Winter never promises to be gentle and light when it hits Greater Chicago each year.
We never know what we’re going to get. Some years, winters may be mild, while other years, the snow piles and freezing ice can cause more trouble than you imagined.
This area is usually no joke when it comes to winter, with an average annual snowfall of 37 inches and average daily high temperatures of 30 degrees to 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Moreover, Lake Michigan can increase snowfall through lake-effect snow that can occur when winds blow from the north or northeast.
As a Greater Chicago commercial property manager, you can’t afford not to have commercial snow removal in your grounds maintenance contract.
Part of that job means avoiding snow removal damage from winter’s wrath, frequent plowing, and ice removal. You want to hire a company that treats your property well while doing their job to keep your visitors and guests safe in winter.
Preventing plowing property damage includes the following practices:
- Flag important areas
- Wrap sensitive plants and prune them before winter
- Shut down your commercial irrigation system
- Insert snow stakes at turf edge lines
- Hire a company that uses multiple ice-melting methods
- Find a commercial snow removal company before winter hits
Let’s discuss snow plow damage and snow removal damage liability concerns so you can prevent these issues while maintaining your site during this hectic season.
How to Prevent Snow Removal Damage on Greater Chicago Commercial Properties
Properly preparing for the impending snow and ice in Greater Chicago is important for commercial property managers.
Why? Excess ice on your property can cause slips and falls and flooding as the ice melts. You can also risk cracks in your hardscapes from freezes and thaws. With snow, you risk heavy weight on tree branches that can fall on buildings or vehicles.
The potential risks are all around you, so this work requires the proper preparations and the right partnership to ensure success and limited or nonexistent snow removal damage liability concerns.
Avoid snow removal damage with these strategies.
Flag Important Areas
Hiring the right professional for commercial snow removal in Greater Chicago means having a crew that will flag anything that protrudes up from the ground and could potentially be damaged by a snow plow or truck.
This includes utilities or concrete walkways that are uneven. It also includes flagging paver areas that require rubber-edged plow blades and a different ice melt product.
To do all this right, your grounds management pro will do a walk-through before winter to help you flag key areas using safety cones or stakes. This reduces your risks for damage.
Wrap Sensitive Plants and Prune Properly Before Winter
Heavy snow and ice can wreak havoc on valuable trees and shrubs.
To protect them, wrap them in burlap to avoid sunscalding or other types of damage. This is especially important for new or young plants.
Of course, before winter, proper pruning can ensure weak branches aren’t left susceptible to causing snow removal damage by falling due to heavy snow and ice.
Shut Down Your Commercial Irrigation System
Watering your commercial landscape is important, but forgetting to shut down your irrigation system can lead to headaches.
Irrigation systems must be winterized (sometimes called 'irrigation blowouts') before freezing temperatures set in. If standing water in your irrigation lines is allowed to freeze, it can result in broken pipes, busted heads and even flooding.
If your system is situated along pavement, flooding from broken lines can run during the day and refreeze on pavement overnight, resulting in dangerous icy areas without precipitation.
A proper irrigation system shutdown includes blowing out all water and shutting the system down before winter.
Insert Snow Stakes at Turf Edge Lines
Turf can suffer snow plow damage and road salt damage.
To avoid this, insert snow stakes along driveway edges, parking lot islands, etc. to keep plows and salt applications away.
These high-visibility stakes alert your snow removal professionals to the edge between pavement and lawn or planting beds, which becomes obscured under heavy snowfall.
A professional, reliable snow removal company will even provide and install these stakes for you before the winter season begins.
Hire a Company That Uses Multiple Ice-Melting Methods
Your commercial snow removal company should be able to use multiple forms of ice melt products to avoid road salt damage. In Greater Chicago, that means rock salt and calcium chloride.
Rock salt is sodium chloride or table salt. It is inexpensive and easily available except when extreme and extended winter weather causes local shortages. But rock salt can harm some plant life if used too close to landscape beds.
Using it on large, open areas like parking lots, though, works great.
Using calcium chloride can help you avoid road salt damage to concrete areas. This product is more expensive but is less harmful to plants than other deicers.
Find a Commercial Snow Removal Company Before Winter Hits
To prevent snow removal damage liability issues, you want to plan ahead.
This means finding a professional who offers commercial snow removal in Greater Chicago early enough in the season to ensure you are on their schedule and they have time to prepare your property properly for the winter to come.
Let KD Landscape Keep Your Property Snow, Ice & Damage-Free
It’s tough to envision the upcoming winter when the sun is shining. Despite the forecasts, it’s hard to see the feet of snow piling up or the inches of hard ice forming on your driveways and parking lots.
But Old Man Winter will knock on your commercial business door before you know it. And you’ll sleep better knowing you met with a snow and ice removal professional and have a plan to reduce snow removal damage ahead of time.
As a busy property manager, we know you want to cross this task off your list. Let KD Landscape help. We can save you time, money, and stress so your facility can make it through winter—no matter how bad the weather may be.
Want to learn more about KD Landscape’s snow and ice management services in Greater Chicago? Get started today with a consultation. We’ll review your options together so you can feel confident and make a great choice.
