How To Keep Your Driveway Pavers Safe This Winter?
Getting snow? A lot of it? How are you taking care of your new pavement in this harsh winter? Puddles of water, metal shovel, salt can all cause damage to it. Snow and ice buildup can cause drainage issues.
When the water seeped in pavers freezes, it produces pressure that may result in long-term damage to your driveway or patios. Freeze-thaw damage may appear as either internal cracking or surface scaling.
Therefore, you need to get rid of the snow as it may seep in and cause cracking. Then how do you clear snow from your patios, driveways, and pathways laid with pavers?
In this article, we will discuss how to keep your pavers safe without making any mistakes.
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1- Don’t Shovel-
Pavers are composed of concrete, so they are quite strong. But if plowed with a metal shovel, it may chip it off or scratch it.
2- Don’t use rock salt
Don’t use any salt or chloride-based or magnesium-based ice melt on your paver as it may cause irreparable damage to it. It may also cause premature aging of your paver. The most common ice melt, rock salt, only lowers the refreezing temperature to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It means that ice melt from rock salt will thaw and refreeze anytime the temperature fluctuates above and below 20 degrees, thus causing further damage.
Most of the ice melt that you get in the market are chemical or salt-based. They are corrosive in nature (even that bag of salt that has a non-corrosive inhibitor). The fact is chloride causes corrosion. These ice melt can damage your plants & vegetation, are hazardous to pets, and even burn the bottom of their paws.
3- Don’t compromise on the ice melt
However, there are non-chloride ice melt also available in the market. These ice melt are non-toxic, pet-friendly, and non-corrosive. These are ideal ice melt for the driveway as they act as pre-treatment also. Few ice melts can prevent ice from sticking to surfaces for up to three days, making it easy to clear the snow later.
A good ice melt for a driveway can extend its lifespan. So, look for an ice melt that will keep melted ice in a liquid state for a longer duration. It means that ice melt will not refreeze as easily or as often, thus preventing the freeze-thaw cycle.
4- Don’t leave it wet
Sitting water can cause the development of algae and moss on your pavers. Apart from that, we have already discussed how it can seep in and cause freezing and cracking. When the water seeps through cracks, pores, and crevices in the pavers, the real damage happens. It results in the widening of gaps. Covering the cracks with a sealant prevents the moisture from getting in.
This winter, make sure to protect your driveway pavers from potential ice melt damage and pick up some concrete safe, pet safe, children safe, and environmentally friendly ice melt.
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