The Brew Cabin

Hi Tony

Any ideas on what to do to sandstone flags to stop them icing up? there must be a coating that you can seal them with and add a friction enhancer, How about Simeon have you any ideas? last week they were a death trap.

The easiest thing is to eliminate the ice by using rock-salt or even table-salt. It should be noted, however, that using de-icing salts on decorative concrete patio flags (not the bog-standard pressed concrete 'council' flags) can be pretty disastrous, leading to real nightmares regarding the colouring, but, for most types of natural stone, simple rock-salt will melt the ice, add grit for traction and do nowt to the flags themselves.

If you were looking for a sealnat-based solution to the problem,then there are some 'Hi-traction' coatings that could be applied, but the ones I've seen to date impart a waxy look to the surface of sandstone, and if memory serveds me correctly, they have to be applied to dry flags, so that's that idea buggered up until May!

I'm not sure if Ronacrete (Simeon's company based in Essex) do a transparent, hi-traction sealant for stone flags, but I think Watco have something in that vein, and Keim Minerals have/had an anti-slip coating of some type.

For basic safety with no environmental impact, no threat of damage to the flags, the garden or any other form of paving, then the simplest, most cost-effective solution is to scatter a few shovelfuls of grit sand over the surface. This gives much better grip in wet and icy conditions, and then, when we're past the worst of the cold weather, say the end of February, you can simply sweep the sand away. :)