b'TECHNICAL Tile and bath safetyBy Scott Carothers,Director of Certification and Training, CTEFWith all the beautiful tile availabletiles for level interior spaces expect-today,itissometimesdifficulttoed to be walked upon when wet. make the perfect choice. However,While this test does not identically when considering your selection ofmimictheprocessofstandingin a floor tile in a stall shower, manythe shower (not walking) and is not decisions need to be made to ensurelevel due to the slope to the drain, it a safe environment. doesprovidesomeguidanceasto Many times, the tile selection pro- which tile may function better in wet cessforashowerfloorisfocusedconditions.on the aesthetics of the installationThe Handbook further makes this being a beautiful blend of productsstatement:Accordingtothestan-that will further enhance the overalldard, tiles with a wet DCOF AcuTest project.Buttheprimarygoalherevalue of less than 0.42 are only suit-is to obtain tile that will yield a safeable for floor areas that will be kept surfaceonwhichtostandwhiledry. Polished tiles generally fall into using the shower.thiscategory.Cautionshouldbe TheTCNAHandbookdoesofferexercisedwhenconsideringhigh-somehelpfulinformationthatcan guidetheselectionoftheappro-priatefloortile.Underthehead-er,CoefficientofFrictionandthe DCOFAcuTest,itstatesthefol-lowing:TheDCOF(Dynamic Coefficient of Friction) measures the dynamicfriction,whichisthefric-tional resistance one pushes against when already in motion. Under this test, a slip occurs when pushing off with more force than the surface can resist. Tile which is tested to this pro- A clean crisp look featuring a single slope tocol yields a minimum wet DCOFshower floor leading to a linear drain along the base of the shower seat. Image AcuTestvalueof0.42forceramiccourtesy of Daltile.82TileLetter | January 2020'