Contracts get set in the fall, not after the first storm.
Commercial and Residential
Snow Removal in Oakland County
Plowing and salting for driveways, walks and parking lots in Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield and Bloomfield Township.
Snow Plowing and Ice Management in Farmington Hills
Winter in southeast Michigan is less about the one big storm and more about the rest of it. The Detroit area averages roughly 40 to 45 inches of snow a season, and much of it comes a few inches at a time, with a thaw and a hard freeze in between. That pattern is what makes a driveway or a parking lot dangerous: the snow is easy, the ice that forms on top of the packed layer overnight is not. So a winter plan is really two plans. Plowing moves the snow off the pavement. Salting keeps what is left from bonding and refreezing. Most winter trouble on a property comes from a contract that covered the first and treated the second as an afterthought. The time to set this up is now, in the fall. Snow contractors build their routes in October and November, and once a route is full, new properties get fitted in around it. If you want to know when your drive or your lot will be cleared before the first storm, sign before the first storm.
Seasonal Contract or Per Push?
Almost every snow contract in Oakland County is written one of two ways, and the difference matters more than the headline price.
A seasonal contract is one price for the winter, often split into monthly payments. You know your number in November no matter what falls. In a heavy winter it is the better deal. In a light one you have paid for pushes that never happened. Businesses tend to prefer it because it is a fixed line in the budget.
Per push (sometimes called per visit or per event) bills each time the truck comes out. You pay for the winter you actually get. The catch is that the total is unknowable in advance, and in a winter with a lot of small snowfalls the visits add up quickly.
Most of our customers are on a seasonal contract. We do offer per push in some cases, and we will tell you honestly which one suits your property.
Either way, the contract should state a trigger depth: how much snow has to fall before a plow is sent. Ours is 2 inches, which is common. A lower trigger means more visits and a cleaner surface; a higher one means fewer visits and a few mornings of driving over snow that did not reach the line. For a business that opens early, the contract should also say when the lot must be clear by, not only how deep the snow has to get.
Salting does not follow snowfall. A freezing drizzle with no accumulation can need salt and no plow at all. Depending on how you want the quote set up, salting can be included in the contract or added as its own line. When we quote your property we will walk through which structure fits the way you use it.
Reasons to Hire Us as Your Snow Removal Company
Snow removal is easy to do badly. A plow that scrapes the lawn edge, piles snow over the drain, or clears the drive and leaves the front steps iced over looks finished from the street and still leaves you with a problem.
Our team has handled hundreds of snow jobs, residential and commercial. What that teaches is mostly small things: which way a drive drifts, which corner of a lot holds water and freezes first, and where the snow can be stacked without causing trouble in March.
Licensed and Insured
Licensed and insured in the State of Michigan to perform snow removal operations.
Driveways to Parking Lots
Residential properties of every size, and commercial lots and business complexes across Oakland County.
Plows and Blowers
Plows for the drives and lots, blowers and shovels for the walks and steps a truck cannot reach.
Quoted By The Property
Paved area, hand work, trigger and salting drive the number. You get it in writing before the season.
Commercial and Residential Snow and Ice Management
We plow everything from a single driveway to a business parking lot. The work is different on each, so the service is too.
Commercial Snow Plowing
Parking lots, business complexes and the walks your customers and staff use to get in the door. On a commercial lot the job is clearing in the right order: entrances and drive lanes first, then stalls, with snow stacked where it will not block sight lines or melt across a walkway and refreeze.
Residential Snow Removal
Driveways, front walks and steps. That includes the ridge of heavy, wet snow the city plow leaves across the end of your drive, which is the part that takes the longest to shovel and the part that keeps you from getting out in the morning.
Salting and De-Icing
Salt goes down where people walk and drive, after the plow and on its own when freezing rain or a refreeze turns packed snow to ice. We talk through the material with you, because what works on an old asphalt lot is not what belongs on a new concrete drive.
Salt, Brine and Your Concrete
Ordinary rock salt is sodium chloride, and it has a limit. It works well around freezing but slows down sharply once pavement temperatures fall below about 15 degrees, which in a Michigan January is most nights. Below that, calcium chloride keeps working where rock salt stalls, at a higher cost per bag.
Brine is salt already dissolved in water, sprayed on before a storm rather than after. It keeps the first layer of snow from bonding to the pavement, so the plow scrapes clean instead of leaving a packed layer behind. It is most useful on commercial lots where the surface has to be open at a set hour.
Salt also has a cost beyond the bag. New concrete should not see deicer in its first winter, while it is still curing, and most concrete installers will tell you the same. Salt splashed along a driveway kills the grass edge by March, which is why pulling and patching that dead strip is part of our spring cleanup. None of this means using less salt than the surface needs to be safe. It means putting the right material in the right place, and no more than the conditions call for.
What Drives the Price
We quote every property individually, because two driveways the same length can be very different jobs. The things that move the number:
The paved area and its shape. A straight drive clears in one pass. A lot with islands, curbs, light poles and tight corners takes longer and needs more care around the obstacles.
Hand work. Walks, steps, stoops and the path to a side door are cleared by shovel or blower, not by the plow. On many homes that is more of the time than the driveway.
Trigger depth and timing. A lower trigger, or a lot that must be clear before a business opens, means more trips and trips at harder hours.
Salting. How often it goes down, how much area it covers, and which material is right for the surface.
Where the snow can go. On a lot with room to stack, snow gets piled on site. We primarily plow and stack rather than haul, so a property with nowhere left to put it late in the season is a conversation to have before the contract is signed.
What to Ask a Snow Removal Contractor
Ask us these, and ask anyone else you are comparing us against. The answers tell you more than the price does, and most disagreements in February trace back to one of them going unasked in October.
Get a QuoteAre you insured, and will you send the certificate?
Any contractor should be able to. A commercial property should ask to see it before the season starts, not after a claim.
What is the trigger, and is salt separate?
Get the trigger depth in writing, and find out whether salting is included or billed per application.
Are the walks and steps included?
Some quotes cover the driveway or lot only. If you need the front walk, the steps or the public sidewalk cleared, it should say so.
What happens in a storm that lasts all day?
One push at the end, or pushes during it? For a business that has to stay open, this matters more than anything else on the list.
Where will the snow be piled?
Not on the storm drain, not against the building, and not where the melt runs across a walk and refreezes overnight.
Do you keep a record of each visit?
A log of when the lot was plowed and salted is what a commercial property needs if someone slips and a claim comes in.
The timely removal of snow from both driveway and stairs brought peace of mind on a snowy day!
Gail Berkove, Farmington Hills, Oakland County, MI
Get Snow & Ice Cleared
Continuously During Winter
Give Us a Call
Tell us what needs clearing: the drive or lot, the walks and steps, and whether you need salt. Tell us how early it has to be done, too.
Get a Snow Removal Quote
We send a written quote that sets out the scope, the trigger depth and how salting is handled. No surprises in February.
Set It Before the Snow
Sign in the fall and your property is on the route before the first storm. After that, we come out each time the snow reaches the trigger.
Maintain It All Winter
Sign a seasonal contract before the first storm and your property is on our route for the whole winter, so you won't worry about snow for the rest of the season.
Get a quoteSnow Removal Near Me: Proudly Serving Oakland County
West Bloomfield
Long driveways, lake roads and hilly lots. Residential plowing, walks and salting across West Bloomfield.
Learn moreFarmington Hills
Our home base. Driveways, walks and commercial lots plowed and salted across Farmington Hills.
Learn moreBloomfield Township
Residential and commercial snow removal in Bloomfield Township and nearby Bloomfield Hills.
Learn more
Request a quote
Tell us what needs clearing and how early it needs to be done. We will send you a detailed written quote before the season starts.
FAQ About Our Snow & Ice Management Services
In the fall, before the first real snowfall. Contractors build their routes through October and November, and properties that sign after the first storm get fitted in around the ones already on the route. If you are a business with a set opening time, signing early is the only way to get that time written into the contract.
It is the amount of snow that has to fall before the plow is sent, written into the contract. Ours is 2 inches. A lower trigger means more visits and a cleaner surface at a higher cost; a higher one means fewer visits and occasionally driving over snow that did not reach the line. Salting usually has its own trigger, since ice can form with no snow at all.
It depends on the winter, which nobody knows in October. A seasonal contract costs the same whatever falls, so it wins in a heavy winter and loses in a light one. Per push pricing charges for each visit, so it tracks the actual winter but gives you no fixed number to budget against. Businesses usually prefer the seasonal contract for that reason. Most of our customers are on seasonal contracts, and we offer per push in some cases.
Snow plowing moves snow off driveways, parking lots and walks to the side, clearing the paths for vehicles and pedestrians. Snow removal, strictly speaking, means taking the snow off the property altogether, which may include hauling it away to a snow dump. It is usually needed only when there is no space left to pile it. At White Maple, we primarily provide snow plowing, although most people call it snow removal, and so do we.
Yes. We provide commercial snow removal throughout Oakland County, including Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield and Bloomfield Township: parking lots, business complexes and the walks that lead to the door. Commercial quotes set out the trigger, the salting and when the lot needs to be open.
It can. New concrete should not be salted in its first winter while it is still curing. Salt that lands on the grass along a drive or walk burns the edge, which shows up as a dead strip in spring. We use the right material for the surface and keep it on the pavement, and the salt-burned edge is something we repair as part of spring cleanup.
In many Oakland County communities the property owner is, and some cities set a deadline after the snow stops. The rules vary by city, so check your own ordinance. If you want the public sidewalk in front of your home or business cleared, make sure it is written into the contract rather than assumed.
It depends on the size and shape of the paved area, how much hand shoveling the walks and steps need, the trigger depth, how often salt goes down and whether you choose a seasonal contract or per push. We serve residential properties of every size, from a short driveway to a large estate, and commercial lots. Every property gets its own written quote before the season.
Explore Our Other Services
Fall & Spring Cleanup
Fall cleanup and leaf removal in Farmington Hills, timed to the October and November leaf drop. Bed cleanup, mulching and aeration, plus spring cleanups.
Seasonal Maintenance
Keep your property looking its best year-round with seasonal maintenance services in Oakland County, MI. Weed treatments, leaf cleanups, hedge trimming, power washing, and more.