Q. Do I need to call you when it snows?
A. No. Although we are always happy to speak with you, you can count on us to be there each time the minimum accumulation is reached
Q. What time will you be at my house?
A. If snow falls during the nighttime hours, we generally start our residential snow removal routes by around 4am. Our routes are generally completed in about 5 hours. If you need to be out of the house by a certain time, please let us know. Although we cannot promise that you will be at the beginning of the route, we try to accommodate people as much as possible. If snow falls during the rush hour or during daylight hours, we begin clearing snow as soon as accumulation ceases. If we are expecting more than 5” of snow we will start an initial round of clearing once we reach around 3”.
Q. How much does it cost?
A. Basic snow removal service starts out at around $42 per snow event and goes up from there. In the last few years, approximately 50% of our residential snow removal clients in Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Winfield, Warrenville, West Chicago and Carol Stream paid $47 or less per service visit for basic snow removal. Adding salt or chemical ice melt will usually cost around an additional $8-$15.
Q. How does “per snow event” pricing work?
A. With a “per snow event” pricing structure, you pay based on the total cumulative amount of snow we clear. Here is a sample based on a $47 base quote.
1-5” of snow $47
>5-8” of snow $91
more than 8” of snow $11 per inch
Salt or chemical ice melt is charged separately and is applied once per snow event unless requested otherwise
Q. Why do you use a “per snow event” pricing structure?
A. When we do quotes for residential snow removal we often hear people complain about their previous service. The most common complaint is “My service was coming every two inches of snow and I was being charged three times for a 5 inch snow fall!”. By basing our charges on the actual amount of snow that accumulates we remove this concern.
Q. Can I request that you only come out with 2 inches or more?
A. Unfortunately, we can't do a two inch trigger point. Typically the trigger point is 1". The reason for this is that residential snow removal has a high degree of overhead costs which have to be spread out through the season. We also have to keep reliable employees at the ready to respond right away when it snows. We count on a certain average number of service visits to make our business run effectively. We average around 11.5 visits a year for a 1" minimum, 5.5 visits per year with a 2" minimum and 3.5 visits per year with a 3 inch minimum. A 2" or 3" minimum just doesn't provide enough regular income to keep reliable employees, pay for equipment and earn a profit for ourselves. The other factor is that we have a very short window in which we have to complete all our work or else we have unhappy clients. If we fill up our schedule with accounts which only get serviced 3-5 times a year then we either can't get the work done in a reasonable amount of time or we don't have enough clients to be profitable.
Q. How do you measure accumulation?
A. Accumulation is measured at each service visit with a ruler. Several measurements are taken including drifted and windswept areas and the average depth is used.
Q. Is this accurate?
A. Believe it or not, this is how the national weather service does it. See their website http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/coop/reference/Snow_Measurement_Guidelines.pdf
Q. How do you define a snow event?
A. A snow event is considered ended once accumulation ceases and we have begun snow clearing operations.
Service Related Questions
Q. How do you communicate with your clients during a snow event?
A. At certain times, we might be right on the borderline of going out to provide snow clearing service. If we think that our clients might have questions or if we start getting phone calls asking, we utilize an automated calling program to contact all of our clients at once. This way we can make one call and all of our clients know at once what is happening. We only use this service during waking hours:)
Q. At the top of this page, why is that kid’s head in the snow.?
A. I don’t know, but that’s one of my daughters playing in the blizzard of 2011. She survived and is growing up to be a fine young lady. The cute kid on the other side of the page is one of my sons.