This time of year, there’s nothing worse for regular commuters and busy homeowners in Yorktown Heights, NY, than a weather report forecasting snow. Immediately, worry settles in over how you’ll get home safely and how you’ll get your car onto the driveway without back-breaking shoveling. There’s a much better way—the professionals at Manzer’s Landscape Design and Development, Inc., use top-of-the-line technology for snow plowing, to keep your driveway clear during the winter season.
Snow Plowing
Plowing is the backbone of snow management. For a typical driveway, professionals use compact loaders to remove the snow. Compact loaders are small, front-loading maintenance vehicles. These machines are commonly used for excavation on construction sites, but they can also be used to efficiently remove snow from your driveway.
Related: 4 ESSENTIAL SNOW MANAGEMENT SERVICES YOU NEED THIS WINTER IN BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NY
Compact loaders are used instead of your typical snow blower for a few reasons. The main reason is the compact loader can displace snow at a drastically higher rate than a typical consumer snow blower. This helps to clear your driveway in a fraction of the time. Another important reason is that when you’ve opted for a compact loader for slow plowing, there’s more control over where the snow gets displaced. This means no more unsightly piles of snow in inconvenient places around your yard. It’s better to consolidate the snow into one particular area than to simply have it blown or thrown to multiple locations.
Salting
Salting roads, sidewalks, walkways, and driveways is an ingenious technique that has been utilized for over 70 years. Halite, or road salt, is a mined mineral that is used to bring down the natural freezing temperature of the water that makes up the ice and snow. The process is called freezing point depression and is effective up until 20 degrees Fahrenheit. This process is used for high-traffic areas and can essentially melt any snow and ice that’s in the way. The water will evaporate quicker due to the salt as well—preventing ice buildup. Salting is a common tool used for thawing ice since the application is quick and easy. This technique is a tried-and-true way of disposing of snow and ice.
Calcium Chloride
Calcium chloride is sometimes preferred over road salt for a few reasons. The key difference between the two is how they behave after they are melted down by ice or snow. Road salt, when melted, leaves a dry layer of sodium chloride, to stop ice and snow from developing there again. Calcium chloride, once it hits snow or ice, melts down into a brine that stays in a liquid form. This liquid will thoroughly cover the spaces where it is placed, leaving a protective layer against future frost buildup.
Sand
Sand is a versatile option for gaining traction in icy or snowy conditions. Although it does not melt the ice, it does provide a dramatic difference in traction for your driveway. The key difference between deicers and sand is that deicers work on melting the snow and ice while sand gives you the ability to walk, drive, and function on snow and ice. It also has an advantage over deicers in the fact that it doesn’t have any corrosive properties, so any untreated metal is safe when sand is being used. Although it isn’t effective at melting ice or snow, it makes getting around your property possible even when ice is present.