apparently I wasn't clear - I do have an extremely effective trough drain
right in front of the garage pad, and it works wonders.

the problem is that the driveway dips below grade (towards the house). this
means that snow/ice melting in the sun at the top of the driveway runs down
the driveway and by the time it gets to the bottom, its below grade and away
from the sun entirely - so it re-freezes. VERY MUCH like an ice dam on a
roof. The water just spills over itself and in time an ice flow of a few
inches thick develops.

there has got to be some sort of heated wire solution for this....I'll just
keep looking.

b
"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
I would put a drain or at least a holding basin where the water
collects. That means you may need to cut a piece of the driveway out.
I doubt the deicing wires will provide enough power, unless the area
is small.

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 20:05:02 GMT, "Hamilton Audio"
wrote:

I've got a montreal-style bilevel home where the driveway runs down and
towards the house at a good slope. I have retaining walls on either side
where the driveway goes below grade.

In the springtime, as the temps get warm enough to let the sun melt
snow/ice
at the top of the driveway and the grass, it runs down the driveway as
gravity would have it do....but as it gets past the retaining walls (where
the sun cannot get to, at any time of the day) it re-freezes.

sort of like an ice dam on a roof, but at the base of my driveway. I had
to
use an air-chisel and break away large pieces of ice in the early spring
to
keep it clear....

I am thinking about laying down a set of roof de-icing cables across the
area to keep it thawed permanently. any thoughts? is it ok to be driving
on these wires? I know they dont' get "hot" per se, barely warm I
know...but will I be doing damage to them by driving on them?? are there
any more appropriate products for such a task?

bmoney