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The cold never bothered you anyway? Well, you might enjoy the ice and snowfall during winter but apparently, your asphalt driveway is the one constantly bothered by the harsh cold months of winter. With the cold winter spell fast approaching, are you really sure that you’re driveway is winter-ready?

While the snow and ice can bring in some sort of warmth and comfort while you slowly drink your signature hot chocolate while watching the first snowfall, you must realize that behind all that winter glow are some things we also hate dealing with. A few of which are slippery roads and sidewalks where it can pose potential danger to anyone who passes by. Moreover, we do hate clearing heavy snow and ice build-up, right? Especially if all this snow is blocking your driveway and causing it to deteriorate faster. More importantly, remember that if you don’t clear your driveway of ice or snow, it’s definitely going to be an accident waiting to happen.

First off, understand that snow and ice are not particularly beneficial to your pavement. If anything, they can actually be harmful because melted ice and snow can penetrate the surface beneath and undermine the structural integrity of your driveway. And if your driveway still hasn’t recovered from the “injuries” it sustained from last winter, then better have it repaired as soon as you can! Driveway repair in Stamford offers top-notch service to ensure that your driveway is going to survive this winter unscathed.

For additional precautionary measures, here’s a list of deicers than you can use to keep your driveway in good condition this winter.

Sand

Traditionally, rock salt is used to melt ice on highways, sidewalks, and driveways. While it is a popular choice for homeowners because of its more affordable price and effectivity in melting snow, it is, however, harmful for your lawn, garden, and pet animals because it contains toxic chemicals that can contaminate the water or worse, kill off animals. Moreover, rock salt has corrosive properties that can damage the surface.

Hence, the most commonly used alternative to rock salt as a deicer is sand. Sand works by increasing traction over the ice thus making the surface less slippery and inducing faster melting periods. Consequently, due to the increased traction, sand is then able to make the pavement a safer surface to walk on for pedestrians.

Urea

First, it’s important to clarify that the urea we’re talking about here is not urine! Urea is one of the most popular alternative deicers to rock salt. Although it is more commonly used as a fertilizer, urea is also efficient in melting ice. When applied in the right amounts, it should not harm your vegetation and can even promote growth. However, like with any other product, excessive amounts can lead to harmful side effects.

Nonetheless, what makes urea an excellent alternative to rock salt is that it also has less corrosive properties so you can avoid damaging your driveway with deicers. You can mix urea and sand together for increased effectivity. Urea will melt the ice and snow whereas sand will provide you with better traction.

Calcium Chloride

Calcium Chloride is the best product to use for areas experiencing extreme winters. It’s because calcium chloride is exothermic which means it has the ability to attract moisture from its surroundings and as a result, it catalyzes heat-generating reactions that allow it to work well even on temperatures as low as -25°F. It’s a fast-reacting agent and is perfect for the very cold winter months. However, like any other chemical, when applied in excess can lead to damaging results. Hence, exercise caution when using this deicing agent and make sure that you don’t expose your lawn and your plants to it too much.

Beet Juice

You might be surprised that beet juice is on our list. Apparently, beet juice is one of the most organic deicers there is today and it has been around for years but has not been commercially recognized as a top deicing agent. But as of now, beet juice is used in combination with salt. And although beet juice does not entirely replace salt (as of now), beet juice helps lower the salt quantities needed for deicing. It works by lowering the freezing point of ice and snow to -4° F.

To use beet juice as a de-icer, simply add a glass of beet juice to a mixture of 2 lbs of salt and a gallon of water. The nice thing about beet juice is that it’s completely safe for everyone even for your plants and animals.

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