The season for snow and ice is coming to an end. But it doesn’t mean that the snow will stop falling. It will still be there, and it will stick to the ground unless you do something about it. The only time that it will totally go away is when the spring sun is finally shining. But now that the spring sun is not around yet, here are nine different ways to de-ice your driveway.
- Snow Shoveling. The most basic thing that you can do to de-ice your driveway is by shoveling the snow as soon as the snow stops falling. This will stop them from totally sticking to the ground making an icy pathway. If this task is too tasking for you, you can always hire your neighbor’s kids to do it for you. They sure will be happy to earn an extra buck shoveling the snow in the winter.
- Snow Blower. If you want to de-ice your driveway the modern way, you can always buy a snow blower to do the de-icing. This can be more convenient and less labor-intensive in comparison to shoveling the snow manually. This can be operated using an electric line, battery, diesel or gasoline.
- Snow Melt Mat. The use of this mat can be very helpful, especially when you are laying down a new pavement in the winter or replacing an old one. As oppose to a snow blower, this may come as more expensive because it can only be used with electricity. So, before using Snow Melt Mat, you must first consider the average cost of using one.
- Use Salt or Birdseed. The use of salt and birdseed may not be helpful when it comes to melting the ice. However, they will help you by providing your car a better grip on icy and snowy surfaces.
- Economize Calcium Chloride. A handful of Calcium Chloride will be enough to treat 3 square yards of snow. It is also recommended that you don’t pile up snow on your de-icer as it will defeat its purpose. The use of your de-icer is to loosen the ice from underneath so it would be easy for you to shovel the snow.
- Choose Your Salt Wisely. It is recommended that you use Calcium Chloride (CaCl) instead of using Sodium Chloride (NaCl). Sodium Chloride may contain cyanide, which is poisonous. ON the one hand, Calcium Chloride may promote the growth of algae once they start running off the driveway. The presence of algae may clog your waterway or drainage. However, Calcium Chloride works better and faster than Sodium Chloride. When using salt to de-ice your driveway, make sure that you don’t sprinkle them over any salt sensitive plant like maples, tulip poplars, redbud, rose bushes, white pines, balsam firs, Norway Spruce, dogwood, and spirea bushes. Just focus on sprinkling your driveway with the salt you have chosen.
- Avoid Cat Litter or Wood Ashes. Some people recommend the use of wood ashes and cat litter to de-ice snowy and icy pavements. However, neither actually helps in de-icing driveways. In addition, they get to be messy when the weather starts to warm up.
- Avoid the use of products which contain Nitrogen-based Urea. The use of Nitrogen-based urea is not recommended. It is not only pricey, but it is also not effective in temperature below 20° You will end up wasting money, and possibly ruining the water of lakes and streams as they run off when the weather is warming up. This is not only expensive but is potentially harmful to the environment.
The recommendations above have been tested and proven. When you’re ready, you can make use of these recommendations and de-ice your driveway with success. Happy de-icing!