While I was trying to finish a new house in time for the holidays, the forecast called for a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. The house is located up a steep driveway, and I knew that if bad weather hit, we wouldn’t be able to get up that drive for a long while.
As a hedge against an impassable driveway, I laid four rolls of #15 tar paper in the center of the tire tracks and weighted them down with scrap lumber. Sure enough, the bad weather hit. We got about 1-1/2 in. of sleet and ice. But the tar paper didn’t absorb any precipitation, so the ice couldn’t bond to the drive.
When I arrived on the site the next day, I exposed a corner of paper and began to pull. The tar paper’s flexibility caused the ice to break apart in chunks, which I pushed to the side. In 30 minutes, the driveway had two 3-ft.-wide clear strips leading to the house. We got our work done, and the owner was home for Christmas.
Jim Benton, Riner, VA
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