some snow removal questions from a newcomer

Submitted by Groundbreakingup t3_10jqijx in Maine

coming to Maine a couple of years ago and learning about snow removal every year :) and my questions also become more and more specific.

I do not have a garage, and I have a driveway that is about one-car wide and about 75 feet long. Here are my questions for people who are more experienced in this kind of house/driveway:

  1. Do people usually remove snow from the entire driveway? I usually park my car relatively close to the street so I only need to clean up a short part of my driveway. Is this what people do? Do I need to clean up the entire driveway for some reason? (Yeah, half of my driveway was snow covered for months last year, and I am not sure if this is a problem.)
  2. If I need to clean up the entire driveway, how do people usually do this? My driveway is so narrow. After big snow, it is even hard for me to walk around my car. Do I just first clean up part of the driveway and park my car on the street, and then clean up the rest of the driveway? Do I just dump the snow toward the foundation of my house?
  3. Since it is a one-car driveway and I need to park my car there, it is impossible for me to hire a plow trunk for help. Can I hire someone to clean up my driveway using a snow blower but not a plow truck? What is the rate like? (Or, should I clean up part of my driveway, park my car on the street, and hire a plow truck to basically push the snow all the way to the end of my driveway? What is the best strategy?)

Thank you for your suggestions!

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flyawaysnowbird t1_j5m0rhr wrote

If you ever need to call emergency services they’ll need your entire driveway plowed to reach you as fast as possible

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athermalwill t1_j5m5xv9 wrote

For related reasons you should shovel all exterior doorways even if you don’t use them.

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meowmix778 t1_j5nc1ku wrote

My old man was a fire fighter for years and he always advocated shoveling a path around the entire house at least as wide as 3 or 4 shovel widths. He had a story (true or not) about an emergency that got much worse because they couldn't access the rear of the building due to snow.

Maybe some fire fighter somewhere will tell me otherwise. My father is a piece of shit and a notorious bullshit artist. But it at least passes the sniff test and years later I continue shoveling around my property.

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eljefino t1_j5m11q3 wrote

  1. Yes, so if you need emergency services they can pull up to your house. Also oil deliveries.

  2. I can't speak for your property, but you'll figure it out. Don't leave your car in the street, it's a hazard to navigation. Brush it off, pull it somewhere you've already shoveled, then shovel the spot your car was in.

  3. No it isn't. Have your plow guy push a turn-around on your frozen lawn or some other convenient spot, so you can park the car there while he plows. Aside from a 14 year old neighbor kid you won't be able to hire a snowblower.

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z-eldapin t1_j5m4kxe wrote

In addition to the above, you have to ensure that you have made a clearance for the mail carrier as well as any package delivery, assuming you want to receive your mail and packages in a timely and un-brokem manner

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MathematicianGlum880 t1_j5mcqr7 wrote

Oil companies won’t deliver if there isn’t a path, nor will gas companies. Or mail deliver services.

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meowmix778 t1_j5ncc37 wrote

Shit. It's midnight and you just made me realize where I plowed my snow is a bit troublesome for oil. I was trying to widen my driveway and went "aah that back corner is perfect"

I'm in my 30s. I should know much better. My brain went somewhere else today. Thanks for jogging the thought I'm playing with my snowblower tomorrow.

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MathematicianGlum880 t1_j5o0kn8 wrote

It happens. I’m 62 and I remember when a few years back when they refused to deliver oil because we forgot to make a path. We made a mad dash to shovel through a foot of snow and make a car lengths path. They were coming back. 🤦🏽‍♀️. We didn’t forget again!

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circlepeaches t1_j5m10lc wrote

  1. A few reasons you may want to clean up your entire driveway would be - once the snowpack freezes it will be harder to remove and may also take longer to melt in the spring. Even if you don’t clear up your whole driveway for a car you’ll still need to clear a path to walk to remaining way up to your driveway. If an emergency vehicle such as an ambulance or fire truck needs access to your house they will have a hard time reaching you in the event of an emergency.

  2. most will recommend getting a snowblower or a plow if your vehicle accommodates one. Clear a path down your driveway for the car first. Then dig out the car and drive it off the driveway- either onto the street or just parked into a cleared section of driveway while you clear the area the car was originally parked in.

  3. you’ll have an easier time finding a plow guy than you will finding someone to come snow-blow. Once you find a plow guy he will probably be able to let you know the best way for him to clear the driveway in regards to you moving your car so that will be a discussion you would have with him. It will depend on things like where you are on his plow route, where he is pushing the snow, and what kind of plow he is operating.

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East-Damage7858 t1_j5m58zc wrote

I'm not sure whats behind your driveway but you should remove snow from the whole driveway for emergancy services and oil delivery as mentioned before. Here I have a fairly large section of lawn at the end and on one side of the driveway ( garage on other side). We plow all the way across the back lawn to the trees and up onto a portion of the side lawn making the plowed area as wide as possible. As the winter goes on and you get more snow you want to start with a bigger area ( as back as far as possible and as wide as possible) because the plowed snow will freeze and be piled up, leaving less room to pile snow every following storm. There have been winters we have had to use a tractor with a bucket loader to move the plowed snow piles to make room for more snow. Sorry if I didn't explain it well but my suggestion would be to yes clean the whole driveway as far and wide as you can. Plow rates vary by area but check the town FB page lots of people post plowing on there. In this area people w/o a garage move car into road, just leave hazard lights on and park close to side. It shouldn't take long to plow and you can pull back in once its done.

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Eccentrically_loaded t1_j5m7imd wrote

You do you. Feel free to park near the street.

Shoveling is good exercise. Or you could hire a plow and pay for a gym membership (snarky comment).

A snowblower sounds appropriate for your driveway. It is rare to find someone to snowblow driveways and probably hard to find said person too, but possible. If you live somewhere there are condominiums or businesses with walkways that get cleared you could ask them who does the snow removal.

Some towns allow residents to take some salted sand from the road crew's stockpile for use on their driveway if you need any. Sanding has become more important than plowing with the ice storms.

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sneakyfucker1977 t1_j5moqfk wrote

  1. if your house has stairs, uncovered deck, etc, start the top town. I have a wrap around deck and walk ways under them. No need to shovel the same stuff twice.

  2. don’t walk over fresh snow - - shovel a path. This prevents packing of the snow and makes it easier to shovel.

  3. I both shovel and have a plow guy. I have a large driveway and parking lot. I push a lot if my snow to where the plow can easily get it and push it away from the house. Which brings me to my last tip:

  4. consult a weather app with an hourly Forecast. I use weather underground and schedule my shoveling according to the cumulative snowfall. I schedule my last shoveling about a half hour before the snow stops.

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CampingJosh t1_j5m8eub wrote

The house across the street from me has a hired snowblower, so it's possible. The guy comes out and does the driveway, then a few laps around the house for the little dog to be able to run around.

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FITM-K t1_j5mmdxu wrote

  1. As others have said, yes. Needed for emergency services, gas/oil deliveries, and sometimes likely also needed by USPS/FedEX/UPS if you ever order stuff online. If you were to lose power or internet, CMP or your ISP might need to park there to check your lines. Etc. etc.
  2. Hard to say exactly what the best approach is without seeing your house/drive, but assuming you're not getting it plowed, I would snowblow it. If that really requires moving your car, then you don't really have any choice but to move your car (not into the street unless you want it to get destroyed by a plow, though, just move it to a spot you've already cleared in the driveway). If there's some lawn space on either side of the car, you could also just snowblow offroad for a sec and go around the car.
  3. I don't think you'll be able to pay anyone to snowblow, but I'd ask a local plow guy to take a look at your driveway and see what they'd recommend. I suspect there's probably a way you could get it plowed without too much trouble... if you want it plowed. Personally, we just snowblow ours ourselves, it's a bit of a hassle but it's cheaper than paying someone to plow it, we get to control the schedule of when it's cleared, and it's a little exercise which is never a bad thing.
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ecco-domenica t1_j5mq7bp wrote

Do I just dump the snow toward the foundation of my house?

Try to avoid this if you can, but sometimes there's no choice. Is there a lawn where you can dump snow?

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