No doubt, you'd have noticed the frost on the cars, roads and pavements as you left for work this morning. So the winter weather is officially on the way.
And with as the ice starts to become more common, so will slips and falls.
Here's where good landscape maintenance can help you keep clear from legal claims and hefty costs, as well as making your property look professional and welcoming this winter.
Salting or Gritting is the best way to prevent people slipping and falling on your icy pavements and car parks.
Facts and best practices about salting:
- The type of salt used is Halite, commonly known as rock salt, is the mineral form of sodium chloride (NaCl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on the amount and type of impurities. It commonly occurs with other evaporite deposit minerals such as several of the sulfates, halides, and borates.
- Rock Salt is often used both residential and municipally for managing ice. Because brine (a solution of water and salt) has a lower freezing point than ordinary water, putting salt on ice will cause it to melt.
- Rock Salt can be mixed with sand to help melt the ice and give your visitors some traction when they are walking.
- The best time to grit/apply Rock Salt is the night before a frost is forecast.
- It is best to focus your grit/salt on the most commonly used areas of your car park or pavements
As our winters (and weather in general) is unpredictable, it is always advisable to keep a healthy supply of Rock Salt during the winter months.
Of course, gritting and salting is just part of our winter service for our landscape contract customers. If you're interested in keeping your pavements safe and ice-free this winter, get in touch and we'll be happy to discuss designing a landscape maintenance contract service that works for you and your business.