Ask Jon Eakes

Last Updated: Thursday, February 7th, 2002, Created: Thursday, February 7th, 2002

What kind of deicer is safe for concrete?

No de-icer is perfectly safe for concrete. Why? Because you are melting ice while the general temperature is below zero, allowing both water and some kind of chemical to flow into the concrete itself. It is always advisable to only use de-icer chemicals on concrete that is at least one year old and has been sealed.

But that said, some de-icers are harder on concrete than others. Any actually containing salt can potentially do the most damage, because the salt can form crystals within the concrete that will expand and pop off the upper layer of the concrete. Ones based on fertaliser do the least damage, because they are organic and don't form a crystalline structure when they dry. (Xynyth) I have received one important caution from Lorraine living in Waukesha Wisconsin. She confirms that fertilizer does melt snow, but can make a dog who eats snow very sick, if not kill it. Hence don't use it if you have snow eating animals.

Remember that any de-icer that comes in large chunks is designed to penetrate through the ice, honeycomb it and help in its removal. More powdery style de-icers and sand are designed to sit on top of the ice and give you traction. For any given space, you may need one, the other or both.

If you have harsh chemicals or salts in your de-icer, be careful about piling too much of it up on your lawn. All that salt will eventually melt into the grass, and plants don't like salt very much. On the other hand, piling up the Urea based de-icers within reason can actually fertilise that lawn.

Keywords: Ice, Safety, Salt, Security, Sliding

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