Tips for Successful Commercial Snow Removal

When winter arrives, there are many things you need to do to maintain and protect your commercial property from cold weather hazards. One of those things is snow removal and maintenance. When snow falls at your commercial property, removing it is a must in order to make entering and exiting the building and its parking lots accessible and safe. And when the snow really piles up, clearing it away is also important to the structural integrity of your commercial building.

At the beginning of winter, when snowfall may be light, snow removal is a relatively simple service. However, as the season progresses, snow can accumulate, and the addition of ice makes for slippery, unsafe surfaces. Suddenly the simple service just became a lot more complicated.

commercial property with piles of snow

Successful Commercial Property Snow Removal Tips

As the snow and ice become greater, people tend to be a little sloppier when it comes to snow removal. They’ll work faster to remove large amounts of snow and ice in the same amount of time it took them to clear it out at the beginning of the season. These snow removal mistakes can lead to costly damages and repairs of your commercial property. Before you break out the shovel, snow blower, or plow truck, consider these tips for removing snow the right way.

Know the snow removal laws by state.

Each state has different snow removal laws, including how high snow mounds can be when plowing snow on commercial properties. Even if you’re within height limits, make sure the snow mounds allow for safe driving and parking. Don’t block a driver’s view of potential hazards, such as pedestrians, standing obstacles, and other moving vehicles.

Be aware of your surroundings.

White-out conditions can make it hard to see obstacles that would otherwise stand out. Make sure parked cars (some of which may be buried under heavy snowfalls), dumpsters, and parking blocks are not in the path of where you are plowing or clearing snow.

Designate a snow mound area.

Clear a specific area where snow will be moved to, marking the space with easy to see flags or cones. Be sure the area is within safe distance from any structure or building equipment, so that pushing the snow into a mound doesn’t create unnecessary stress on a building or the potential to cause water leaks at the foundation level when snow melts.

Prepare for snow storms.

You never know when the next big winter storm is going to hit. When it does, it usually leads to a run on supplies used to keep your commercial building safe and accessible. Stock up ahead of time on products to control ice, have backup shovels handy, and gas available for snowblowers.

Have a backup snow mound area for excess snow.

The northern half of the country is no stranger to snowfall accumulations in the high double digits, and sometimes even triple. Even if you’re prepared to move the snow, you may have no room left to put it. Look for offsite options to which to move the excess snow. You may also consider renting a snow melter to decrease the pile ups.

Use snow ice melt.

Ice can cause not only people to slip and fall, but also cars to lose control and crash into your commercial structure. If this happens, seek professional emergency board up services right away to secure your building while it gets fixed. But to avoid this altogether, use deicing materials preemptively and often.

Protect yourself with commercial business insurance.

Sometimes Mother Nature has a mind of her own, and the only way to safeguard yourself is through insurance. While you can do your best to prevent potential problems, an insurance policy can help deliver peace of mind should your commercial building have a frozen pipe burst creating massive water damage, or your roof caving in from ice dams.

Has winter weather been too harsh on your commercial property? Let our skilled experts help you restore your building back to better conditions.

Commercial Restoration Services Caused by Weather or Water Damage

Call Roth to handle your home and commercial building’s storm damage, tree damage, or vehicle impact damage. We also perform water damage remediation service and rebuild construction services. Heavy snowfall and ice buildup that cause a flooded basement, frozen pipes, and other storm related damage – can cause significant damage to your home or business. Roth Construction provides emergency water damage remediation services to prevent further damage.

Roth Cleaning and Roth Construction Companies are here for all your remodeling and restoration needs. We proudly serve businesses in Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Elyria, Sandusky, Youngstown, and surrounding Ohio areas.

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