For many Calgary citizens, it feels like there are three seasons in the city: winter, getting ready for winter and recovering from winter. The city gets an average of 75 snowy days each year that chuck down over 50cm of snow each winter, which is a lot of snow to clear out of the way to keep everyone moving. Winter preparations means that you have to make some serious choices about how you’re going to keep your driveway and sidewalks clear for you and your neighbors. Whether you choose to do it yourself or get professional help, when it comes to snow removal Calgary has a lot of work to do each year.
Do It Yourself Snow And Ice Removal
The cheapest option when it comes to driveway snow shovelling and sidewalk snow removal is to do it yourself, or delegate to family members as part of their chores. There will be some minor associated costs, such as buying pet friendly sidewalk salt to keep the pathways clear and strong enough snow shovels to last for a few winters, but if you’re looking to stay on a tight budget, then getting your hands snowy is the way to go. However, there are some significant drawbacks by going solo on your snow removal:
- It takes time – the worst part of removing enough snow and ice from your driveway and walkways is how long it takes. Even on a 10 cm snow day, it can take a few hours to complete clear a two car driveway and the sidewalk in front of your home to the point where it can be used safely. You can speed up this process with a petrol powered snow thrower, but these are expensive both to purchase and to run, so they only make economic sense if you have a large area to clear. Otherwise it’s you with a shovel and an ice breaker for hours after each snowstorm.
- It’s hard work – all the classic images of snow are of these soft fluffy flakes falling gently to the ground. While this is beautiful, all Calgary residents know that even this powdery snow melts and freezes quickly, and if it’s heavy, wet snow, you know that you’re in for some back breaking work. The early snowfalls are the easiest as you can just push the snow from your driveway to make banks, but as winter goes on, you’ll have to put more effort in to get the snow over these snow banks. Very quickly, driveway snow shovelling can become your new gym workout without the warmth or the whole body approach.
- Your timing has to be flexible – finally, doing your own sidewalk ice removal and shovelling means that you have to be available to spend significant amounts of time at any time of day. While most snow comes overnight, there is always the potential for day time snow and ice storms. These mean that you have to get bundled up to head outside when you get home exhausted from a day at work. Even the overnight snow storms require you to be flexible, as you’ll have to get up early to clear the driveway so that everyone can get to where they need to go on time.
While clearing your own snow each winter can save you money, it’s clear to see that there are equal or greater investments in time and effort to keep you and your family on the move all season long.
The Benefits Of Worry Free Snow Removal
Fortunately, there is another way to save yourself from back breaking labor: hiring the ice removal services from Scoop Cut N Shovel’s snow clearing experts. It’s your way of giving yourself an easier winter, and you can even save money by picking up one of our “shovel subscription” packages. Whatever level of snow and ice management you choose, you’ll always get these Scoop of worry free snow removal:
- Daily snow clearings – we guarantee to keep your driveway and sidewalks clear of snow on a daily basis. This means that we’ll come and spend however long is necessary to dig you out of the bigger storms, and to keep everything clear during those smaller snowfalls which turn to a dangerous icy slush in a matter of hours. This will all happen automatically as part of your subscription service so you don’t even have to worry about remembering to call for a clean up.
- Professional ice clearing – slipping on ice is one of the biggest hazards in Calgary during winter, and everyone wants to be a good neighbour and keep their sidewalks safe. Scoop’s team will use pet friendly products to keep your sidewalk clear and safe, while also looking after the hardtop with our professional grade ice shovels. It’s snow wonder that we get referral after referral from neighbours who want the same sidewalk snow removal service!
- Clever clearing – on our initial site visit, our clean up crew will identify areas to dump the snow to stop unseemly snowbanks from spoiling the view of your gardens. Snowbanks also take forever to melt during the recovering from winter season, so our team will make a plan to try and evenly distribute the snow from your driveway.
While hiring in professional snow removal services can cost money, it’s part of the trade off between how much saving your back and saving your time is worth. At Scoop, we offer 6 month subscription plans starting at $130 per month for a front walkway and associated sidewalks, but we can also talk about month by month or even single clean up costs to help you realize the full benefits of professional snow and ice removal this year. As you get used to the extra time in your life, your preparing for winter season will narrow down to one simple phone call to Scoop to set up your worry free snow removal.