Whether you like it or not, winter is coming. Are you ready for it? Perhaps most importantly, is your home ready for the cold season? And what about your driveway? Maintaining it properly is the best way to keep it safe all winter long.
From sealing your driveway to using liquid de-icer in the winter season, follow these tips for a safe driveway.
1. Seal your driveway before winter comes
If you haven’t sealed or waterproofed your driveway in some time, now is the right time to do it. Protect it with high quality sealing products before winter comes, and you won’t have to deal with the damages caused by a long and snowy winter when spring finally comes.
It’s recommended to wait 1 or 2 years before first sealing a new driveway. If your driveway is not brand new, you should ideally seal it every 2 to 4 years. A sealed driveway is easier to maintain.
2. Grab your shovel after each snow fall
If snow stays on your driveway for too long, it will build up, harden, and eventually turn into ice. You don’t want this to happen, as an icy driveway is a dangerous one.
Of course, it’s always possible to de-ice an icy driveway, but it’s even better if you can prevent it. Be sure to shovel your driveway as soon as possible after each snow fall, or use a snow blower if you have one.
3. Don’t pile up snow at the end of your driveway
As you use your shovel or snow blower to clear your driveway, don’t create one huge snow pile at the end of it. This would make it difficult for you to see what is going on on your street as you back out of your driveway, and it would hide your car from other drivers and from pedestrians as well.
It would be safer to spread the snow you have shoveled as evenly as possible over your front yard, so you would not be building a snow wall hiding your driveway from the street.
4. Hire a reliable snow plowing service
If you feel like it’s always snowing in the area where you live, you probably have better things to do than to go outside to clear the snow from your driveway all the time. Why not hire a snow plowing service?
Be sure to choose a reliable and prompt service, one that will know how to avoid damaging your driveway. Maybe you could ask your neighbours if they have a good snow plowing service to recommend you.
5. Use sand or rock salt
When the snow has turned to ice, it’s time to find the best de-icing option. Sand and rock salt are common de-icing products, although many people use kitty litter or products that are labelled as eco-friendly de-icers to melt ice and reduce the risks of slip and falls.
Keep in mind that most of these products can either damage your driveway, or be a threat to the environment. Try not to use too much sand or rock salt.
6. Use liquid de-icer
If you have a large driveway, you might want to turn to liquid de-icer to keep it safe during the winter. Liquid de-icer is usually made from magnesium chloride, which is safe for the environment. It works by preventing the formation of a bond between the snow and the surface of your driveway.
Liquid de-icer can also be used to pre-wet sand or rock salt, which will increase the effectiveness of these solid de-icers, and reduce bounce and scatter.
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