While you can’t prevent snow from piling up on your driveway during a snowstorm, you can get out there to remove it during the storm or after the last flake swirls onto your property.
If you have a sheet of ice underneath all of that snow, you first have to move the snow to get to the ice.
If you have a long driveway, it’s probably better to buy or rent a snowplow that you can hook up to your truck or hire someone to plow your driveway for you.
However, if you have an average driveway, you need to get out there with a shovel and deicer to remove it. Here are nine steps for removing snow and ice off your driveway:
- Shovel the snow: You need to shovel or use a snow blower to move the fresh snow off the ice before applying any deicer to it.
If you’re shoveling, make sure you use a sturdy metal shovel. Make sure there are no gashes or broken parts on it. Otherwise, a dull shovel can create cracks and holes in your driveway.
- Spread rock salt or other deicers on your driveway: After most of the snow is removed from your driveway, use a spreader to apply rock salt or another deicer on your driveway.
- Substitute calcium chloride or magnesium chloride: If you’re concerned about the harmful effects of rock salt on your pets’ paws or you don’t want any salt shoveled onto your lawn, you can use calcium chloride or magnesium chloride in a spreader to remove ice.
These deicers come in pellet form and will be crushed into smaller pieces by your spreader.
- Remember to keep rock salt off your lawn and flowerbeds: Rock salt can burn your lawn grass and kill your perennials. Plus, too much salt in the soil depletes it of essential soil microorganisms.
- Don’t let your pets lick or eat the rock salt: Also, rock salt and other deicers, such as calcium chloride, can be toxic to dogs and cats.
Symptoms of rock salt or other deicer poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, trembling, seizures as well as other symptoms. If you think your pet ingested any deicer, call animal poison control or take your pets to the local pet emergency room.
- After applying rock salt to your driveway, it’s time to pick up the shovel again: Depending on the ice’s thickness, you may need to wait up to 30 minutes for the ice to soften.
Get your sturdy shovel out again to scrape the ice off your driveway. Make sure you clean off all slush, so it doesn’t refreeze overnight.
- Eco-friendly ways to remove ice from your driveway. There are other eco-friendly methods for removing ice from your driveway. These methods include installing snow melt mats or you can mix water and vinegar. Put it in a watering can to apply to your driveway.
Need help finding snow and ice removal products? Contact Monnick Supply.
Source: brinly.com
