Most damage to concrete from chemical deicers is not from the chemicals themselves but from the effects of freezing and thawing. By lowering the freezing point of water, deicers can increase the number of freeze-thaw cycles and add to the problem. When temperatures fluctuate between 10ËšF and 20ËšF, plain water will remain frozen. A deicing brine of rock salt and water, however, will freeze when the temperature drops below 15ËšF and thaw when it rises above 15ËšF resulting in more freeze-thaw cycles than if no deicer had been applied. For this re 
Liability issues The National Safety Council estimates there are approximately 300,000 injuries and more than 1,500 deaths per year as a result of wintertime weather. Premise liability laws concern a building owner’s responsibility to remove potentially dangerous conditions around their property to prevent injury to guests. This is the category of law under which accidents from ice and snow fall. Building owners are given a window of time following the end of the storm in which to clear their parking lots and sidewalks of snow and ice and to take measures preventing ice from forming in the fut
Make sure you get a written contract and the company provides proof that they are insured and bonded. Ask who you can contact regarding any damages, such as cracked driveways, and how you can terminate the agreement if necessary.
Get several estimates and remember that the least expensive service is not necessarily the best.
Effects of snow on concrete and asphalt Although concrete may appear to be a completely solid object, it actually contains numerous microscopic passageways. These tunnels are formed during the initial crystallization process as concrete is transforming from a liquid to a solid state and the needles of interlocking cement paste crystals grow. When water freezes, its volume expands by about nine percent and any water that has entered these passages can break the needles of the interlocking paste crystals. snow left on concrete will melt and enter the tunnels only to refreeze at night and, over t
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