With the weather we been having, something very unsual has just happened and I have no idea how to get around this problem. I have a water drain outside my garage door and rain water or what not always flows through there, which avoids my garage in the basement and the basement to flood. This year with the cold and then mild weather, I noticed a lake of water over the drain earlier when I got home tonight. I went to verify the problem and the water in the drain is totally frozen, a solid block of ice, therefore not letting the water to flow and it has been building up and will remain there and I am afraid it will start seeping inside the house through the garage door.

How do I resolve this. Its been mild today and sunny and so a lot of snow melted, but it also turned cold enough to freeze the inside of the box into a huge ice cube.

How to I resolve this so that I get the water moving again... or will it it not till spring?

Thanks for your help!

Marros

If you have the money to invest they do make driveway and sidewalk heaters

driveway heaters - Google Search

You can use a hair dryer to thaw the ice for now and then in better weather you can figure out a way to solve the problem permanently.
Let me know if this helps

Let's take a 20/20 hindsight approach first:

1. After a snow you ALWAYS have to keep the drains clear. No one, probably but me shovels the streets after a big snow such that nelting snow gets diverted into the storm drains. Everybody else just cares about their driveways and sidewalks. Stupid.

Create a path when the snow melts such that the water flows somewhere.

If this is a serious problem, you can apply de-iceing solution BEFORE the problems happens, so the ice won't bond to the drain.

Bare Ground Solution - Deicing Snow Melt Solution with Gallon Refill - Winter Grounds Maintenance

This is what is done to planes.

It can also be applied after the fact. That product is not as damaging as salts which lower the freezing point of ice.

Apply some. Wait for it to work and if you have to remove the water with a wet vac. Concentrate on the outlet.

If you really have to, get a portable sump pump in the grate.

Prevention is a better solution.

Can you post a pic of the general area using "Go Advanced"?

The hair dryer idea creates a possible shock hazzard.

It would take a bit of engineering, but PEX tubing buried into the grate and connected to a driveway heater type of system might work.

At the present time, you may have limited options.:
1. chemically (lower the melting point of the ice)
2. Chipping - doesn't sound like fun
3. Vacuuming excess water with a wet vac
4. Sump punp/bilge pump - to remove excess water. The bilge pump is trcky, but I use a Rule-Mate for a window well.
5. Lay pex tubing on top with a radient heater/driveway heater type controller to melt the ice. Cover the drain with canvas to increase the temperature.
6. Electric ice melting systems Orbit Mfg. Electric Radiant Snow and Ice Melting Cable
6. Star of Hydronic info: http://www.wattsradiant.com/professional/onix.asp

Permanently install the radient heater in the drain.

I'm assuming that the drain is a something like a 8' x 4" x 4" deep drain. My responses are based on that assumption.

Here is some inor on hydronic sstems:

http://www.dow.com/PublishedLiteratu...romPage=GetDoc