I’ve only been through a handful of winters in the great white north (I used to live in a place where golfing on Christmas was usually possible), and I feel like I don’t fully understand how to take the best care of sidewalks and my wooden deck. I also have a new stroller ramp off my deck that may need special care.
So, what’s the best way to make sure that ice doesn’t form on my sidewalks?
Last year I would wait until the weekend to shovel, and I think I’d get much better results if I woke up a little early and shoveled immediately after a snowfall, so I’m going to try to do that this year.
But when should I use salt? On dry concrete when it looks like snow? Immediately after shoveling?
And is there any problem using salt on the stroller ramp? I was thinking about using sand there instead–how does that sound?
I know it’s a bit early to think about this still, but I want to have my gameplan together. Thanks for any input.
In my experience (northern midwest), the municipal fleet usually salt during or after a snowstorm.
A big downside to salting is that the salt is corrosive. My WAG is that salt on top of snow/ice has less contact time with the pavement/road/sidealk than salt directly on the surface before a snowstorm. Plus salt doesn’t do anything unless there’s water (or ice or snow) into which it can dissolve, lowering the freezing point. Plus, salt on top of ice or snow gives some traction for vehicles; salt under wouldn’t.
Where I lived last winter, my LL would shovel snow off the driveway as soon as a half inch or an inch had visibly accumulated, and put salt down on the wet, just-shoveled concrete. She would continue to shovel every couple inches after that–when she was home. She was OCD about it, I think because she was paranoid about me or her other tenant (or the tenant’s girlfriend) slipping, falling, and suing her. The driveway was never slippery, so that was a good tactic, but potentially overkill.
My only experience with sand was when I went to college. They used it as a full-time replacement for salt on the campus sidewalks and the roadways. It was utter shit, people and cars slid all over the place, all the goddamn time. But they were worried about salt degrading the brick walkways and the occasional metal monument/ground light, so they wouldn’t ever use salt.
Can’t advise on proper treatment of wood ramps, though. Is it finished wood? Or bare wood.
If you have sidewalks your town may require prompt shovelling. It is easiest if you get out there quickly and shovel a modest amount of snow before there is any traffic compacting it. Then keep shoveling regularly. Do not salt unless there are slick spots remaining, or ice patches, or if there will be melting/ refreezing overnight.
I used sand as a salt backup last year. You have to use a lot, it is dirty, but it keeps things from being too slick, and is not corrosive.
I’m in Michigan and I shovel the driveway as soon and as often as possible. Once it’s been driven on the snow compacts and turns to ice, which can last weeks here because we can go weeks without sun or above-freezing temperatures. The trick is to keep the sidewalk or driveway as snow-free as possible, especially when the temperatures go through freeze-thaw cycles which result in a film of ice.
I’m rural-ish now; when I lived in the city we were required to shovel the sidewalk along the front of the property, although I never heard of that being enforced. I’m on a little dead-end road which doesn’t often get plowed by the township. People around here take matters into their own hands and my neighbor plows the road to the end whenever there’s heavy snowfall, and he’s nice enough to clear the bottom of our driveways, too.
There are alternatives to salt - like this. It’s what I use on the wood deck off the back door if there’s ice buildup, and on the front porch. It doesn’t sting the dogs’ paws and they don’t track mushy little granules of salty slush into the house. That would work pretty well on your ramp.
Sand doesn’t work that well. I don’t think it would be effective on a wood ramp; a lot of it would fall through the boards.
Yep, the driving and even walking on fresh fallen snow screws you over for a while. Once you have compacted footprints or tire paths they are a real pain to get off. An untouched driveway clears off fairly nicely.
I got really pissed last year when I was getting dressed to go out and shovel/blow the untouched fallen snow when I got a knock at the door. Guy drove his plow up my drive and walked to my front door asking if he could clear my drive for cash. I spent an extra 1/2 hour trying to remove the compacted snow from his foot prints and tire marks. Asshole!
This. Around here we get 2-6" of snow at a crack, but it normally melts completely within a day or two. So we usually don’t bother to shovel at all, just drive through it a couple of times & then it’s gone.
On the rare occasion it stays cold & the stuff doesn’t melt for a week or more, it’s a major PITA to remove the now crusted and compacted stuff. Which has also become very slick due to thaw-refreeze cycling. When this happens it definitely would have been less work to have shoveled it all when it was fresh.
Up in St. Paul - where snow removal is an art form…
I have 4 different shovel types and 2 different snow blowers (one gas and one electric). I also use “salt” on my walks fairly regularly.
Just about any sort of salt/chemical use on a wood deck will damage it. Shoveling can also damage the wood. Depending on the depth of the snow, you can use a good old broom on the wood or use a leaf blower. Though these won’t work well if the snow is wet.
You could also use a plastic shovel. Most plastic snow shovels have a metal strip on the end. Try to find a plastic shovel without the metal strip for the wood. Other than for the wood, plastic shovels in any form are total crap and will crack/break.
The key with ice is to be preemptive. Or, using a chemical (salt) after the area is already wet or has ice on it. Salt/chemical is ice removal/abatement, not ice prevention. To be preemptive, remove the snow cover as soon and as thoroughly as possible. If the area is near a roof edge or other overhang, the sun is going to melt snow above and water will drip down and freeze. Not much can be done about that - except keeping it salted.
If the area is South facing and is not shaded, you can almost count on sun melt and may not need much/any salt. Just keep it clear of snow.
Also - it’s always better to shovel 4 inches 3 times than it is to shovel 12 inches once.
I don’t do anything to my deck except tramp a path to the gas grill (I like grilling in the wintertime - I feel like I am getting away with something).
I use salt after an ice storm, which we get sometimes in the upper Midwest. But I am on the sunny side of my street, so as long as I can get it down to the blacktop I can count on the sun melting off what I can’t scrape away. Salt is also good for the shaded parts of my sidewalk, leading up to my front door.
Thanks for reminding me to get the snowblower prepped for winter.
Omaha…had tons of ice last year which was somewhat unusual for us. I agree with the “keep it shoveled constantly” theory and salt in-between. It doesn’t take a lot of it to keep the ice at bay. I also live in a neighborhood where lots of people walk down my street, so I try to keep the sidewalk as ice-free as possible to avoid any issues with that. There does seem to be a certain point in the ice, however, where salt just won’t get rid of it. At that point, I throw down a bit of snow and sand to add traction, since the clean ice on the sidewalk is just too slippery on its own.
Also, after I personally had three nasty falls last year (two of which were on my own, de-iced front walk), I’m also investing in a nice pair of Yak Traks this year to wear to keep from slipping. On the other hand, I’ve found that the falling down is not so hard…it’s the getting back up that sucks