Until it’s been completely covered in snow, you may not have considered how important your driveway is to your overall well-being during the winter months. Your driveway is the means to get safely to and from your home, so, when the snow falls, it’s imperative that you have a solid residential snow-removal plan in place.
The winter months are tricky to navigate for anyone, but the group of people who faces the most difficulty is unquestionably the elderly. To start, seniors are very susceptible to slipping and falling--one third of people aged 65 and older falls each year, and approximately 31% of those are due to their environment, making it critical that their pathways stay clear of snow and ice. However, seniors can do little on their own to remove the snow gathering outside of their homes. Not only does shoveling cause a severe strain on the back and heart, but the response of seniors’ bodies to cold can be diminished by underlying medical conditions or certain medications, putting them at increased risk for hypothermia; approximately 600 elderly people die in the US each year from hypothermia, so seniors should take great care when exposing themselves to the cold.
The children or family of elderly men and women are usually more than happy to step in and take charge of snow care. But what if you live far away from your ageing parents? How can you ensure that their snow is cleared while they stay safe and warm inside? Fortunately, there are several options.
If you don’t want to take the risk that any of the above services might not be efficient or trustworthy, invest in heated snow-melting mats. They are slip proof and can be left out all winter--your parents can turn them on or off from inside when it starts to snow using a remote controller. Further, you won’t have to worry about the risk of ice accumulating from the residual snow that shoveling inevitably leaves behind, as these mats resist ice as well. You or a local volunteer can set these up for your parents before the winter, and rest assured that your parents can walk freely from their home, without slipping, falling, and causing severe damage.
It is a difficult thing to live far from ailing or ageing parents who need your help, especially during the trying cold season. However, there’s no reason you can’t still be there for them and help them with this most crucial winter activity of snow removal. The above options can all be set in motion no matter where you live, and ensure that your parents face one less risk once the snow starts to fall.
Snow removal can take over your winter – it is time-consuming, and can be back-breaking work, depending on the storm. And when your driveway is made of gravel, you must take extra care to make sure that your shoveling doesn’t destroy your driveway – driveway repair can be costly!
The problem is that you want your driveway clear of snow, but you don’t want to clear away your gravel in the process of removing the snow. So the question is: is there a way to get rid of the snow without harming your driveway? In fact, there are several ways.
You can remove snow from gravel driveways in a variety of ways that go far beyond your trusty shovel. Consider the following approaches:
1. A leaf blower or snow blower. A regular leaf blower enables you to remove light, dry snow very easily, which means that there will be storms where a leaf blower is the only tool you’ll need to clear your driveway. For heavier storms, you'll need to get out your snow blower, though this isn't an option for most people who rule these out due to their size, price, and need for fresh gasoline.
2. A regular shovel. When it comes to wet snow, you can’t just blow it away, but with a regular (not snow) shovel, you’ll be able to remove the snow in layers. Stop when you have about an inch of snow left, so that bottom layer of gravel remains where it belongs, on the ground.
3. A rake. A sturdy garden rake can do more than you realize when it comes to driveway snow removal. When the head of a rake is heavy and the tines of a rake are about an inch apart, the rake is an effective tool for breaking up dense, compacted snow. You might take a little gravel with you, but nearly all of it should remain in place on the driveway.
4. Salt. The idea of using salt is to melt as much of the snow that other methods haven’t removed, preventing the formation of ice, and leaving all gravel intact.
As we said, there are the usual snow removal methods…and then there’s the new, innovative idea of melting the snow before it has a chance to accumulate.
1. Radiant flooring. One way to eliminate the need for snow removal is inground radiant heating, or heated driveways, where the snow basically meets a warm floor and melts. The downside? The cost! Even though the one-time installation is both logical and efficient, underground heating remains a luxury at $14 - $24 per square foot (approximately $201.50 - $345.43 CAD per square meter), at least for the time being. But it holds widespread appeal, especially for those who have not yet laid their gravel driveways (or, more popularly, their concrete driveways).
2. Snow-melting mats. There is also a more affordable option of melting snow before it accumulates, and that's with the help of heated mats. Industrial mats can be laid directly on your gravel driveway for safe and snow- and ice-free driving (the residential mats are meant only for walkways – not for driving on).
These mats are made of customized thermoplastic material and generate enough heat to melt snow at a rate of 2 inches (5 cm) per hour (in a substantial snowstorm, it is not uncommon to see snow fall at a rate of 1 - 2 inches/hour (2.54 - 5 cm/hour); when snowfall reaches 3 - 5 inches/hour (7.62 - 12.7Â cm/hour), the storm is unusually strong or fast). Because you leave the mats outside all day, every day of the winter, your walkways remain clear throughout the winter.
The mats use water-tight connector cables, which means that they can be interconnected to make a continuous walkway around your house and use only one plug.
The driveway mats cost a fraction of the cost of inground radiant heating and entail even less exertion when compared to shoveling or any of the other methods above. Turn the mats on when a storm begins, and turn it off when snowfall has stopped. Alternatively, an energy efficient thermostat or snow sensor conserves both your electricity and your physical efforts by turning on the mats automatically. Roll up the mats and store them during non-snowy seasons.
Shoveling snow can truly become a thing of the past. Look into the possibilities of Snow-Melting Mats for your driveway today.
