Sidewalk Snow Removal in Central Indiana
The lot is where cars go. The walks, steps, ramps and entrances are where people go, and where they fall. On Grade clears and treats sidewalks for businesses, churches, HOAs, offices and homes from Greencastle to the west side of Indianapolis, usually on the same visit as the plowing. It is slower, closer work than a parking lot, and it gets planned that way.
- Free estimates
- Based in Greencastle, Indiana
- Residential and commercial
Clearing the walks people use
Entrances, steps and ramps
The door is where every visitor ends up, so the entrance and the last few yards in front of it get cleared down to the pavement and treated. Steps are cleared one at a time and salted, because a step with a thin layer of packed snow is one of the easiest places to fall. Handrails are cleared where snow has built up. Canopies and overhangs drip meltwater onto the walk below, which freezes after dark, so those spots get watched on the days after a storm.
Ramps need extra care. They slope, they are often in shade beside the building, and the people using them may be on crutches, in a wheelchair or pushing a stroller. A ramp with a ridge of snow at the bottom where the plow left it is no use to anybody. Clearing it fully, top to bottom and into the lot, is part of the job.
Accessible routes
An accessible route runs from the accessible parking spaces, along the walk and up the ramp to the door. It only works if every part of it is clear. Snow piled into accessible spaces, a curb ramp buried by the plow or an icy patch at the bottom of a ramp breaks the whole route. On a commercial site those spaces and ramps go on the site map before winter so the plow keeps snow out of them.
The plow and the walk crew have to work together. The plow pushes snow away from the curb ramps rather than into them, and the walk crew clears the ramps last, after the lot is done, so nothing gets pushed back in. Then the route is salted from the parking space to the door. For more on how the lot itself is planned, see commercial snow plowing for parking lots.
Business frontage
Shops and offices on a street often have a strip of sidewalk along the front of the building, plus the walk from the lot to the door. Customers judge a business by whether they can get in without slipping. Frontage walks get cleared full width, with the snow kept off the curb ramps and out of the street, and salted after. In town centers like downtown Greencastle or Danville's square, there is little room to put the snow, so it gets piled where it will not block parking or the walk.
Before the season, check with the town about any local rules on clearing the sidewalk along your frontage. Then put the frontage in the contract, so it is clear who clears it and when. Downtown frontage and strip-center walks often need clearing before the shops open, which can be earlier than the lot needs plowing. That timing goes in the contract along with the walks.
Salting the walks
Walks need salt more than the lot does, because people on foot have no traction control. Steps need it most. Most walks are treated on every visit, before people arrive, and again when meltwater refreezes. New concrete is easily damaged by salt in its first winter, and plantings beside walks can suffer when salt builds up in the soil. Those areas get a lighter hand, or grit instead, if the owner asks.
Pre-treating the walks ahead of freezing rain keeps the first glaze from bonding, which saves a lot of chipping later. The timing and options are laid out on salting and ice management. Each treatment goes in the log with the lot, so the owner has a record of when the walks were cleared and salted. The log is simple, and it is the first thing asked for after a fall.
In the contract
Walks can be included in the same contract as the lot, or handled by building staff or another company. What causes trouble is when nobody is sure. The contract should name the walks to be cleared, the entrances, the steps and ramps, and whether salt is included. The site map shows them. When walks and lot are under one contract, they get done on one visit and in the right order. See commercial snow removal contracts.
Homeowners can add the front walk and steps to a driveway agreement. That usually means the walk from the drive to the door and the steps up to the porch, cleared and salted when the drive is plowed. It is a small addition and it saves the shoveling. A side door or a back walk to the garage can be added too. Say which ones when the drive is set up.
Snow Removal and Plowing
Plowing, salting, hauling and sidewalks for homes and businesses from Greencastle to the west side of Indianapolis.
See the pageTalk to Travis(317) 203-8928
Call or text the address and what needs clearing: a lot, a drive, walks or all three. Travis sets the route and the terms with you before the first snow.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Walks. From the lot to every entrance, cleared down to pavement.
- Entrances and steps. Doorways and every step cleared and salted.
- Ramps and accessible routes. From the accessible spaces to the door, kept clear of plow snow.
- Business frontage. Street-side walks cleared full width with curb ramps open.
- Salting the walks. Treated on each visit, with care near new concrete and beds.
Snow Removal and Plowing
Plowing, salting, hauling and sidewalks for homes and businesses from Greencastle to the west side of Indianapolis.
See the pageSnow serviceCommercial Snow Plowing
Parking lots, drive lanes and loading docks plowed in a set order, with piles where the site map puts them.
See the pageSnow serviceCommercial Snow Removal Contracts
Seasonal, per-push, per-event and time-and-materials snow contracts, written and signed before the first storm.
See the pageSnow serviceDriveway Snow Plowing
House drives, long gravel drives, private lanes and subdivision drives, plowed per push or by the season.
See the pageSnow serviceSalting and Ice Management
Pre-treating before freezing rain, salting after the plow, and going back out when meltwater refreezes.
See the pageSidewalk clearing <span class="gt">nearby</span>
On Grade clears walks for businesses, churches and homes across Putnam, Hendricks and Boone counties and the west side of Indianapolis. There is a town page for snow removal in Greencastle, with its courthouse square, and the full list of services is on the snow removal and plowing page. Walks are usually added to a lot or driveway agreement.
Set up before the first snow.
You call
Call, text or send the form with the address and what needs clearing: a lot, a drive, walks, or all of it.
Travis walks it
Before the season he walks the property with you, marks curbs, drains and islands, and agrees where the snow goes.
Terms in writing
Seasonal, per push or per event, the trigger, salt and walks are written down, so nobody argues at five in the morning.
Cleared when it falls
When it snows, the property is worked in the order agreed, salted if it is in the contract, and logged.
The machines and the crew.
These are photographs from Travis's actual jobs: the same equipment and the same crew that run the snow routes. See more recent work.
Questions people ask
Not seeing yours? Call (317) 203-8928 and ask Travis, or read the guides.
Do you clear sidewalks along with the parking lot?
Yes, usually on the same visit. The plow opens the lot and the walk work follows, clearing entrances, steps, ramps and the walks to the doors. Accessible routes are finished last so the plow cannot push snow back into the curb ramps. Both go into one contract and one log.
Will you clear ramps and accessible parking spaces?
Yes. Accessible spaces, curb ramps and the walk from them to the door are marked on the site map before winter. The plow keeps snow out of them, and the walk crew clears and salts the whole route from the space to the entrance. A route is only accessible if every part of it is clear.
Can I add my front walk to a driveway plowing agreement?
Yes. Many homeowners add the walk from the drive to the door and the front steps. They get cleared and salted when the drive is plowed, so the whole way from the car to the house is open. Say so when you set up the agreement and it goes on the list.
Do walks get salted every time?
On most commercial sites, yes, because walks are where people slip. The owner can choose otherwise. Near new concrete or planting beds, a lighter amount or grit can be used. Each treatment is logged with the time, which can matter later if someone asks when the walks were last salted.
Who is responsible for the sidewalk in front of my business?
That depends on the town and on your lease, so check both. Many leases put the walks on the tenant or on the property manager. Whoever it is, the contract should name the frontage, the walks and the entrances clearly so nothing is left out on a snowy morning.
Other work he takes on
Most jobs end up being two or three of these at once, and they get quoted together.
Snow removal in other towns
Excavation & Site Prep
Sites stripped, cut and graded, ready for the builder.
Learn moreFoundation & Basement Excavation
Basements, crawl spaces and footings dug to grade and backfilled.
Learn moreDrainage, Culverts & Utilities
Water moved off yards and away from foundations; culverts and service lines set.
Learn moreDriveways & Finish Grading
Gravel drives built and crowned; yards finish graded for seed.
Learn moreLand Clearing & Forestry Mulching
Lots and acreage cleared, brush mulched in place.
Learn moreBuilding & Pole Barn Pads
Pads cut, filled and compacted for barns, shops and houses.
Learn moreFree sidewalk snow removal estimate.
Call or text Travis. Snow contracts and one-off plowing, set up before the first snow.
Greencastle, Indiana · Putnam, Hendricks, Boone and Marion counties
Snow removal where you are
Each town has its own page: what winter does there, what gets plowed and how the contracts are set up.
Need your walks cleared this winter?
Call Travis at (317) 203-8928 to add the walks, steps and ramps to your plan.