How to Get Ice Off a Porch

Approximately 21,700 Americans died from slip-and-fall accidents in 2007, according to the National Safety Council. Many of these falls occurred because of ice and snow, which also caused some of the 7.9 million non-fatal injuries that also happened in 2007. The first line of defense in winter safety is removing snow and ice from your porch. It is possible to safely melt ice on your concrete or wood porch without using rock salt, which may damage surfaces and any surrounding dormant vegetation.

Things You'll Need

• Shovel
• Ice melt (magnesium chloride or potassium chloride)

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Shovel the porch immediately after the snowfall ends.

   • 2

     Break up any larger chunks of ice with the shovel’s blunt end.

   • 3

     Cover the porch with a layer of ice melt. Magnesium chloride and potassium chloride are safer alternatives to rock salt or de-icers that contain sodium chloride, which kills vegetation and damages concrete and wood.

   • 4

     Allow the ice melt to sit for two to three minutes before scraping away the melted ice with a shovel. Apply a thin layer of ice melt on the porch to prevent future ice formation.