This will be our fist winter in this house and we have been trying to figure out what to do about the steps in the back that go from the house into the back yard. The house is a raised ranch, so the first floor is a level up off the ground. This means that from our deck off the kitchen Mandi has to walk down an entire flight of stairs to get into the yard. The only other way into the yard is to go out the front door and through the yard (and in the winter through the snow) to the fence at the back of the house. With a 1yo it is not always going to be possible for me to leave her alone in the house to do this.
What I am looking for are ideas on how to either keep the snow off the steps easily.
Option 1: We have thought about how we could put up a temporary cover over the steps using plywood and maybe a tarp, but since the house is aluminium siding and not wood, we don't want to drill a hole into the house to attach it to the house. The steps have a railing on the left side of them but the right side is just up against the house. This also would not keep snow from blowing onto the step from the side and from the deck. This would also make it difficult if there is a fire or reason to leave our house quickly as unless we built the "shelter" 6 feet tall, we would not fit down it. Still, this is what we are leaning toward.
Option 2: We thought about looking for some kind of rubber mats we can put on the steps that would allow us to throw salt down (they are wood, so the salt would eat through the wood steps eventually if we threw it right on them) down them. The problem with this is that dog safe salt would get really expensive after a while and regular salt worries me with her paws. Growing up I had a Beardie that used to get the stuf in between her pads and it would cause a burn.
The deck is not new, but it is also not that old. We are planning on redoing it in a few years and at that time we'll make the steps only go halfway, then have a landing and turn and go back the other way so there are only maybe 5 steps at a time. But for now we need another solution.
Ideas? What have you all done to dog safe your steps from the snow and ice?
What I am looking for are ideas on how to either keep the snow off the steps easily.
Option 1: We have thought about how we could put up a temporary cover over the steps using plywood and maybe a tarp, but since the house is aluminium siding and not wood, we don't want to drill a hole into the house to attach it to the house. The steps have a railing on the left side of them but the right side is just up against the house. This also would not keep snow from blowing onto the step from the side and from the deck. This would also make it difficult if there is a fire or reason to leave our house quickly as unless we built the "shelter" 6 feet tall, we would not fit down it. Still, this is what we are leaning toward.
Option 2: We thought about looking for some kind of rubber mats we can put on the steps that would allow us to throw salt down (they are wood, so the salt would eat through the wood steps eventually if we threw it right on them) down them. The problem with this is that dog safe salt would get really expensive after a while and regular salt worries me with her paws. Growing up I had a Beardie that used to get the stuf in between her pads and it would cause a burn.
The deck is not new, but it is also not that old. We are planning on redoing it in a few years and at that time we'll make the steps only go halfway, then have a landing and turn and go back the other way so there are only maybe 5 steps at a time. But for now we need another solution.
Ideas? What have you all done to dog safe your steps from the snow and ice?