Dealing with ice buildup in Winter

[hfdominic12]

Dear SST friends,

Our self-storage business has been facing a major challenge in dealing with ice buildup in the aisles of our facility. We acquired the facility in 2011 and have discovered a major flaw in its design. There is a long aisle that runs West to East that sits in the shade all winter long. There also happens to be where many downspouts drain water on the north side of the building. This develops into a sheet of ice every winter that presents a major hazard for our employees and tenants.

We have tried various solutions, such as prepping the concrete with a brine solution, using propane heaters, applying ice salt, and using manual labor with an ice scraper. However, we have yet to find an effective solution. We are considering options such as changing the slope of the roof to shed water on the south side of the building, or installing heated concrete.

We would appreciate any insights or solutions from those of you who have faced similar challenges at your facilities. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Dominic

[helenatim]

We are having our worst winter ever for ice buildup. Buildings with and without gutters are getting ice against doors, then water drips off the roof and adds to the icy buildup.
Short term: daily use of ice melt or salt and put up plenty of warning signs.
Long term: It is definitely possible to add an overframed roof system to create slope in the other direction. Or maybe get the downspouts into underground drain pipes. Expensive fixes for sure!
The heated concrete might not help if the water has nowhere to go and its expensive to run electric heaters in concrete.
Good luck!

[RandyL]

The best ice solution that I have found is prompt snow removal. I can tell from your picture a better job could be done with snow removal.

The part of the building that has no doors and is getting sun, you have snow piled there, it needs to be somewhere else. Each day the sun hits that pile and starts melting it and then it adds to your ice.

You have snow build up around the bollards on the corners clear that to avoid giant ice piles in that area.

Every time you are clearing snow, completely clear snow around all downspouts, clear 2' on both sides of it, this will help prevent melting roof water from turning into thick ice. Make sure that water has a clear path to drain away and not build up.

Once the ice buildup is there, I haven't bothered with expensive salt solutions for melting it. I just have a mixture of mostly sand with some salt in it spread to add traction.

I used to not bother with the plowing of the .5"-1" snows, but getting those promptly cleared helps a ton.

Do you hire out snow removal work or do you do it yourself?

[hfdominic12]

The best ice solution that I have found is prompt snow removal. I can tell from your picture a better job could be done with snow removal.

The part of the building that has no doors and is getting sun, you have snow piled there, it needs to be somewhere else. Each day the sun hits that pile and starts melting it and then it adds to your ice.

You have snow build up around the bollards on the corners clear that to avoid giant ice piles in that area.

Every time you are clearing snow, completely clear snow around all downspouts, clear 2' on both sides of it, this will help prevent melting roof water from turning into thick ice. Make sure that water has a clear path to drain away and not build up.

Once the ice buildup is there, I haven't bothered with expensive salt solutions for melting it. I just have a mixture of mostly sand with some salt in it spread to add traction.

I used to not bother with the plowing of the .5"-1" snows, but getting those promptly cleared helps a ton.

Do you hire out snow removal work or do you do it yourself?

Our usual plan of attack is: plow company comes by and plows the facility, we snowblow the shaded section as close as we can get to the doors (hence the pile of snow near the building in sunlight), once the snow starts melting on the roof we put down buckets with long 20’ hoses on them to help the water make it to the sunny area without freezing first on the sloped driveway. We had 3 or 4 snowstorms in a row and some snow maintenance had definitely been skipped over for one of those storms. That and our plow company shows up later in the day and does a pretty sloppy job. Thanks for the input!

[RandyL]

Our usual plan of attack is: plow company comes by and plows the facility, we snowblow the shaded section as close as we can get to the doors (hence the pile of snow near the building in sunlight), once the snow starts melting on the roof we put down buckets with long 20’ hoses on them to help the water make it to the sunny area without freezing first on the sloped driveway. We had 3 or 4 snowstorms in a row and some snow maintenance had definitely been skipped over for one of those storms. That and our plow company shows up later in the day and does a pretty sloppy job. Thanks for the input!

Over the last 27 years our snow removal has progressed with different equipment. We have hired it out and done it ourselves. When you hire it out the plow drivers are interested in getting done as quickly as possible. They may not spend an extra hour when needed to move snow to piles that are further away. They will move it to the most convenient pile it will get filled up and then you have to have snow removed from the property. Like you mentioned your property may not be one of their most important ones. It may wait 12 hours after a snow, and you have a dozen people driving over the snow first which compacts it and turns it to ice. There was also the very large expense included with it.

I have had 3 different plow trucks over the years, currently I have using a 2014 RAM 3500 with a 9'2" Boss V plow, I also have a Bobcat Skid loader with a snow bucket and a hydraulic plow. I have recently purchased a Gator UTV with a plow on it as well, I am very surprised how well this does compared to the V plow on the full size truck. We also have a 26" snowblower. Within the last year we purchased a salt spreader for the back of my truck, it hasn't been used at all this year so far knock on wood.

In the end if you want it done right you likely will need to do it yourself, or pay more $$$ to find a plow driver that has a better sense of what needs to happen. The ultimate issue comes down to, you may not know what needs to be done if you have not plowed yourself before. I started never having operated a plow before. Over time we have added and upgraded equipment, and we have learnt better techniques as well.

[helenatim]

I had a recent discussion with a snow removal professional. He does businesses like Home Depot, which requires a clean parking lot by 7am after any snow. He uses a liquid brine which prevents the snow from bonding with the asphalt. He usually applies this after plowing but says if its an inch or so of snow the brine will melt the snow and he doesn't need to plow. His primary equipment is a loader with a box plow on the front. Also, since storage is a lower priority than retail, I might fit his schedule perfectly. I will be researching this further and post anything more that I learn.