How to De-Ice a Driveway

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First it rains. Then it snows. Then it freezes. If you don't act fast, it will all be frozen solid to your walks and driveway. If you don't get it cleared off, it will just get worse before the January thaw--if there is one this year. Short of ripping it all up and installing heating coils in a new driveway, a few old tricks may keep that driveway from becoming an ice rink this winter.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

metal shovel
snow shovel
sidewalk edger/ice chopper
calcium chloride/ice melter
sodium chloride/salt
sand

Step1

Your best bet is to get out there when the rain stops and move as much slush as possible off the driveway before it freezes. You'll still have a layer of ice, but it won't be able to hang on until May. Another preventative you can try is to scatter salt or sand on the high points of the driveway before the precipitation starts. This makes it easier to find a place to start chipping because the salt melts under the ice, leaving a pathway to get your shovel or chipper in. Sand is dark and, in addition to providing a gritty, abrasive surface on the ice, absorbs heat and sunshine to aid in melting the ice.

Step2

So you get home from work and Junior has been playing video games instead of getting ahead of the ice like you asked him to do at 3:00 pm when you called at the height of the sleet. Now you've got a mess. Drag Junior out there and get as much as you can shoveled off before trying anything with the ice.

Step3

There are two major ice melting compounds. They work by lowering the freezing point of water (32 degrees F). Sodium chloride, or salt, will melt ice when the air temperature is in the twenties--just after a storm most places. If you live in places where the temperature plunges, your best bet is to invest in some calcium choride, which will eat through ice down to 25 below 0 F. Since there's not enough ice melting chemical to melt all the ice--and the stuff isn't that great for concrete or the storm sewers either--use the melter to burrow down under the ice so you can pry it up with a garden shovel or snow shovel. The ice melting chemical eats through the ice and forms a layer of melt between the ice and pavement so that you can pull the top layer off.

Step4

If you have a winter like we do, you'll have a situation where you're stuck with an inch or more of solid ice, bitter cold and blinding sunshine. Use the sun to evaporate the ice. Scatter sand on top of the ice. The sun will heat the sand and it will melt its way down, pockmarking the ice as it goes. The ridges and peaks of ice will literally evaporate in the strong sunshine.

Step5

Don't try to beat the ice all at once. Be patient. Scatter sand. Go out and pry up sections whenever you have a sunny day. Or send Junior out. He'll probably listen next time you call from work.

Tips & Warnings

Most municipalities require ice and snow to be cleared or sanded within 24 hours of the end of a storm. The police will not take you away if you and your neighbors are all in the same boat. Clear as well as you can and sand the rest.
Do not try to melt all the ice with salt or calcium chloride. They're too expensive--and toxic--to use by the truckload.