That $800 heated driveway cable was a bad bet after our first Edmonton freeze-thaw cycle

I paid a local contractor $800 to install heated cables in my driveway apron last October. Worked great for the first few cold snaps, but then we had that warm spell in January and the slab shifted just enough to snap a wire. Now I got a dead strip of ice right at the curb and the company says it's 'normal wear and tear'. Anyone else have concrete movement kill their heated driveway investment?

2 comments

2 Comments

wilson.sam1mo ago

Man, that's rough. I had the exact same thing happen with mine last year. The concrete settled right at the expansion joint and pinched the wire. What worked for me was getting a concrete saw and cutting a thin groove along the dead spot, then running a surface mounted cable in it with some epoxy. It's not pretty but it's been holding for two winters now. You might also check if the contractor has any liability for the slab shift unless they had a waiver in the contract.

charles_kelly431mo ago

@wilson.sam nailed it with the groove fix but concrete shift is usually a ground prep issue not warranty.