Mechanical traction, no melting Works below salt's range Safe on stone and pavers Spring sweep-up planned

Sanding and Grit in Ottawa for Traction When Salt Stops Working

Snow Removals Ottawa – Sand and grit do not melt anything, they sit on top of ice and give a boot or a tire something to bite on. That is exactly what you need when it is too cold for rock salt to work, or when chloride is the thing quietly damaging the surface you are treating.

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-12 C Roughly where rock salt runs out of usefulness

33% More winter freeze events projected for the 2050s

115 days A year with at least 1 cm on the ground

s.4(3) By-law 2003-498 exemption for sand on icy roads

When Sanding and Grit Beat Salt on an Ottawa Property

When it is simply too cold for rock salt

Sodium chloride works by depressing the freezing point of water, and its practical working range falls away as the temperature drops. Below roughly -12 C it stops doing useful work on a real surface, and spreading more of it just leaves white grit that never turns to brine. Traction material is what is left at that point, because it does not depend on a chemical reaction happening at all.

On interlock, natural stone and new concrete

Chloride is what drives efflorescence on pavers, spalling on the nose of a poured step, and the washing out of jointing sand. On a decorative or recently poured surface, salt is not a cheaper option, it is a slower way of paying for the surface twice. Grit gives you a walkable footing on those areas without putting anything corrosive into the material.

Around plantings, lawn edges and root zones

Brine running off a walkway does not stop at the edge of the pavement. It ends up in the strip of lawn, the garden bed and the root zone of whatever is planted along the path, and salt burn on cedars and edging beds is a common spring result. Grit alongside plantings avoids that entirely, because there is nothing in it to leach.

On steep grades, ramps and stairs

Anywhere gravity is working against the person on the surface, mechanical bite matters more than melting speed. Loading ramps, sloped drive lanes, exterior stairs and the pitch between a parking area and a door are the places grit earns its keep, because it delivers traction the moment it lands rather than after a chemical reaction has had time to run.

As a companion to clearing, never a substitute for it

Grit does nothing about the ice underneath it. It improves the footing on top of a hazard that is still there, and a layer of sand on 3 cm of glaze is still 3 cm of glaze. Sanding belongs on a surface that has been cleared properly first, as the finish on the job, and it is applied where mechanical traction is the honest answer rather than everywhere.

Traction, not melting

How Sanding and Grit Differ From Salting and Ice Control in Ottawa

These are two different jobs that get put in the same sentence. A de-icer is a chemical: sodium chloride, calcium chloride or a brine that lowers the freezing point of water and turns ice into slush you can then clear. Grit is a physical material with no chemistry at all. It sits on the surface, embeds slightly into softened ice, and gives a boot sole or a tire tread something abrasive to grip. That means grit works at any temperature, including the cold snaps where salt has stopped producing brine, and it means grit never removes the ice. Ottawa’s climate is trending toward more time near zero and roughly a third more winter freeze events by the 2050s, so the surfaces that refreeze night after night are the ones where knowing which material to use actually matters.

Ottawa salting and ice control

Where Grit Goes on an Ottawa Property and Why

Grades, ramps and stairs

Sloped drive lanes, loading ramps and exterior stairs get grit because immediate mechanical bite is worth more there than a de-icer that needs time to run.

Pavers, stone and plantings

Interlock, natural stone, new concrete and anything with a garden bed or lawn edge alongside it gets grit rather than chloride that leaches into the soil.

Planned spring clean-up

Grit is applied knowing it has to come back off, so placement accounts for where it will end up and the property gets swept once the season ends.

The trade-off nobody mentions

What Ottawa Sanding Leaves Behind and How It Gets Cleaned Up

The honest downside of grit is that it does not disappear. Everything spread over a winter is still on the property in spring, and it does not stay where it was put. It washes to the low corner of a lot, collects along curb lines, packs into the joints of interlock, ends up tracked across garage floors and lobby entrances, and finds its way into catch basins and eavestrough outlets if nobody is watching. So sanding gets planned with the sweep-up in mind: where the material will migrate, which drains it will reach, and when the property gets cleaned. It is worth noting how standard the practice is at municipal scale. Use and Care of Roads By-law No. 2003-498 prohibits depositing snow or ice on a highway, and section 4(3) specifically exempts putting sand or salt on icy portions of a road.

Snow removal across Ottawa

Our Process

How Sanding and Grit Are Applied on an Ottawa Property

1

Clear the surface first

Grit goes onto a surface that has already been cleared, because traction material spread over uncleared accumulation buys almost nothing.

2

Split the site by material

We decide which areas take a de-icer and which take grit, based on the temperature, the surface material and what is planted alongside it.

3

Spread where traction is needed

Grit is concentrated on grades, ramps, stairs, entrance approaches and the paths people actually walk, rather than broadcast across the whole property.

4

Re-treat and then sweep in spring

Applications are refreshed as traffic moves the material, and the accumulated grit is swept up and removed once the freeze-thaw season is over.

Sanding, Grit and Ice Control Services Across Ottawa

Traction sanding

Salting and ice control in Ottawa. Interlock and decorative surface clearing. Sidewalk snow clearing in Ottawa.

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Call about the grades, stairs and stone surfaces on your property and we will map which ones should take grit instead of salt.

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Sanding and Grit Services in Ottawa FAQs

What is the actual difference between sanding and salting?

Salting is chemical and sanding is mechanical. A de-icer lowers the freezing point of water so ice turns to brine and slush that can be cleared away. Sand and grit do no chemistry at all: they sit on the surface and give a boot or a tire something abrasive to grip. Salt removes the ice, grit only makes the ice you still have safer to walk and drive on.

At what temperature does rock salt stop working?

Its useful range falls off sharply as the surface gets colder, and by roughly -12 C rock salt has effectively stopped producing brine on a real driveway or walkway. Spreading more at that point mostly leaves white crystals sitting on top of ice. That is the point where traction material takes over, because grit works the same in a deep cold snap as it does at a degree below zero.

Does sand melt ice at all?

No. That is the single most important thing to understand about it. Dark grit can absorb a little solar gain and pit the surface slightly on a sunny afternoon, but it has no melting capacity and it never removes an ice layer. Anything under the grit is still there, which is why sanding belongs on a surface that has been properly cleared first rather than instead of clearing it.

Who cleans up all the sand in the spring?

It has to be swept up and removed, and that is part of planning the work rather than an afterthought. Over a winter, grit migrates to the low corner of a lot, packs into interlock joints, collects along curb lines, gets tracked into garages and entrances, and can reach catch basins and drainage outlets. We plan placement with that migration in mind and sweep the property once the freeze-thaw season is done.

Which surfaces should take grit instead of salt?

Interlock, natural stone, recently poured concrete, anything with garden beds or lawn edges alongside it, and any area where chloride runoff has somewhere sensitive to go. Add steep grades, ramps and exterior stairs, where immediate mechanical bite matters more than melting speed. The City itself uses both materials on roads, and By-law No. 2003-498, s.4(3) specifically exempts sand and salt applied to icy portions of a road.