Taking care of brick stairs in winter
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Taking care of brick stairs in winter
The brick and mortar front stairs had mortar coming out and a few bricks (and field stones) coming loose.
Spent most of my summer replacing the field stones with granite , replaced the loose and broken bricks and repointed all other mortar joints.
Used a sealer (Thomson) .
The real challenge now is how do I take care of it now in winter. We already had first snow (Massachusetts) . The stairs are in North and so ice forms easily.
Salt will again break the mortars. Are their any alternative (Calcium/Magnesium chloride) that I can use ? How about heated stair treads that are sold over net ?
Spent most of my summer replacing the field stones with granite , replaced the loose and broken bricks and repointed all other mortar joints.
Used a sealer (Thomson) .
The real challenge now is how do I take care of it now in winter. We already had first snow (Massachusetts) . The stairs are in North and so ice forms easily.
Salt will again break the mortars. Are their any alternative (Calcium/Magnesium chloride) that I can use ? How about heated stair treads that are sold over net ?
#2
Member
The calcium chloride or magnesium chloride that you mentioned are both very good alternatives and will do much less damage than traditional salt. I've never seen you stair treads and I really think that unless they were kept on all the time they heat and thaw cycles will be quite detrimental to the stairway.