A “Texas fall” is unlike fall in other parts of the country. We don’t have the whispering yellow aspen leaves of the Rocky Mountain states. Nor do we have the bright red-orange foliage of New England. While states like Colorado are bracing for their first snow of the season, we in Texas are fairly dancing over the fact that daily temperatures are dipping into the 60s overnight. (Pass the hot chocolate! Cue the unpacking of sweaters!)

It’s almost laughable to think that winter is just around the corner. The first cool front is just barely upon us–but did you know that we’re a mere two months away from average lows dipping into freezing temperatures?

If you are the property manager for a church, business, school, industrial building, financial institution, or medical facility, it’s important to be thinking forward, not waiting until the cool weather has arrived to make a game-plan for managing the effects of freezing temperatures.

Have you ever noticed how every single overpass and bridge in our great, steamy-hot state has a yellow sign that says, “Bridge May Ice In Cold Weather”? Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is currently gearing up to combat the potential ice situation by stocking up on ice-defeating supplies–both de-icing and anti-icing agents. Anti-icing agents are applied before temperatures are expected to dip and suppress ice buildup while de-icing agents are typically sprayed over the surface of freezing precipitation buildup to help break up snow and ice. (In Part II, we’ll be covering each of the four chemicals TxDOT may be using this winter.)

As TxDOT prepares to cover roads with de-icing and anti-icing chemicals, you will want to take some precautions in regards to your campus. There are two types of precautions we’ll talk about in part I & part II of this article. The first concerns prevention and the second concerns cleanup. In part II, we’ll dig a little deeper into the chemistry, but for today let’s just focus on the fact that ice-melt can be a slippery, messy, ugly problem if not addressed quickly.

The first precaution–prevention–is probably the easiest step. Sonlight Cleaning Services recommends adding additional rugs to entryways as well as a day porter service to your regular janitorial cleaning service. As ice-melting agents do their job, your employees, clients, and customers will inevitably track these chemicals in on their shoes (along with the melted ice). Combined, you are looking at a slip-and-fall prone environment. Rugs can help keep much of the problem at bay so long as they are cleaned or replaced with regularity. This is where a day porter becomes an invaluable asset to your facilities management. 

Don’t wait for the first freeze to catch you off guard. Let the pros at Sonlight Cleaning Services help you prepare for the icy roads ahead!