Shoveling: How and When To Do It

For anyone living in Colorado Springs, snow is a part of life between December and May. Because of this, anyone with pavement around their house (be it sidewalks, driveways, or patios) will probably have to shovel at least once during this season. Because of this job's importance, it is critical to understand how to safely and efficiently clear the snow off of surfaces. Also, there may be relief in sight: there are some instances where shoveling is not necessary and you can let the snow sit on the ground until it melts. Find those circumstances further down in this post, but for now let's begin with the basics of how to shovel. 

For sidewalks, you will want to make three to four clean swipes from the middle outwards along the entire length of the sidewalk that you are responsible for. You are legally responsible to clear all sidewalks directly in front of your house and, if you are on a corner, to the side of your house. After making those swipes your sidewalk should be sufficiently clean. Build banks of snow to either side of the walk to make each swipe as efficient as possible. 

For one-car driveways, make one long swipe down the entire length of the driveway on one side, and then push all the snow off of the driveway while standing on that cleared area. For two-car driveways, make a swipe down the middle and then push snow off either side. Don't forget the area of the driveway on the opposite side of your sidewalk before the street (most neighborhoods have a "median" of sorts between the sidewalk and the street and this needs to be cleared off as well). 

For the porch, use any method necessary to clear off the snow. Because not all porches are created equal (some are square or rectangular, some are circular, some have no apparent shape, some have railings, some don't, etc.) there is no tried-and-true method to clear off any patio. Once you have cleared off your patio a few times you will have found the best method for doing it the quickest, but until then do whatever is necessary to get all the snow off. 

Now we'll discuss a few instances where shoveling is not necessary. There are three main situations you may be in (or mixes of a couple of them) where you won't have to bundle up and get out there. 

1. The first is if you're driveway faces East. If snow fell all night or afternoon into night, the sun rising in the East the next morning should quickly take care of your driveway and patio. You will still want to clear off the sidewalk as it is legally required to be clean within 24 hours of the snowfall, but you can leave the driveway alone and let the sun take care of it over the course of the morning. 

2. The second is if very little snow fell--a "dusting". If less than 1/2 inch of snow fell, it is often not necessary to do any shoveling. At least you don't have to do your driveway, if you feel that the sidewalk might not melt fast enough to satisfy the government, it would be advised to still shovel that. But if very little snow fell it will melt extremely quickly. 

3. The third is if an overnight snow fell and an extreme heat was forecast for the following day. This should melt all the snow very quickly if the temperature is over 50 or 60 degrees from early morning to late afternoon. 

Now you know the quickest methods for clearing off each part of your property from snow, as well as some instances where shoveling may not be necessary. Keep in mind that the government requires you to clear off all snow on the sidewalk within 24 hours of the end of the snowfall, so don't neglect shoveling if the times comes. Now enjoy your snow-free property!

Published August 5th, 2023.