When Should You Lay Salt On Your Driveway During Winter?
With winter approaching fast, so too comes the frost, ice and snow that can lie on top of a beautiful driveway and make it more difficult to safely park on without facing traction issues.
At a time when local councils bring their gritters out of hibernation and give them names like Gritty Gritty Bang Bang, homeowners are also contemplating what they can do to stop the pathways and drives around their home from freezing up and causing slip hazards.
The easiest and often the cheapest way to do so is by spreading salt onto the surface, which melts the snow by affecting the freezing temperature of water, and the gritty nature of salt means that it’s easier to walk on by providing extra grip.
The best kind of salt to use is dedicated gritting or driveway salt, which is a combination of sodium chloride and either magnesium chloride or calcium chloride. This tends to be more effective, works at lower temperatures and is less harmful to plants and animals.
However, table salt will work (albeit less effectively) in a pinch, and in both cases, a tablespoon of salt per square metre will be enough.
The ideal time to lay salt on your drive is before it snows, as not only does it stop a lot of snow and ice from sticking in the first place, but any snow that does linger is far easier to shovel and remove.
If the snow has already accumulated, shovel away what you can and apply salt to speed up the melting process. It is slower than doing it pre-emptively, but it will still work.
If you do not want to use salt in order to protect a new driveway, or if the temperature is so cold that salt is not effective, an alternative is to use sand to create traction.
It will not melt the ice necessarily, but it can be used to create grip for your feet when walking across the snow or the ice.
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