the width of the path every 3-5 ft. Then fill in behind it with stones or gravel. The boards, be sure to use pressure treated, would keep the gravel from washing away. The gravel would give you flat sections to walk on which would reduce the slip issue.

I think this would be much easier then building an entire wooden or stone staircase.

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Are you able to use the handrail? I do not think you should convert any of the ramp to steps because the injury potential from falling on steps can be far worse than a ramp.

Can you reduce the slipperiness of the surface by cleaning the surface of the path with some relatively non-polluting cleaner and a scrub brush on a pole? Or is the surface glazed? If the latter, you might have to roughen it with an abrasive.

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It kind of looks to me like there is some stuff caked on top of the concrete. Maybe try pressure washing first? If that doesn't work, yea I guess some stairs would be fine.

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