My dad missed a step on the cement steps in front of the house and took a fall, fortunately onto the grass. Only damage seems to be a sore wrist and shoulder, an ice pack and Ibuprofen seems to be helping. It looks like I'm gonna have to put some kind of anti-slip pads on these cement stairs .

Looking at these https://www.amazon.com/LifeGri...s%2C307&sr=8-37&th=1

Any other recommendations or, something a bit....nicer?

I don't recall the name, but I've seen tile treatments that do a light acid wash to make it grippy without really changing the appearance. Might work for cement/concrete too.

If you haven't already purchased what you need, I'd recommend also looking at boating supply places and see if there's something they offer that might be better.

One such online retailer I've bought items from in the past is Jamestown Distributors:

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/home

Those grip tapes eventually start to unstick and lift and slide around, especially in hot weather.

At my old job, they used some sort of gritty epoxy paint that grips well. Something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/Non-Sli...TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

3-M No-Skid Tape, about $12 a 10 Ft roll at Home Depot / Lowes

There's the paint Nismo posted about, Then there's a clear coat epoxy that you use for sealing concrete, however you toss silica sand in it to give the epoxy a rough finish / no-skid quality, also found at Home Depot / Lowes

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
Those grip tapes eventually start to unstick and lift and slide around, especially in hot weather.

At my old job, they used some sort of gritty epoxy paint that grips well. Something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/Non-Sli...TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

There's an idea...having a rough surface that's tonal or, a mild contrast would be much better than a big black rectangle shape across each step.

We installed yellow edge trim 5 years ago and what a difference. Ours are not affected by the heat.

Is there a railing ?

You could paint them with concrete stain/paint from Home Depot and mix in an anti slip additive.

Link Additive

It's a micro grain that makes the surface non slipperly, we used it on the Cool Deck patio surface around the pool for years before tiling the deck..

Link to Stain

With low-wing airplanes, like the v-tail, the Piper Cherokee series, Mooneys, etc., you have to step on the wing for entry / exit. A section of the wing is coated with anti-slip stuff, sometimes tape, but more often a painted-on substance.

Use google (or your favorite search engine) to look for "Wing Walk Paint" and you'll find a bunch of stuff. Something there might be suitable.

What happens after the surface gets a coat of wonder grip super traction paint and
Then it ices over ?

Do ice eater crystals, salt or other ice breaker upper treatments compromise the anti slip paint ?

Reading your post carefully, you said he missed a step, not slipped on a step.
If that's exactly what happened, a set of railings on both sides might be the best option.
Otherwise, how smooth is the concrete, or can the surface be roughed up or textured a bit?
Just for slipping help, the item you referenced looks like it would work well, it just stands out visually and some might not care for the appearance.
Unfortunately anything that's obvious enough to catch his eye as an older person, will need to be somewhat more visually obvious and isn't going to look that great to those that don't need the extra help.

^^^^
His slippage had to do with not seeing the edge of the step, thus as he's walking down the walkway, doesn't judge the step-down and takes a tumble onto the grass off to the side. Fortunately, its a small-step so, the fall wasn't too far but, nonetheless alarming and a cautionary tale to slow-down and stop charging out the door, down the walkway. Railings will likely need to be installed however I'd like to start with a visual aide/anti-slip surface and go from there.

The quickest, easiest visual solution is yellow/black striped tape from Home Depot. That’s what we put in a garage of a rental where there’s a step-down to the main garage floor.

Not sure what your steps look like, but have you considered installing a rail? My mom and some of her elderly friends have almost fallen going out her side door so I bought and installed a rail. She loves it and uses it. She did not want anything drilled into the cement so that is why I had to do one in the ground. Her cement is textured with the pebbles, but it is the first step out the door that was getting people.

the steps in front of the sliding door didn't have a railing until I added this one - It's saved a bunch of bruises and breaks.

A thin textured rubber mat like the picture above would work it seems to me. It could be added if elderly people are visiting, and then removed.

Habitat for humanity will build you a ramp for almost nothing.
With hand rails , the whole manilla not painted,
But you can do that.

The only stipulation is that you have to call them when it is no longer needed.
They will design it, construct it,install it to code and come remove it.

So we decided to go with a simple black/yellow caution anti-skid tape and see if that does the trick as it was more of a visual issue rather than slick-surface issue. We'll see how it holds up, thanks for the responses. Some good images of railings, which I think is a likelihood in the future, thank you.

Also check to see if your dad is wearing bifocals or reading glasses when he walks around. If so, his view of the step will be further blurred, and his sense of distance will be distorted.

Make sure he isn't wearing bifocals or reading glasses when doing stairs.