Salting driveways and lots.

[cityview]

My old plow guy said his truck broke down and he was switching to snowblowers. Since my lots are his only commercial accounts, he kindly asked me to find someone else.

We got a bunch of quotes, and they all want to do salt. I don't want salt because I feel like car washes are supposed to be a sanctuary from salt. Who wants to drive through mounds of salt to clean their car?

However, they all say for liability they need to. One said they really want to but would be willing not to.

What are your thoughts on salting lots? Safer for drivers.. not for cars?

 

[OurTown]

We have our lot salted. How would you get rid of ice otherwise?

 

[cityview]

We'd spot salt by vacs and whatnot, but just plow the rest. It's been that way for 20 years!

I guess I can interpret your response as you use salt though... Haha.

 

[Waxman]

We sand and salt our lot all winter long here in Massachusetts. It's safer for the customers and employees!!! That's our first priority; before money or the service we perform comes safety!

You're missing the point with comments about driving thru salt first; who cares? i dont think the customers do.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I agree with the others. You're overthinking this.

 

[cityview]

I agree with the others. You're overthinking this.

I had no idea other places used salt. When I bought this place they didn't use salt... So I just kept doing what they did.

Then when s new company tells me I have to use salt, I figured no car wash used salt since I didn't.

It's funny how you often just assume everyone else does things the same way as you... Until you find out they don't!!

 

[Carl]

Salting ~ A Most Important Part of Our Winter Season!

We also salt, and I hold it as one of THE MOST IMPORTANT things I have to do and stay on top of to get through the winter season w/o having a staff member or a customer get hurt. We use an ice melter spreader that looks like a fertilizer spreader and the faster you push it the wider the nice, even swath of ice melter spreads. We buy 50 pound bags of the ice melter from Sam's Club at a very good price. I never even think about getting cheap w/ salting and if I ever get tempted to I simply imagine a scenario where someone's feet have slid out from underneath them from "black ice" on our lot and they've fallen backwards ONTO their head w/ an ambulance having to be called ASAP or I imagine a scenario where an elderly customer slips on our "black ice" and breaks a hip bone w/ months of suffering to ensue. Yup...please do salt and salt enthusiastically!

 

[Robert2181]

We salt every day if needed. Especially if the wind blows a mist out the entrance and exits.

 

[Randy]

We salt, don't use a lot of it but we salt. Why wouldn't you, it's about safety. I had a guy fall once 20 plus years ago, broke a hip, had to be taken to a hospital 20 miles away. I figured I was going to be sued for sure, he said it was his fault, wasn't paying attention. That's why we salt.

 

[copperglobe]

We salt. Two 55-gallons plastic barrels are filled by our regular water softener service each week. We salt anything thats wet or gets wet during the course of washing cars- including about 100 feet on the public roadway at our exit. Negligence is the word to remember.

 

[soapy]

I salt in front and back of auto bays and occasionally around vacs.. We get up early and plow our own lots so we can get it before the snow packs down. We plowed 3 times in the last week with over 4 inches of snow each time. If I had to salt all of my 1 acre lots each time it snowed I would be broke. We do have heated aprons.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Salt
Unless you put heat under your entire lot.

 

[mjwalsh]

We do similar to Soapy. We have an 1840 Case skid steer that we scrap our lot quickly enough ourselves. There can be slight patches here & there & we do use either sand or salt or a combination of both to make it less likely someone slip ... especially glare skating rink type of ice. If sued when one is reasonably responsible ... you would hope that the local "always fair" judge would find that it was at least partially if not totally the person's fault for not have less slippery shoes.

Freezing rain is the worse ... but then it is like hopefully everyone in town is expected to use enough caution during those conditions. Being a bit older(67) now ... I myself during those conditions put on a variety of cleat attachments to shoes & boots that stores sell in this part of the country.