We currently specialise in the following areas:
London, Peterborough, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Cardiff, Manchester, Nottingham, Ashford, Reading, Consett, Wisbech, Cambridge, Cirencester, Liverpool, Ipswich, Exeter, Bristol, Stoke on Trent, Luton, Milton Keynes, Plymouth, Bury St Edmunds, Norwich, Gt Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Newmarket, Colchester, Chelmsford, Braintree, Witham, Royston, St Albans, Hemel Hempsted, Watford, Hatfield, High Wycombe, Amersham, Thatcham, Newbury, Bishops Stortford, Aylesbury, Canterbury, Hythe, Dover, Crawley, Hove, Brighton, Worthing, Tetbury, Gloucester, Abergavenny, Camarthen, Porthmadog, Telford, Birmingham, Norwich, Runcorn, Bourne, Wirral, Portsmouth, Fareham, Felixstowe, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Wales, Kent, Bedfordshire. Berkshire, County Durham, Gloucestershire, Lancashire, Devon, Norfolk, West Midlands and the East Midlands.
Wherever you are based in the UK, we can help!
Gritting Services – Contact us now for a free quotation
What gritting services do Ice Watch provide?
Ice Watch provide a full range of private gritting services for car parks, pathways, footpaths, steps, ramps, site entrances, site exits, forecourts and private roads. Any area of your commercial premises or residential property can be covered by our service contracts.
We also provide snow ploughing after heavy snow fall. We do not provide public road gritting.
What types of commercial premises do Ice Watch grit?
We grit all types of commercial and public properties including schools, colleges, hospitals, doctor's surgeries, local authority buildings, offices, business parks, retails parks and industrial estates.
We also have contracts with utility companies, property management companies, facilities management companies and car park management companies.
How do Ice Watch decide when to grit?
At 2pm Ice Watch receive our highly localised weather reports for all site locations that have a contract with us. These are then analysed by the Operations Manager to make an informed decision as to whether gritting at these locations is required. The decision will be based on the ground temperature being lower than -1c throughout the night and how much moisture is on the ground. We will also take into account the hours of business for the site and whether a temperate rise is anticipated before it will be in use.
The Ice Watch operatives will aim to go out to grit the specified areas from 7pm in the evening to ensure that the areas are clear from use and that the grit is laid prior to the ice being formed, because gritting is only effective if laid prior to icy conditions. The business hours are also taken into consideration when deciding when to grit.
Why is it better to grit in advance of bad weather rather than after it has happened?
It is extremely important that gritting is used as a preventative method to avoid ice forming as it cannot be used as a reactive solution to icy weather. This is for the following reason: water freezes at 0c; when gritting is carried out the salt molecules connect with the water molecules, which make it more difficult for ice to form. The result of this is that a solution is formed that has a much lower freezing point than water – hence preventing ice forming.
Once ice has already formed, grit simply sits on top of the ice and the salt molecules are not able to connect with the water molecules to form the solution with the lower freezing point.
What type of grit / salt is used and why?
Ice Watch only spread white fine grade salt. This ensures that any salt carried through from the car parks, pathways and public areas does not damage or stain the flooring of internal buildings.
White salt is more expensive than standard brown salt that may be used by other companies, but if you take into account the cost of cleaning and repair to damaged flooring that the use of brown salt may create, white salt is a more cost effective option. Dirty, damaged flooring is also bad for business, creating a poor impression to visitors and clients.
How much grit/salt is used?
Grit is used as required. Our highly accurate localised weather forecasts ensure that gritting is only carried out when necessary.
We also use specialist calibrated drop spreaders which make sure the amount of grit sprayed is adequate without being wasteful. This avoids damage to the environment and higher gritting bills.
What happens when there are multiple days of bad weather?
Each and every day during the winter months, we receive highly localised weather forecasts for each site location that has an Ice Watch contract. This is then analysed by the Operations Manager who makes an informed decision based on the ground temperature and moisture levels. This is assessed on a daily basis to ensure that each car park, pathway and public space is gritted as necessary each day.
Our expert services mean that even when there are multiple days of bad weather, ice is prevented from forming.
Do Ice Watch provide grit for customers to use themselves?
In order for a customer to get the most out of the Ice Watch service it is vital that they sign up to our full service of forecasting, inspecting, gritting and reporting. By not signing up to the full service you could potentially be putting your company at risk of injury to employees and the public, resulting in costly insurance claims.
Without our forecasting service it is likely that gritting will be done at the wrong times and therefore not be effective at preventing icy conditions in your car parks, pathways and public areas. By signing up to our full service you are also covered by our £10 million public liability insurance.
Once gritting has been carried out, is the ground fully safe to walk on?
Whilst our services do enhance the safety of the car parks, pathways and public areas it is also the responsibility of the individual to ensure that they take care in icy conditions.
Are services provided on a contract only basis?
To make the best use of the services we offer, we would advise employing our contract services. This will ensure that you benefit from our highly localised weather forecasting and that you are pro-active in preventing icy situations in your car parks and pathways, rather than re-acting to icy conditions.
How are Ice Watch different to other gritting companies?
Ice Watch provides its customers with a fully comprehensive service of forecasting, inspecting, gritting and reporting.
We use specialist spreaders that enable us to accurately grit the appropriate areas, to minimise wastage and to avoid unnecessary damage to the local environment.
We have up to £10 million public liability insurance which covers all customers who sign up to our contract services, giving you complete peace of mind.
What equipment is used for car park gritting?
We use specialist calibrated spreaders that precisely determine the amount of grit that is required. This avoids waste, unnecessary costs and damage to the local environment.
Can the weather always be predicted accurately?
There are occasions when the temperature and ground moisture are borderline and we cannot be certain of ground frost or ice. On these occasions we send our operators out to do free on site inspections to ascertain the need for gritting. They will then use their expert knowledge to make the decision as to whether gritting is necessary.
What if the ground is gritted and there was no frost?
The forecasts that we use are highly localised and very accurate, but also if the weather looks changeable or uncertain we do send out our operators to do free on site inspections so there should never be an occasion when we grit un-necessarily. |
