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Decking quickly becomes dull and worn when left untreated, and anti slip paint represents a colourful alternative to varnishing or staining. While the latter simply adds a clear coat of protection, pastel colours can dramatically enhance the appearance of your decking.
Moreover, anti slip properties are vital because painted and varnished/stained surfaces can be treacherous underfoot, especially in poor conditions.
While there’s no perfect product on the market, we highly recommend Cuprinol’s anti slip decking paint. During our extensive anti slip decking paint reviews, Cuprinol’s paint consistently scored top marks in all areas. The only downside is its limited colour choice.
And we’re not the only ones recommending this paint! Mixing value with choice, users praise Cuprinol’s Anti Slip Decking paint for its quality and durability.
In a Hurry? Here’s our Top Pick for the Best Anti Slip Decking Paint in 2021
- Long lasting weather protection
- Anti slip finish
- Water based
- Up to 8m2 per litre with 2 coats on bare or previously stained wood
- Drying time: 2-6 hours depending on the nature of the surface and the weather conditions
A Cover Story
Like all paints, decking paint is marketed with its coverage in square metres per litre. However, it’s advisable to halve this ratio since decking usually needs two coats of paint to avoid peeling in poor weather. This issue is something Cuprinol explicitly acknowledges, marketing their anti-slip decking paint as covering up to eight square metres per litre with two coats of application.
Ronseal and Garden Timber simply claim their products offer coverage of 13 square metres per litre, presuming a single application will be sufficient.
Reviews of all three of our shortlisted products indicate a degree of subsequent peeling. However, it may be the case that the reviewers had only applied one layer.
As with internal redecoration, two coats provide greater resilience against the inevitable wear and tear experienced by decking. From patio furniture being dragged around to pets running across it, horizontal decking panels tend to lead a tough life.
Pro Tip: You can often save time using a roller to cover decking rather than a brush. This YouTube tutorial guides you through the roller approach from three minutes into the video. However, deeper ridges may necessitate a brush to reach the bottom of each channel and the corners therein. We recently reviewed the best rollers on the UK market if you’re going down the roller road.
Colourful Language
All three of our chosen products come in various colours since this is a crucial advantage of choosing anti-slip decking paint over varnish or woodstain.
Cuprinol keeps the choice simple with the following five neutral colours:
- Natural Oak
- Urban Slate
- Black Ash
- City Stone
- Silver Birch
Ronseal’s range includes the following thirteen colours:
- Cedar
- Charcoal
- Country Oak
- Dark Oak
- Medium Oak
- Mahogany
- Teak
- Slate
- Stone Grey
- Walnut
- Willow
- Sage
- Blackcurrant
If a choice of colours is of vital importance, then Trade Paints slightly edges out Ronseal with the following fourteen shades, including three shades of green.
- Anthracite Grey
- British Racing Green
- Lizard Grey
- Mid Blue
- Mid Green
- Moorland
- Royal Blue
- Sky Blue
- White
- Battleship Grey
- Black
- Coffee
- Oxford Blue
- Plant Green
It might seem counterintuitive to paint decking green given its propensity to develop mould, but green garden timber has become hugely popular in recent years. It blends in alongside lawns and trees, reducing the visual impact of fencing or decking.
Pro Tip: If you’re struggling for inspiration in terms of colour, this in-depth YouTube guide gives you an overview of how different shades combine with (or contrast against) other garden elements.
Anti Slip Decking Paint Reviews – The Top 3
These are our picks as the best anti-slip decking paints currently on sale in the UK, starting with a product from one of the time-served masters of garden maintenance…
1. Cuprinol Anti Slip Decking Stain
- Long lasting weather protection
- Anti slip finish
- Water based
- Up to 8m2 per litre with 2 coats on bare or previously stained wood
- Drying time: 2-6 hours depending on the nature of the surface and the weather conditions
Cuprinol does the best job of balancing disparate and often competing attributes. This product offers the best coverage at 16 square metres per litre – or eight square metres with a second coat.
We especially liked Cuprinol’s honesty in recommending that a second coat must be applied to bare or previously stained wood, as well as admitting that roughly sawn timber or grooved decking will reduce coverage. Competitors are less forthcoming, yet two coats appear to be the industry standard for a hard-wearing weather resistant finish.
Cuprinol is keen to highlight the invisible anti-slip microbeads incorporated into their paint, which helps to reduce slippage.
This product additionally contains an algicide to prevent green algae or mould growth – the mortal enemy of decking.
However, there are drawbacks to this product. It’s not the cheapest, and the colour range is severely limited (you can have it in any colour you want as long as it’s grey or natural oak). It also has safety warnings relating to sensitising substances and the allergic properties of benzisothiazolone.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The best coverage on test | It comes with allergy warnings |
| Dries in a couple of hours | Limited colour choice |
| Uses algicide to prevent mould growth |
2. Ronseal Ultimate Decking Stain
- Ronseal Ultimate Protection Decking Stain will keep your deck protected from the weather and everyday wear and tear. It looks great all year round, with added slip resistance. It lasts twice as long as a standard decking stain.
- Available in a range of colours.
As one of the most recognisable outdoor timber treatment brands, Ronseal’s place on this list is hardly a surprise.
With thirteen colours on offer, you’re likely to find a shade that ties into your garden, from warm stone to green sage.
Coverage of 13 square metres per litre is respectable, though hardly market-leading. This coverage makes Ronseal marginally cheaper than an equivalent quantity of Cuprinol paint and significantly more affordable than Trade Paints’ offering.
Ronseal claim their product lasts twice as long as a standard decking stain, which suggests it offers durability. It doesn’t receive higher praise from people who’ve given it long-term testing on their decking, but there have been fewer concerns expressed about peeling and flaking than its competitor products.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Good colour choice | Not the best coverage |
| The cheapest paint we tested | No primary colour shades |
| Highly regarded |
3. Trade Paints Garden Timber Decking
- Application Brush, Roller
- Drying Time 2-4 Hours
- Overcoating Time 12-16 Hours
- Coverage 13m² P/Litre
- Satin Finish
Compared to the other names on this list, Trade Paints may be something of an outlier.
This British brand has been around for a quarter of a century, manufacturing a variety of vehicle cleaners and primers, but it’s best-known for its paint range. From reflective road markings to telephone box paints, their range also includes 14 colours of anti-slip decking paint.
Coverage of 13 square metres per litre is identical to Ronseal but down on Cuprinol, while a drying time of two to four hours is also industry standard.
There’s no talk of algae resistance or microbeads here, though there is in-built UV protection, and the satin finish is slightly glossier than our other tested products. Indeed, some users have compared its consistency to gloss paint, with several reviews reporting dripping.
Trade Paints recommend application by a roller and brush, so it may be advisable to pour this into a square tray rather than attempting to extract it from a circular tin where drips would be less predictable.
The main drawback to this product is its cost. It’s around 50% more expensive than either of its competitors, yet it doesn’t appear to offer any benefits in composition, durability or coverage.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The best range of colours | Far more expensive |
| Dries within a couple of hours | Question marks over durability |
| UV protection built-in |
Final Thoughts
With little to split these three products, Trade Paints ultimately loses on value. It costs 50% more than either of its competitors, without offering anything different or significantly better. It has the widest choice of colours, but that alone doesn’t justify its premium.
Splitting Ronseal and Cuprinol is more complicated. Both companies are synonymous with patios and decking, but we reckon Cuprinol’s anti-algae formulation and superior coverage earns it top billing in our test. Just be sure you’re happy with grey decking before taking the plunge since it lacks the colour choices of its competitor brands.
Since any decking finish is only as good as its application, our in-depth test of the nine best paint brushes on sale in the UK could be a perfect companion piece to your chosen anti-slip decking paint.
Anti Slip Decking Paint Reviews – Comparison Table
| Model | Size | Coverage | Colours | Cost | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuprinol UTDSUS25L Urban Slate | 2.5l | 16 m2/l | 4 | ££ | 8 |
| Ronseal Ultimate Decking Slate | 5l | 13 m2/l | 10 | ££ | 8 |
| Trade Paints Battleship Grey BS18B25 | 5l | 13 m2/l | 14 | £££ | 7 |
