In just a few months, your driveway will no longer look or feel the same. It will be inundated with snow and ice. If it is not cleared at the earliest, it can create dangerous conditions for driving and walk. It’s easy to slip and break a leg.

As soon as it snows, spread salt on the driveway to prevent it from sticking to the concrete. If it is already sticking, the salt will loosen the snow and ice from the sidewalk and melt it. In conditions below -12 deg C, salt may not do its job well enough. If it doesn’t, spread sand and allow time for traction. When the temperatures rise, used salt. A snowblower helps keep the driveway snow-free faster but you still need a shovel to clear out corners that it doesn’t reach.

If you are new to Canada or new to shovelling snow from the driveway, here are some snow removal tips to make it safer, quicker and easier for you.

• Before you start, it is extremely important to warm up to prevent muscle injury. Stretch, turn, twist, hop on the spot a few times to boost blood circulation and then get started.
• Wear the right clothes and dress in layers to keep warm.
• Take short breaks. Continuous shovelling is tedious and back-breaking if you are not a frequent visitor to the gym.
• Wax the blade of your shovel with candle wax, floor wax or car wax. This helps the snow slide off instead of sticking to the shovel.

Shovelling Technique

There’s a proper technique to shovel to reduce strain and pressure from your joints.

• Bend your knees and use the muscles in your legs to lift the weight, instead of your back.
• Hold the shovel close to you.
• Keep switching sides from left to right and back again to use different muscles.
• Similarly, alter the grip between your hands holding it over or palm and under, alternately.
• Never scoop out the snow right from the bottom of the pile. Skim it off layer by layer from the top.

How to Clear the Driveway

• Clear the path to the door of your car first to allow easy access.
• Use sand or gravel to loosen snow from sticking to the surface of the driveway.
• Salt melts snow and ice without making a mess. It absorbs all the moisture as well.
• Rock-salt is cheaper but it is not advisable because it is not good for the environment, for animals and masonry. It also works only in temperatures up to 15 deg F. Magnesium chloride is more environmentally friendly and melts in temperatures as low as -13 deg F. Calcium chloride works for temperatures down to -25 F.
• De-icing is not the only way to clear the snow. A snowblower, gas-powered, electric or cordless, are extremely useful, economical and effective for snow removal.
• A heating grid beneath your driveway melts the snow with radiant heat technology but it is an expensive investment.

Professional Snow Plowing

Perhaps the best, quickest and most effective way to clear snow from your driveway is by using professional snow plowing services. Be sure to call before winter rushes in with fierce snowstorms in tow to schedule services or the best ones will be all booked out. Dream Concepts works within your budget. We have licensed contractors in Hamilton and at your service to meet landscaping, snow removal, roofing and renovations work.