Salting sidewalks during the winter months is essential for every business. Not only does the law require businesses to take steps to ensure their premises are safely accessible for everybody, but a failure to protect customers hurts your brand and drives foot traffic down.
There are lots of precautions you can take to ensure your sidewalks and entryways are safe for everybody to use, from hiring experts from Earth Development to manage salting and snow removal for you, to taking initiative and treating your pavements yourself.
At Earth Development, we not only provide expert help but also expert advice! Here are our top six tips for safely and effectively salting your sidewalk this winter.
Spot Treating
Spot treating your pavement helps you keep on top of ice formation. Salting works by lowering the freezing temperature of the water, and salt being absorbed by water to form a brine. As more ice freezes the brine becomes diluted, so keeping a container of ice near your door helps you keep on top of it.
Reapply salt regularly in the places that need it.
Reapply Before a Blizzard
If you know a blizzard is on the way, apply salt before it arrives. This helps stop ice from forming in the first place and puts you on a good footing to stop more ice from forming.
Stay on top of the salt application, and you’ll be preventing ice, not just battling it once it forms. It will also help reduce snow formation by stopping it from bonding with the ground.
Remove Accumulated Snow
Salt can only do so much. If you’re dealing with a large quantity of snow on your property, you can help ensure ice works as well as possible by shoveling excess snow from your pavement and entryways.
Remove the snow and you’ll reduce the chance of it compacting and forming new ice, and increase the melting efficiency of the salt.
Use Thin, Even Layers
The best way to use salt is to apply thin and even layers of salt. Spot treating is good for general maintenance and dealing with problem areas, but your pavements and entryways should be covered in an even and thin layer of ice.
By applying the salt evenly, you maximize the surface area of the snow and ice that it can reach, speeding up melting times.
Regularly Inspect Hazardous Areas
Some parts of your pavements, sidewalks or entryways may be more hazardous than others. This may be the result of cracks in the stone or an uneven surface that causes a build-up of water and ice.
Regularly inspect the areas that you know to be dangerous and use spot treating to ensure they don’t pose too much of a hazard. Clear snow from these areas, also, to maximize the impact that the salt can have.
Control of Areas Where Sun and Shade Alternate
Parts of your property that see lots of sunlight early in the day, but get covered by shadow later on, should be monitored closely. Direct sunlight can easily stop ice from forming, meaning puddles of water you see in the morning may become ice patches later in the day. Don’t assume that a puddle will always stay a puddle!
Use spot treatment and keep ice handy to ensure that these puddles don’t become dangerous as the day goes on.
Local Snow Removal Experts Take It Off Your Hands
The above tips are great for any business that wants to protect its customers, clients, and employees. Help from local snow removal experts, however, can build on this and make the entire experience hassle-free.
Earth Development connects you with reliable, experienced local contractors who stay on top of all your ice management and snow removal needs. Our team will draw up a custom plan to keep your business operating safely throughout the winter, and will even attend your property before, during, and after a winter event.
If you’re looking for reliable ice maintenance from experts who know what’s required of you by law, and who have the equipment to do the job right, then look no further than Earth Development! Give the team a call today and we’ll get you ready for the winter.
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