Well, my concrete sub, and his supplier has been no help, with the wealth of knowledge here, let's pick you brain. I just completed a townhome project, and have cocrete that is less than 6 months old. We have public walking around the project, and I need to get this ice melted. I picked up one product from Grainger, but it is not safe for new concrete. I know there are products out there, but no one seems to know. Anyone used anything in the past that is safe for fresh concrete. This has come up several times in the last few years for me, and no one seems to have an answer.
There's a product called Magic that is a by product of brewing, is non-corrosive and actually performs at lower temps than most other ice melters.
I called a distributor of Magic today, because it is salt based, it could damage concrete less than 1 year old. Thanks for the tip, but I will keep looking. If I find anything I will let you know. This has been a problem for me for several years now.
Check out potassium acetate. The DOT is putting on the "S-curve' bridge here in town and the Zilwaukee Bridge on I-75 in Saginaw. It keeps the ice from forming, I would think you would pre storm with it. Here's a vendor I found on the net http://www.senecamineral.com/PDF/AlpineIceMelt.pdf
Being someone who makes a daily trip over the Zilwaukee Bridge, I am not impressed with the products results. It may be application, but this bridge is by far the one with the most snow and ice issues I cross daily. After reading the PDF, they may not be using this product anymore, or they may just be using it to pretreat. Because as of late, they have been using a granular material for storm and post storm cleanup. I wouldnt think they are using salt, but then again, who knows. Just like a simple bearing replacement scheduled to take 3 months for 8 lanes ended up shutting down 4 lanes for 9 months and the other 4 lanes were not even attempted for repairs :beatsme
Deicer We have used some pink granuals from www.Nu-lifelabs.com . It works good for us.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/4KA50 Thats what I got from Grainger. But it says right on the box, not safe for concrete less than 1 year old. From what I understand, concrete can take up to a full year to fully cure. Using certain ice melters can cause extreme temperature changes. The ice melter can get to 150*F, as it melts the ice it forms water. Then the water freezes, and can cause the surface of the concrete to pop, or spall. I know there are products out there, but no one seems to have knowledge of them. It's a huge safety issue, and I am surprised no one has cornered the market for something like this.
The straight Magic fluid, not treated salt, is not corrosive and can be used as is from a spray system. It's best used as a pre-treatment and will prevent ice from forming. I've been to several seminars regarding this product and the non-corrosive nature of it is one of the selling points they make. Try contacting Magic directly, perhaps your distributor isn't well versed in the advantages of Magic.
X2 what Steve just said.I have used it quite a bit-great stuff,fairly pricey,but when the temp. goes to 20* and south,there is nothing better to melt ice.Salt is useless then.The way I understood it though is when salt is sprayed with Magic,it now becomes non-corrosive and harmless to vegetation.Will have to check my literature on it but pretty sure I'm right.
It won't "melt" the snow and ice but keeps it from making ice / slippery conditions. He was looking for something that won't hurt new concrete. Potassium acetate is a good product for that. When we treat the S-curve with it and the rest of the freeway with road salt, we get calls from law enforcement that it's slippery because it's not just wet like the salt treated portion. No ice forms but we have to scrape the "snow" off. After 8 years, LE finally is getting it figured out