How to Winterize Your Basement Walkout Entrance
Hello, I’m Caleb with Dansie Design Build. Today, we’re discussing tips and tricks for preparing your basement walkout entry for the winter season.
Ensure the Fallen Leaves Are Gathered and Disposed Of
The first tip I want to share with you is for fall; you’ll want to ensure that the fallen leaves are gathered and disposed of in the green waste. Ensure they do not accumulate around the walkout entry and clog up the drain.
Check Your Basement Walkout Drain
That brings us to tip number two, check the basement walkout drain. Make sure everything’s clear so it can drain efficiently when the snowmelt water comes during wintertime. So check the drain and ensure all the leaves are cleared out, so you’re ready to go.
Shovel the Snow Off Your Sidewalk and Stairs to Minimize the Amount of Ice Build-Up
Tip number three: when the snow does come, the big thing to do is to make sure you shovel the sidewalks or the stairs off to minimize the amount of ice that builds up on the stairs. So when you step on the snow, that’s going to make a lovely ice patch under where you step, so shoveling it first is ideal.
Use a Heating Pad if You Build-Up Ice to Keep Things Above Freezing
If you build up some ice, I recommend using a heating pad. The one we use requires 171 watts, keeping things above freezing. So you can set the heating pad down on the landings of the walkout, and they also make the same size for stairs; that will help you avoid a ton of ice build-up on your landing and stairs.
Is Salt Okay to Use to Get Rid of Ice Build-Up?
If you have to use salt or some chemical, I would not recommend salt on the concrete. That does ruin the concrete, especially if it’s a very new concrete within the first handful of years of being poured. That’s considered new concrete, and I recommend an ice melt specifically for concrete, even though that’s still not as suitable as the heater pads.
Contact Dansie Design Build
I hope you have a great winter with your basement walkout entry. If you’re looking to build a basement walkout entry or another home improvement project, contact us to see how we can help you. You can also visit our resources tab. There’s a lot of free information to get and help you with home remodeling, basement finishing, and basement walkout entries.
