Some people use table salt for de icing instead of rock salt.
Salt for melting ice on roof.
Most salt pucks use calcium chloride to melt ice which can cause numerous issues down the line.
There are five commonly used types of ice melt a k a.
Apply 1 tablet on every sqft of problem area.
Urea ammonium sulfate glycols formates etc they are not easily obtainable nor are they widely used.
Begins working within 1 hour of application.
Purchase sidewalk salt also called calcium chloride from your local hardware or big box store.
Contains 95 percent of calcium chloride and works down to 20 degrees f.
Although there are others e g.
Tablets melt thru ice dams allowing water to drain safely.
The big five include.
A do not put salt on your roof.
Here are four reasons salt pucks are bad for your roof.
What kind of salt can you put on your roof for ice dams.
You should only use it on roofs in select circumstances like severe cold.
However this is no better as chemically they.
Roofmelt tablet then melts its way down and settles on the roofs surface.
The tablets are specially formulated with calcium chloride so they won t harm your exterior like products such as rock salt which could rust your gutters and damage shingles.
Place this vertically on your roof near the edge so it will melt a section of snow and ice creating an area where the water can leak off.
The key is to avoid sodium chloride or rock salt.
Rock salt is common for de icing driveways and paths.
Comes in a 14 lb pail and is an estimated 60 pucks per container.
If there are heavy rains and you already put ice melting socks on the roof the rock salt will dissolve by water and will run down into your gutters so it s best to put them up when it becomes cold.
Roofmelt works to 20f made of 100 calcium chloride.
The roofmelt ice melt is designed to eliminate the need to climb onto roofs while melt snow.
If it s applied routinely it can damage shingles nails eavestroughs and other fittings.
Gently toss the tied off pantyhose onto the edge of your roof to begin melting the snow.
Salt pucks are supposed to eliminate the need to climb onto your roof and are designed to melt snow and ice before ice dams can form.
Rock salt contains corrosive oxidizing agents making it best suited for removing ice on harder surfaces like concrete.
If you must use salt at least choose the right type of salt.
But are they doing more harm than good.
Use roof melt tablets to reduce snow and ice buildup that occurs on your roof typically on the eaves and in gutters.
It will damage the roofing siding gutters and downspouts and the poisonous runoff will kill foundation plants.