Snow Blowers

The title of this post may seem a little odd, however we wanted to take a look at snow removal techniques from the perspective of the type of driveway surface that you are dealing with and what precautions should be taken before various snow removal techniques are used.

Snow Removal Techniques – Types of Driveway Surfaces

The driveway surface will make a big difference in terms of the safety and precautions that you might take when clearing snow. The common types of driveway surface include – gravel driveways, asphalt driveways, cement driveways and patio stone or interlock driveways. For the purposes of this discussion we will lump asphalt and cement together. We also lump patio and interlock together. We will also assume that all of these driveways have been installed properly.

Shoveling snow – from any of these driveways should not cause any problems what so ever, unless you are using an axe or some other sharp device to break up the ice on or around your driveway. Care must be taken that you do not accidentally scrape or chip any of the surfaces that we have included in this review. Obviously a gravel driveway will withstand almost anything from a shoveling perspective. Shoveling is also the most strenuous and should be completed carefully to avoid not overdoing it and causing a heart attack.

Snow scoop

A snow scoop is much the same as shoveling. Care should be taken not to remove the gravel from the roadway when you are shoveling of using a hand snow scoop. They are great for moving a lot of snow by hand.

Snow blowing – with a snow blower either a consumer model or a commercial model is usually no problem. However care should be given to the interlock style of driveways to ensure that the machine used does not scrape and mark the driveway. Many commercial companies will use Teflon coated blades and scrapers. They will avoid or lessen the chance of leaving marks on expensive patio stone driveways.

Snow removal company – is one of the easiest and although the most expensive way to remove snow. It is effective for many people. When you are negotiating your contract make sure that the type of driveway is specified. Specify if any precautions are to be taken, that they are noted in the contract. Snow removal companies that use blades to remove snow scrape the surface. They can sometimes leave marks much to the annoyance of the owners of the homes they are working for.

Depend on neighbors – to clear your snow for you. This is a great way to have your snow cleared. You may pay them something or give them a gift depending on how often they clear the snow for you.

Hire neighbors 

Make the arrangement more formal. There should be a written agreement or even a contract which stipulates when they will clear the snow. Whether they will do the steps or not and how much you will pay them to clear the snow for you. An agreement of some kind makes sure or reduces the chance of their being any misunderstanding. This is in regard to snow removal or the techniques they will use to remove the snow.

Regardless of which approach you take to clear snow from your driveway, consumers should always have a contract of sorts. It should spell out how often the snow will be cleared. Whether the steps are included or not and what tools will be used to clear snow. Even if you hire a neighbor to clear the snow, writing down what your expectations are and what they agree to is important. It will ensure that you both have the same understanding about snow removal.

Even if you are not paying for the service and they are doing it as a favor, you may want to understand when the snow will be removed. If it does not meet your needs then you may have to make other arrangements.

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