Ice Melting

No whining, I’m talking about the ice on my driveway…not the ice on your fishing hole (yet)!

What’s the best concrete and yard friendly ice melt. I’ve heard potash will do the trick but urea (nitrogen) is better. Anyone have any experience with either…or have something better to suggest? With this recent bout of cold, the ol’ chipper isn’t cuttin it.

The pot ash works good but at 55 cents a pound, it is a little pricey!!!!!

Any idea if it’s ok on new concrete? Driveway is only about 4 months old.

The concrete should bet set by now. But if your leery about this just wait until it warms up a bit and bust of the scraper. I use strait potash on mine. I used to mix and bag some of the stuff they sell at Ace. Don’t use anything with calcium chloride in it. I did and now I have many pits in the driveway. There is a corn based ice melt out that would also be worth the buy. I’ll find out what the name is and let you know.. I think its safewalk in a red or orange bag. Hope it helps.

I don’t know of a manufacturer yet to give a guaranty to concrete less than a year old.
that said-
Don’t use rock salt, pure Sodium Chloride. Use a Magnesium or Potassium Chloride.

But IMO, stay off your drive until you get it shoveled. Don’t use a material unless you have to. The lower the temp, the more you have to use.
ex. NaCl melts about 50# of ice at 30 degrees, but it only melts 5# of ice at 7 degrees. (very close on #’s)

I drive ready mix truck and our company says wait at least a year for salt so you dont have rock pops. Call the company see what they say. What i do is use hot sand see if they have any laying around. Just a side note dont use fertilizer my neighbor did and the wife is pissed off she dose day care and recked her carpets good luck

As a former concrete finisher, DO NOT USE SALT of any kind.
It will ruin your driveway in a heartbeat. The salt melts the ice which in turn get into the pores of the concrete. Then it refreezes and pops the top layer of concrete off resulting in scaling. There is a liquid product out there, but I don’t know the name of it offhand. The drawback is it is a molasses color and could stain your driveway
I am also guessing your concrete contractor will not honor a guarantee if they find out you used salt.

Keep in mind what ever you put on the drive will end up going down stream. Nitrogen is good for the yard to an extent, too much and it will burn up the grass. It is not good for concrete but if you have a asphalt drive and keep it sealed it should not be a problem. Just read your second post and see that you have concrete. I suppose you could seal it. There are several types of concrete sealer, you should be able to find something that will fit your need.

Is calcium chloride the same a urea? And what exactly is pot ash? I know what fly ash is but don’t know what pot ash is.

I have spread ashes from teh fireplace on the drive. It does not melt the ice, but it sure gives great traction. Better than sand IMO.

Tim

There is a product called crushed cherry stone. Won’t melt alot but the traction is great. Been mixing one part mag. chl. to 3 parts cherry stone. It’s done a good job keeping the school walks safe after this last bout of ice. Feed stores carry it at 4$ per 50lb.bag.

Thanks guys- yeah, everything that I’ve seen and read says no ice melt products within a year of new concrete(which doesn’t make any sense to me). They claim it has to fully cure, but 28 days is the full cure of concrete. I can’t seem to find anything that is “safe” for new concrete so I’m just going to stick to sand and hope for a warm day of chipping (probably won’t happen til march)! Hmm Jeff-cherry stone, might have to look into that.

Anyways, 56twister

Urea is a type of fertilizer- I think it is 100% nitrogen
Potash is a fertilizer as well- potassium carbonate