Snow & Ice Removal on Bluestone

This post will try to help and guide you to correctly care for your Bluestone areas in the winter months. Although Bluestone is a low maintenance type of natural masonry paver, there are some products and methods which are better for caring for it and ensuring it’s long lasting beauty.

When shoveling snow off of your Bluestone, always use a plastic shovel to avoid scratching the stone. Try to avoid removing ice with metal shovels and tools. Metal shovels and tools will permanently scratch the stone. Use as little de-icing product as is necessary.

Sometimes, main entrances to buildings and walkways are going to need to be salted with a de-icing product. We generally recommend trying to avoid using salt, but sometimes it is necessary for these types of high traffic areas. Below are some different types of salt to use or avoid.

Magnesium Chloride- Available in flake & pellet form with an effective melting point of -13 degrees Fahrenheit. Use only as much product as is necessary. This product is safer to use for Bluestone, concrete, pets and the environment and should reduce spalling. Leaves no reside and no tracking.

Calcium Chloride- Available in pelletized form with an effective melting point of -25 degrees Fahrenheit. Use only as much product as is necessary (a little amount goes a long way). Again, this product is safer to use for Bluestone, concrete, pets and the environment and should reduce spalling.

Potassium Chloride– This is a pelletized form of salt which has an effective melting point of 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Use only as much as is necessary to melt ice. This product is safer for the environment and is more pet friendly.

Sodium Chloride (Rock Salt/ Halite)- This product is NOT recommended for Bluestone. Although it has good melting ability, it possesses a lower freezing point than pure water which accelerates the freeze/ thaw cycle of the stone. This acceleration of the freeze/ thaw cycle can cause surface spalling and deterioration of the stone and surrounding pointing.

Some other products to consider are Safe Paws or Morton Safe-T-Pet. These two products are safer for animals and the environment and can be found at pets stores.

If you have any other questions or concerns about caring for your Bluestone areas feel free to call (215-646-3500) or email us (info@robinsonflagstone.com ) and we can personally try to trouble-shoot any problems you may be having.