Welcome to the AB Forum

Our locker rooms are the only entry and the only exit into and out of our pool (for regular use). The floors are all tile. We have continual problems with standing water in the changing area. It drains, but wet people are either coming in from the showers or dirty people are entering from the outside. As you dry off to leave, it's tough to find a dry place to set your bag or your clothed child, etc. Anyone else have this problem, and has anyone had any luck with a solution? We're thinking about adding some wet area matting, but I'm nervous about cleanliness and if it will really fix our problem...Thanks!

It sounds like the sloping of your floor is not set correctly to carry the water to the drain. What size tile do you have and when was the floor installed? The wet area matting will help with the standing water in terms of people walking though puddles but it will create other issues and could potentialy create an issue with your facility meeting the ADA requirements. As you noted it would also add some extra maintenance to clean the matte and underneath.

Thank you for the response! Our tile is 1 inch squares - I think you might be right about the pitch, but I can't imagine the expense of changing that. Thanks for the reminder on ADA compliance. As I looked at matting I was considering the accesibility of wheelchairs and walkers, but probably should check codes to be sure my ideas of 'enough space to get through' is the same as ADA.

I'd have to agree that the matting might not be a good solution for this issue unless you want to use them to "define" a wet area that would encourage people not to wander around all wet--dry yourself off here. You could try the mats in a designated area to see if you could get people to use that area for drying off. Otherwise, you will probably spend as much time moving the mats and cleaning under them as you would put into keeping the tiles free of standing water. Unfortunately, your best solution might be a large squeegee that you can use to push the water into the drains. Labor intensive--I know!

Good point. And a squeegee is probably a lot cheaper!
Maybe I could get some really big air dryers like you see at the car wash to just force people to dry off in designated areas!!! (Totally kidding, of course).
Again, thanks to you both for the responses. It helps!!!

AKnudson wrote:

To be realistic you are not going to have a staffer squeegee the area 24/7.

I saw an elegant solution to this at the Hotel Niko pool in San Francisco. They have slatted wood flooring that allows water to drain through. Looked almost teak-ish. However with anything that drains you will have to properly prepare the sub-floor to prevent standing water and the subsequent unpleasantness that can bring.

A lot of facilities would put a carpet or porous rubber but that has sanitary issues.

A slotted shower type mat will still get wet and the bottom of peoples bags will still get wet.

You might be smarter to call back the ceramic tile installer and have them fix it. Or do perhaps a hospital grade shower system like a taradouche that can be installed to properly drain from the outset.

forget my last post. I was reading a magazine from the UK and came across Heronrib. google it. it is what you are looking for.

evan_adams: YOU - Are. AWESOME.
THANK YOU for the tip This looks exactly like what we need.