Here were are, fellow denizens of the great city of Stouffville. Our fair city is in the midst of yet another winter. And, while Stouffville itself may be fair, this winter has been anything but. We have seen harsh weather since the beginning – who in Stouffville doesn’t remember the awful time we had during Christmas when we had that terrible storm? The winter weather blowing all around us, white snow blocking our windshields so we couldn’t see out of them in the least. It was a nightmare!
Luckily for us, we’ve had some pretty good snow removal this year. The local companies in this fair city of Stouffville have come together in order to save us from winters bite. They have spent very long nights, sometimes not even sleeping for long periods of time, just to make sure that we don’t have any issues when it comes to going to and from wherever we have to go. Wether that was to our relatives during the holidays, work during the weekdays, or during the weekends where we in the Stouffville area try our best to get out and enjoy the winter.
However, as previously stated, snow removal is no easy task, especially when one lives somewhere like Stouffville where the winters can be fairly unforgiving. Sure, they aren’t as bad as say the territories, heck they aren’t even as bad as northern Ontario, but that’s not to say they’re easy. And because they’re not easy, because we tend to get a lot of snow or ice, there is a lot of time that needs to be spent removing that snow and ice.
There are a lot of different methods one can use to remove snow. Snow removal has been perfected, especially in the Stouffville area, due to the fact we get so much of it every year. However, the hard part for those removing snow in Stouffville, or at least those in Stouffville who are in the snow removal trade, is trying to figure out what one is going to use to remove the snow. One of the most popular ways for one to remove snow from the ground (wether that ground be driveway, walkway or parking lot) would be to use salt. Some, on the other hand, prefer to use sand. Today we’re going to be answering which one the average snow removal person should use, or at least which one they should use for certain situations. At the end of this article Stouffville we sincerely hope we can help anyone figure out wether they should use salt or sand to remove snow this winter season. As per usual, those who don’t want to bother with this kind of thing can always leave this task up to the experts!
Why Us Sand or Salt?
Why would one even want to use sand or salt? Haven’t we all heard the repercussions that these kinds of things can have on our walkways, let alone the effects they may have on the bottoms of cars? While yes, both sand and salt can be detrimental to walkways, driveways and of course the bottom of cars, they can be integral in the winter.
Putting salt down onto a walkway or driveway can mean the ice will melt faster and will mean that people who go on one’s driveway aren’t going to slip and fall. This could mean that the homeowner, landscaper or gardener who owns the property won’t slip, or it means the guests of that aforementioned homeowner won’t slip either. That means less chances of people getting hurt or, god forbid, less chances of the person who lives there getting sued.
When To Use Salt
The salt that is used on driveways for snow and ice removal isn’t the salt that one may use during cooking. In fact, the salt that one may use during cooking probably wouldn’t be good at melting ice or snow anyways. No, when one wants to take out some snow or some ice, when one wants that snow or ice removed, one should always used what is called rock salt.
Rock salt can usually be purchased in the average hardware store, sometimes in the dollar store, and we’ve even seen it sold in the grocery store (although we must reiterate – do not use table salt). This rock salt is going to lower the freezing point of water, usually meaning that it’s going to melt whatever form water has taken on one’s driveway.
This kind of rock salt is used in temperatures that are above -11 degrees Celsius (our American friends may call that “12 degrees Fahrenheit). So for the average winter day, rock salt should do the trick in the average property of the average homeowner, gardener or landscaper.
There are, however, downsides to using salt when it comes to snow removal (as well as ice removal). As we said before, salt has been known to erode away things made out of concrete, as well as driveways and walkways. Those out there who don’t want to lose their driveways and walkways, as well as their concrete surfaces, should avoid using rock salt too much.
There are also those out there who are concerned with the environmental impact of too much salt running off into the ecosystem. Those out there who are environmentally conscious should also try to avoid using salt when it comes to snow removal.
When to Use Sand
Sand is one of the best known alternatives to salt. Many have switched over to sand (especially a lot of those who work for a municipality) because sand tends to be a lot better for the environment than salt.
There are, however, many downsides to using sand when it comes to snow removal. And that’s just it – sand won’t remove the snow like salt does. It does, however, provide traction so that surfaces aren’t as slippery.
Pretty much any sand can be used for this task – most people tend to use sandbox sand when it comes to snow removal (or rather just adding traction). Sandbox sand can pretty much be found anywhere, but it’s mostly found at hardware stores.
When To Use Sand or Salt
And so, we come to the ultimate question of this article – when should one use sand or salt? And the question, as most questions are, is hard to answer. It really depends on the homeowner, landscaper or gardener. What does one care more about? The environment or getting the ice off of one’s driveway?
The important thing to remember here is that snow should always be taken off as soon as possible when it comes to snow removal. Remember, for all those out there who don’t want to bother – leave it up to the experts!
