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Need A Solution For Icy Steps In Winter


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The post about slippery indoor stairs reminded me that I need to find a solution for my outdoor landing and steps for this winter. Last winter, one of the iciest I remember, was horrible for Joe and I. I have a small concrete landing outside the door (about 4 feet by 6 feet) that I use to let the dogs out. This leads to two concrete steps down and a walkway. This area never gets any sun as it is on the northeast corner of my L shaped house. I had to get up every few hours every night it sleeted or we had freezing rain and shovel and re-salt the area. Otherwise the ice would get so thick there was no way to get it up or melt it. It seemed like all I did last winter was take care of this area. I ended up killing most of my landscaping with the salt (and it was pet-safe salt substitute) which gives you an idea of how much I had to use to keep it safe for Joe. I also fell twice and luckily didn't injure myself any worse. I looked on-line last winter and the prices for heated mats were amazing. It would take me almost $2000 to make a safe path for Joe. I am most worried about the landing and the two steps -- if he were to slip here, he could fall a couple of feet and even worse, fall on the edge or corner of the concrete landing or steps.

 

Someone told me that she had seen a neat mat for stair treads. It is hollow inside. You step on it and it flexes, breaking the ice on top. Then you just pick it up and shake the ice off. She couldn't remember anything more about it and I haven't found it in my search.

 

So does anyone have any ideas?

 

Jane

 

p.s. Unfortunately the average winter high in central Ohio is right at the freezing mark with average lows in the 20's. This makes for a lot of ice storms and ice accumulation.

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Jane, if you have space it might be worth building a short ramp -- safer than the steps.

 

Some techniques we have used here:

 

1. indoor/outdoor rug put over the area when ice is expected. Pick it up (can be hard if you get major ice) et voila! the area underneath is pretty clean.

 

2. serious ice melter. I use stuff that's supposed to be safer for landscaping and well-cured concrete than rock salt. It does a much better job than the pet safe stuff, and nobody's ever had a problem with it. I think it's called Ace Premium or something similar.

 

3. tube sand aka traction sand. This is a coarse sand sold in long, 60- or 70-lb tubes to put in the back of your pickup truck for extra weight. I keep a big bucket of it INside the door I let the dogs out. This keeps the sand warm. If it's warm, it sticks to the ice a bit, until you get down below @ 0 F.

 

4. rubber or foam-backed rug kept inside, to be placed outside just before dogs go out. The warmth helps it stick to the top of the ice instead of just sliding around. Would be hard to use on steps tho.

Edited by Batmom

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What an excellent question! Last year was very bad here too and at times I had to carry tripod Jamey outside, over the slippery deck to the snow covered grass so he could potty. IF he is still with us this winter (he is currently a 25 month osteo survivor), I face the same situation again.

A ramp won't work for us. I was thinking about this just yesterday, how I could cover the deck area so it would not become slippery. Thanks for starting this thread!

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Guest d0ggiem0mma

I'm looking into buying some of those holey rubber mats like they have in the produce sections at grocery stores. I figure the holes will let the water drain through and prevent icey slicks. Not sure if it will work, but that's the plan for my back step!

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Guest MorganKonaAlex

2 ideas. One is building a roof over the steps. The other is the heated stair treads. Costco has them. If you're looking to just cover the steps, the price isn't bad.

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I'm looking into buying some of those holey rubber mats like they have in the produce sections at grocery stores. I figure the holes will let the water drain through and prevent icey slicks. Not sure if it will work, but that's the plan for my back step!

 

I tried this and it didn't work, those little holes filled up so fast and the temps were cold enough to freeze too quickly to allow the water/snow to drain.

I recently had a new ramp built in another spot off the deck, our first winter here was a nightmare. We went through 275lbs of the salt Batmom mentioned, it was much better than the pet safe stuff. Went through a lot of it but it kept the dogs safe.

I had a couple of guys come out and brain storm with me for a better solution for next winter should we stick it out.

Best bet is to have the area, stairs or ramp covered with a roof, next best solution was the heated outdoor carpets, for my ramp which extends 14ft, it would be just under 1800.00. I would imagine it's much cheaper for stairs, and after talking to someone who uses them, they really work well unless you're talking a lot of snow and continued freezing temps.

 

Good luck!

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We use sand on our deck that the dogs must cross to go in and out and the stairs leading from the deck to the yard. Out two, well, one in particular, always come flying up the stairs and over the deck to the slider doors and the only time they have slipped or fallen was way back in the beginning before we got the sand down. We buy a big bag of sandbox sand at lowes or home depot (very cheap fix) and keep it in a covered container right by the sliders so we can apply always before they go out on the icy days.

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I like the towel idea, Debbie- we will have to try that this winter!

 

I have no personal experience with this product-- and there may be more than one supplier out there, but these are heated mats for either stairs or walkways/ ramps-- I have read about them in several places.

 

http://www.floormat.com/heated-mats/residential-snow-mats.html

If you surf around on their website, they also have the "industrial" variety for quite a bit more money-- but they would be designed to handle much more traffic than a residence (even one with greyhounds).

For the price difference, I think you could start with the residential variety and upgrade when that set wore out...

All of these (even with muliple components) should come in at much less than $1800. You can daisy-chain the components together so that you only have one cord to plug in. (It looks like the mats are currently out of stock, but I am sure the company could tell you when they anticipate the next shipment... should be soon for fall orders...)

 

If you try any of these, please post next winter and tell us how things are working!

 

Carol

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Guest BrianRke

2 ideas. One is building a roof over the steps. The other is the heated stair treads. Costco has them. If you're looking to just cover the steps, the price isn't bad.

I agree, a roof over the area is probably going to be your best bet. There is a corrugated kind that is relatively inexpensive and works well. In the winter, I cover my pergola on the deck with the corrugated type and it does a great job of keeping the ice and snow off. It is also strong enough that it wont collapse under heavy snow.

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I throw a rubber-backed machine washable runner over the steps. Works great. You just roll it back up and take it with you when you go back inside so that ice and snow don't accumulate on it.

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I lay bath towels on my concret steps and it works greyt for the dogs and me :)

This is what we do. If it gets really bad (like this year, elebenteyfive feet of snow) I just kept layering them. Bath towels, tablecloths, old blankets. They worked well for us. During the thaw days, I just threw them over the clothesline and they melted enough to re-use.

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Thanks everyone. I didn't even try using rugs and/or towels. I just assumed that they would slip on the ice making even more of a hazard. I agree that a roof over the area would be perfect. Unfortunately the design of the house would require a major remodel to accomplish this -- to hard to explain the issues in writing but if you saw it you would understand. Unless heated, a ramp would be worse than the steps. An ice covered ramp would encourage slipping whereas at least an ice covered step is level.

 

I also didn't try sand, so that is another idea.

 

The salt I used was actually the salt Batmom mentioned. It just doesn't work when you get more than about 1/4 inch of ice at a time. If you put enough down though, it does allow for a layer of water/air underneath the ice sheet so it is easier to chip the ice off.

 

I like the towel idea, Debbie- we will have to try that this winter!

 

I have no personal experience with this product-- and there may be more than one supplier out there, but these are heated mats for either stairs or walkways/ ramps-- I have read about them in several places.

 

http://www.floormat....-snow-mats.html

If you surf around on their website, they also have the "industrial" variety for quite a bit more money-- but they would be designed to handle much more traffic than a residence (even one with greyhounds).

For the price difference, I think you could start with the residential variety and upgrade when that set wore out...

All of these (even with muliple components) should come in at much less than $1800. You can daisy-chain the components together so that you only have one cord to plug in. (It looks like the mats are currently out of stock, but I am sure the company could tell you when they anticipate the next shipment... should be soon for fall orders...)

 

If you try any of these, please post next winter and tell us how things are working!

 

Carol

 

Thanks for the link. When I googled it last winter I just got a list of all the industrial type heated mats. So I assumed that there were no less expensive ones. I also didn't realize that Costco carries them. I am not a member but my neighbor is. She buys me the large rectangular dog beds when I need them. (Incredible deal on the beds).

 

According to the link, I could make a safe path down to the walkway for about $400. It would cost another $300 or so to continue it all the way to the lawn but might be worth it. This seems like the best solution for me so far.

 

Thank you so much everyone.

 

Jane

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  • 7 months later...

Thanks everyone. I didn't even try using rugs and/or towels. I just assumed that they would slip on the ice making even more of a hazard. I agree that a roof over the area would be perfect. Unfortunately the design of the house would require a major remodel to accomplish this -- to hard to explain the issues in writing but if you saw it you would understand. Unless heated, a ramp would be worse than the steps. An ice covered ramp would encourage slipping whereas at least an ice covered step is level.

 

I also didn't try sand, so that is another idea.

 

The salt I used was actually the salt Batmom mentioned. It just doesn't work when you get more than about 1/4 inch of ice at a time. If you put enough down though, it does allow for a layer of water/air underneath the ice sheet so it is easier to chip the ice off.

 

I like the towel idea, Debbie- we will have to try that this winter!

 

I have no personal experience with this product-- and there may be more than one supplier out there, but these are heated mats for either stairs or walkways/ ramps-- I have read about them in several places.

 

http://www.floormat....-snow-mats.html

If you surf around on their website, they also have the "industrial" variety for quite a bit more money-- but they would be designed to handle much more traffic than a residence (even one with greyhounds).

For the price difference, I think you could start with the residential variety and upgrade when that set wore out...

All of these (even with muliple components) should come in at much less than $1800. You can daisy-chain the components together so that you only have one cord to plug in. (It looks like the mats are currently out of stock, but I am sure the company could tell you when they anticipate the next shipment... should be soon for fall orders...)

 

If you try any of these, please post next winter and tell us how things are working!

 

Carol

 

Thanks for the link. When I googled it last winter I just got a list of all the industrial type heated mats. So I assumed that there were no less expensive ones. I also didn't realize that Costco carries them. I am not a member but my neighbor is. She buys me the large rectangular dog beds when I need them. (Incredible deal on the beds).

 

According to the link, I could make a safe path down to the walkway for about $400. It would cost another $300 or so to continue it all the way to the lawn but might be worth it. This seems like the best solution for me so far.

 

Thank you so much everyone.

 

Jane

 

Well, I did buy the heated mats referenced above. We have had a very "non-winter" winter here so I don't have a lot to report:

 

Martinson-Nicholls treated me very well. The residential mats they carry were actually less expensive than buying them direct from the manufacturer. They also reduced the shipping cost to cover the sales tax (we are in the same state).

 

Installing the mats was a piece of cake. They are quite heavy and substantial, so I didn't need to attach them to anything. They do come with grommets that allow you to screw it onto the step, etc. I got 3 walkway mats and one stair tread mat. You need to also buy a GFCI controller. I didn't buy it, but they also have a thermostat control that you can use. They explained that with typical temperatures in Columbus, it really wouldn't do me much good (I think it comes on when the temperature goes below 37 and turns off when above 42). Of course, this year, it probably would have been helpful.

 

The website indicates when you need to purchase an extender cable. Unfortunately, although it didn't indicate it, I need an extender cable for my situation -- walkway mat connected to stair mat connected to walkway mat. So I had to place another order for that.

 

We have had very little snow and ice this year (I think only about 7 inches of snow so far this season). We have not gotten below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of the time our lows have been in the upper 20s and highs in the upper 30s to 40s--about 10 degrees warmer than normal. The mats did melt the snow, ice and freezing rain as soon as it fell on them. They did develop puddles of water which actually was no problem for any of my dogs -- even Joe the tripod and Shelby the 15 1/2 year old whipador (50 pound whippet/labrador mix) with arthritis. The surface of the mats have a bit of texture which helps prevent slipping on a wet mat. I tend not to wear shoes at home, when I stepped on the mat with bare feet, it felt quite warm.

 

Although the price was a bit steep, about $600, I am very happy with the purchase. They seem substantial enough that they will last for quite a few years.

 

Jane

Edited by joejoesmom
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