We just received an update that our interview with Donna Pitman on KMBC 9 news should air tommorrow morning during the morning show 5-7. Let us know what you think. I’m nervous, I haven’t seen it yet:)

With this cold snap and now a short warm up we will see some freeze and thaw and refreeze each day.  You need to be aware that your walks and driveways could become slippery again each morning and evening.  What to do?  The best thing is to keep the walk surfaces clear of snow and ice and manage your snow piles so that when they melt they don’t run back onto the walkways.  When that isn’t possible try to use products like sand or kitty litter to add traction to these areas when they are frozen.  Ice Melt products are great when used properly for loosening the ice and snow from the surface so it can be shoveled off but aren’t designed to be re applied over and over for a refreezing situation.   Ice Melt products are salts, and when the concentration gets too high they can burn the turf and plants around the hard surface you are treating.  Not to mention it can be hard on the concrete too.  What are other options you have tried?

I had a good meeting and interview this morning with Donna Pitman from KMBC 9 about winterizing sprinkler systems to avoid freeze damage.  With this week beginning our first real plunge into cold weather I think it will be a useful segment.  It will be a short segment they call “News You Can Use.”  I don’t know when it will air yet but I will keep you posted.  The funny thing is one of the systems that we showed her for demonstration did freeze last night but wasn’t enough to break.  So it was the worst of all things, non functional but you couldn’t see anything, not very exciting viewing.  Luckily we got it thawed out before the TV crew arrived and everything went smoothly.

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It looks like we are going to get our first real cold spell of the season.  Did you remember to disconnect your garden hoses?  If left attached to your faucet the self draining feature of the faucet can’t operate and the potential for a frozen/broken water line goes way up.  If these freeze and break inside the house wall you can imagine the potential damage.  So the moral of the story is make sure you disconnect your garden hoses before we get a hard freeze.