Coping With Ice Melt Problems In Minnesota
Minnesotans! Are you ready to welcome snowy winter?
According to the updated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released recently, Minnesota can expect more snow than usual in the coming winter. Since La Nina is well established and expected to persist through this winter, a wetter and cooler North and drier and warmer South is what we are going to experience.
Getting rid of the snow is one of the winter pet peeves. Rock salt is a popular ice melt solution but not the best one. The same goes for chemical-based ice melt. In this article, we will discuss various problems related to snow. We will also talk about choosing an ice melt safe for concrete, roof, plants, and pets that we should use.
Let’s dive in.
Ice Melt Safe For Pets And Concrete
Safe Paw
The Original and the #1 Pet and Child Safe Ice Melt for over 20 years. Guaranteed environmentally safe – will not harm waterways and sensitive wetlands.
4 Tips To Deal With Snow And Ice Melt Problems This Winter
1- Save concrete
The salt and chloride-based solutions are quite famous for melting the snow but aren’t a good option because they put too much pressure on the concrete. Also, while salt isn’t chemically reactive with concrete, it attracts moisture that can cause corrosion. Corrosion affects the rebar of the concrete, resulting in the development of cracks and flakes.
Therefore, an ice melt that is safe for new concrete should be used. These chemical-free ice melts for new concrete are non-corrosive and do not stain the concrete.
2- Protect your roof
Apart from choosing an ice melt safe for concrete, you need to save your roof also from the snow. While it is easy to use salt to remove ice from the rooftop, it certainly isn’t a good option. The reason being, sodium chloride contains corrosive oxidizing agents that are suited for removing ice, but it also damages shingles, nails, and other fittings. This, in turn, can adversely affect your rooftop’s durability and make it weak.
Weather Forecast
[wpc-weather id=”2346″ /]3- Avoid falls and injuries
Falls and injuries in winters is a real challenge. You can avoid such mishappening by using a traction agent on sidewalks and driveway. Although it doesn’t help in melting the ice, it increases traction and friction. Thereby making the surface less slippery. These are mostly organic items like sand, wood shavings, sawdust, and kitty litter.
Using traction agents helps, but you may still have to clean the driveway post melting of the ice as it may stick to the bottom of your shoes and create a mess.
4- Protect your pets and garden
Another point of concern in white winters is protecting your four-legged friends and plants. Most of the ice melt contains salt and are harmful to pets. Signs of generalized toxicity may also develop after a pet ingests ice melt in large quantities. Similarly, it impacts your plants. The damage appears gradually on the plants as dead needles, usually on the side of the driveways and walkways.
A common solution to all the above problems is a salt-free, non-corrosive ice melt. One such product is SafePaw. It is composed of a modified crystalline amide core infused with a special glycol admixture and traction agent. On contact with snow, the outer layer attacks immediately while the crystal core penetrates slowly to eliminate all snow and ice. Thereby keeping your concrete, roof, pets, and garden safe from the snow and chemicals as well.
