As winter sets in and snowstorms become a regular event, businesses must adapt their operations to ensure continuity. One crucial aspect to consider is snow removal. How often should professional snow removal be scheduled? Explore the importance, frequency, and best snow removal practices for commercial spaces.
Key Aspects of Professional Snow Removal Service
The Process of Plowing and Salting
- Recognizing the importance of maintaining accessible, safe spaces, commercial areas need regular, professional snow removal services.
- These services use plowing and salting to clear areas effectively.
- Snow is plowed into designated safe areas, ensuring it doesn’t obstruct business operations.
- After plowing, professionals distribute salt on surfaces to prevent refreezing.
Understanding these processes helps businesses decide on the required snow removal frequency and type. A site like Summit Landscape Management understands this need and provides high-quality snow removal.
Understanding Pre-salting and its Benefits
- Pre-salting is the process of spreading salt on an area prior to a snowstorm. This proactive step is taken to restrict the accumulation and formation of ice on the property. By not allowing the snow to bond with the surface, pre-salting effectively makes snow and ice easier to remove.
- Pre-salting techniques can significantly reduce the effort to clear snow after a storm. With the surface already having a layer of salt, the snow doesn’t stick or accumulate as much, thus making the removal process more efficient.
- This preventive measure provides enhanced safety for both pedestrians and drivers. Roads, walkways, and parking lots that have been pre-salted often see fewer accidents because slippery ice levels are greatly reduced.
- Pre-salting is beneficial to your business operations since it helps ensure that parking lots and walkways can be cleared faster after a snowfall. Faster cleanup times mean lesser disruption to your business.
- Treading salt before a snowfall helps reduce the amount of salt needed. This is because preemptive salting prevents the hard pack of snow and ice, typically requiring more salt to break down.
- Moreover, pre-salting indirectly facilitates extending the lifespan of your specific concrete and asphalt surfaces by minimizing the hard pack of snow and decreasing the overall snow removal time.
In short, the benefits of pre-salting can amplify the effectiveness of your snow removal plan, making it an essential consideration when scheduling professional snow removal services.
Frequency of Professional Snow Removal: Understanding Trigger Options
The Different Trigger Options and How to Choose
- Snow removal services typically offer different trigger options, determining when teams get dispatched to a property.
- These include zero-tolerance (removal starts as snow begins to stick), 1-inch and 2-inch triggers.
- Factors like the commercial property type and traffic flow influence the choice of the trigger, with high-traffic, essential areas like medical centers often opting for zero-tolerance.
Deciding on the Frequency of Snow Removal
- The nature of the property
- Traffic patterns
- Severity and forecast of the weather (including expected snowfall amounts)
- Specific needs the business might have: These factors can determine the frequency of snow removal.
The Importance of Deicing in Snow Removal
Ice-free surfaces ensure the safety of the customers and the staff. Thus, adopting the best practices in deicing is pertinent, including the timely use of appropriate materials and equipment. You can check them here.
The Relevance of Snow Removal to Different Commercial Properties
- Office Buildings: Snow removal for office buildings revolves around ensuring accessibility and safety for employees and visitors. For such properties, a 1-2 inch trigger might be suitable. The landscaping and layout of the office property factor into the snow removal plan. Additionally, sheltered walkways or underground parking might require particular attention.
- Restaurants: Restaurants need immediate snow removal, especially in high-traffic outdoor areas like patios, entries, and loading zones. Restaurants also have unique considerations, such as ensuring the safety of customers and timely food delivery, which might influence the decision for a lower snow trigger or even the zero-tolerance approach during peak dining times.
- Medical Centers: Medical centers require impeccable snow removal services to ensure constant accessibility. Since these facilities operate 24/7 and see patients with mobility issues, a zero-tolerance trigger is often necessary. Snow removal strategies must also consider ambulance routes and emergency entrances.
- Gas Stations: Gas stations require easy access and safe grounds around the clock for employees and customers. A zero-tolerance trigger could be beneficial here. It’s also important to keep the fueling areas and entrances to convenience stores clear of snow and ice.
The property type significantly impacts the appropriate removal strategy, snow trigger, and required frequency of services. Clear communication with the snow removal service provider can ensure an efficient and effective snow removal plan tailored to the property’s unique needs.
Maintaining Concrete and Asphalt Surfaces in Winter
Keeping your property’s concrete and asphalt surfaces well-maintained in cold weather conditions is essential. Consistent snow removal and deicing practices will prevent the build-up of packed snow and ice, reducing the risk of slips and falls and potential damage to the surface. Many landscape companies offer additional services, such as landscape installation services, ensuring your landscape looks perfect throughout the year.
Conclusion
Winter weather can be challenging, and snow accumulation can pose safety risks and operational hassles. By understanding the essentials of professional snow removal and its frequency, businesses can keep their premises safe and operations running smoothly throughout the winter.
