Plow service recommendations

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Can anyone recommend a service to plow a driveway and clear sidewalks?

For a storm like last night's, how much did your plow service charge, for how big a driveway? What time did they show up?

Comments

[wandelrust.livejournal.com]

We used Yard Works for a while (before buying a snowblower) and they were generally good. Cost per storm ranged from $50 to $200, this one would definitely be closer to the $200, but they did a good job of clearing everything out, particularly given our awkwardly shaped and fenced in driveway.

While they'd always show up and clear everything eventually, we were early on the rotation, which meant for a storm like this they'd show up late at night or very very early in the morning, then come back for a second pass after they'd hit everyone else. The upshot of this is that at 8 AM when leaving for work there was often still snow in the driveway. Your mileage may vary.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

Look through the Davis Square archives for similar topics. I've ranted here before about how prices for plow services are often a rip off, making the prices for large snowfalls become exponentially high. For example, if you have 4 large snowfalls and a few smaller ones a season, at $200 a pop/large, wouldn't it be more cost-effective if you bought a snowblower for $1000 that would last you multiple years? It would cover it's own pricetag in one season.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I looked through the archives, and I didn't find any actual recommendations.

This is for a small condo association, so we pretty much need to hire someone, unless everyone can agree that we'll do it ourselves.

For a driveway that's 4 cars long, we're currently paying:
0-2" and ice $90
2-6" $220
7-11" $340
12" or more: varies

I don't know who the service is, since they're hired by our management company. They didn't come this morning until about 10:45, which would have made things difficult if I needed to drive to work. But maybe that's how long it would take any service to show up after a storm of this size.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

Speaking from experience they often plow out residential customers after plowing out commercial customers.

[somervilleguy.livejournal.com]

I’ve seen these requests on lj for sometime and though I can’t recommend anyone for residential snow removal or plowing since I don’t actually know anyone that does it, I can recommend some tips for choosing a contractor.

First, does this contractor have insurance specific for snow plowing? Yes it does exist and can be expensive. If they don’t have this type of insurance their insurance company can and will often deny a claim for damage to property and or bodily injury caused while plowing. This leaves you to go through the courts to get compensation for anything from damaged fences to car scratches or worse. Request to have a certificate mailed/faxed to you.

Second, recommendations. Like any type of contractor snowplowers come with recommendations. If they don’t provide you with any then a red flag should go up right away.

Third, where do they do most their work? If they don’t already service customers in your area you can expect to pay more than someone that is in the area they service. It just takes more time to get to you and they have to factor that into the prices. This also greatly alters service.

Fourth, can your driveway be plowed in or out of your property? It is illegal to technically plow snow onto a public street. Plowing across a street to a neighbor’s snow bank can cause problems particularly with the neighbors. As a property owner you can be fined for that.

Lastly READ YOUR CONTRACT CAREFULLY. Most contracts are set up one of three ways. Per inch. This usually is what it sounds like. It’s based on the number of inches in a given storm. Some might be setup with a bracket or range of 1-4” or 2-6 that is billed as a flat rate. Additional accumulation is sometimes billed after that as per inch with say $10-20 per inch after the 6”. That adds up in a 15” or 20” snowfall. So read it carefully so you won’t be shocked at a $400 bill after a blizzard. Keep in mind though this means if a contractor shows up once and plows 15” of snow they still get paid the full amount as the contractor that plows 3 times. Other types of contracts are per time. Most times this is a flat rate 20-$50+ per time regardless of how much snow has fallen and is based on how many times a contractor shows up. If you don’t think the contractor is completely trustworthy don’t enter this type contract, unless you have camera setup on your driveway. Flat Rate is a one price for the season contract. Its benefits are you pay a flat rate for a contract and if it snows a lot you should still get the same service every storm, again finding someone you trust is important for this work. The down side is maybe you pay the same amount for the year and it doesn’t snow much?

Sorry for being so wordy but I just thought that people should know some these things before hiring anyone, or you could just by snowblower if you don’t freezing your ass off?