When you get a lot of snow (and in Ontario, it happens all the time!), clearing it away from your commercial property becomes equal parts labour and strategy. With piled snow weighing up to 12 pounds per square foot, advance mapping for extra snow piles can help you avoid accidental injury or vehicle damage. In this blog, the commercial snow removal team at Green Collar Landscaping shares tips for keeping your property safer this winter.
Advance Planning is Important
When deciding where to pile or stack accumulating snow, you should do so before the season, or at least while there is no snow on the ground. If you live in an area with multiple snow events and comparatively few thaws, selecting a place to pile snow becomes even more important.
You must always leave yourself enough space to pile snow without negatively impacting parking spaces, building entrances, or walkways. If there is no optimal place to stack snow, you’re plowing in a trapped area. It may be necessary to haul snow out of the area.
Creating Your Snow Pile Map
Ideally, you should pile snow in a place near the back of the property. If you’re plowing a residential drive, stack near the base whenever possible. Although snow is often piled on either side of the drive near the street, there is always the risk that the driver view of oncoming traffic is obstructed. This strategy may also obstruct access to community mailboxes or interfere with curbside deliveries.
Additional tips:
- Don’t pile snow next to structures such as garages, fences, or utility sheds.
- Don’t stack snow where it can damage the landscape or shrubs, or block access to electric and gas meters.
- Never pile snow on an existing structure.
Commercial parking lots require a little more planning, but the same common sense applies. The stacks and piles of snow can get quite high for parking lots at shopping malls, airports, and office complexes. Again, snow should never be piled in a way that obstructs incoming or outgoing traffic.
Additional tips for parking lots:
- Keep snow away from fire hydrants, post boxes, electrical boxes, and dumpsters.
- Position the piles so that the melting area is near a drain.
- Snow piles should be placed in areas to prevent runoff and refreeze in pedestrian fields. It is possible for water to flow onto a walking surface and freeze due to the slope of the property and the placement of drains.
Clearing snow away from your commercial property is not a simple matter of piling it in random and convenient places. By mapping places for extra snow piles in advance, you can ensure efficient operations as well as the safety of tenants and any members of the public who access the property once snow removal is complete.
Do You Need Commercial Snow Removal Services This Winter?
The first snowflakes have already fallen, and soon your business will need a reliable snow removal service to keep the property clear this coming winter. At Green Collar Landscaping, our commercial snow removal services are designed to tackle all critical issues, including fast response and mapping for extra snow piles. For more information or to receive a free estimate, please contact us today!