I know, you’re saying to yourself that it’s much too soon to be talking about snow, and to this I would say that you are quite right (although we have already seen snow…).  Nevertheless, the month of October is just the time to be thinking of renewing your snow removal contract or even to replace your shovel by a good snow removal contractor in order to save your back or other parts!

The “good” contractor is not necessarily the one who clears your driveway the most efficiently, but also the one who is easy to reach and is on the job when he’s needed most!  There’s nothing more frustrating than to step out for work in the morning and realize that no one has made a passageway.  Even more frustrating is to realize afterwards that the majority of your neighbors have already had a visit from their contractor!

With the enormous amounts of snow we experienced during the winter of 2007-2008 and with the hikes in gasoline, rates have gone up 10 to 30%.  A web article from CAA Habitation mentions that more and more contractors are also setting a limit to the number of centimeters removed for one winter which, up until now, was rare in residential snow removal.  Above that limit and you will be charged additional fees.

The importance of shopping around becomes capital.  I would suggest you read these tips and recommendations carefully before making your choice.

With this, I wish you a great winter and hopefully its arrival will wait until at least after Halloween…

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It is important to ask ourselves, “What is the main reason for pouring your foundation very early on in the project and leaving it all winter without building on it?” Certain contractors pour their foundations during the winter due to the fact that they have teams constantly moving from place to place and are always ready to build, even during the cold season.

It is a common practice in Quebec to pour foundations 12 months a year. The snow itself poses no real problems but rather serves as insulation. As for the foundation walls, it is suggested to add a membrane on them in order to avoid frost from sticking to it.

In regards to the footings, they will be exposed to the winter climate. They could be exposed to freezing and thawing which could cause them to be unstable. If the wood floors at ground level are not built upon the foundations, according to the building code, backfill must not be used any higher than 3 ft. 11 in. on foundations with a thickness of 8”. If the wood floor is built, it is permissible to backfill to 7 ft. and 6 in. high.

As for the CMHC, they unfortunately have no technical counsellors regarding this subject.

We also consulted the Canadian Cement Association and like us, they do not recommend pouring foundations in the fall without continuing the construction immediately for the same reasons as mentioned above.

It is therefore preferable to wait until spring to pour the foundation. This way, the expensive machinery will only have to be brought in once and you will avoid any major problems that could occur. Should you decide to go ahead, be sure to follow the correct steps in order to put all chances on your side and hope that nothing moves!

Keep us posted on your decision and invite the professionals in your region to comment on our reply. Some may have tricks of the trade that we do not know about.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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It’s really amazing how every winter is different.  Some years we have truck loads of snow and some years like last year, we hardly had any snow left for family sugar shacks in March!

I’ve recently heard many people discussing the amount of snow on their roof tops and the complications related to removing some of it by necessity.  Is it really necessary to remove it?  Well apparently in some cases it may be recommended, but how to go about it? Well, while surfing different web sites I met with the Roof Rake which seems to be quite the tool to do the job.  I found the following quite interesting for people eager to remove excess snow on their roof tops!  Here’s what they had to say;

If you live in an area where you get a lot of snow, you probably give a great deal of thought to getting rid of the snow that accumulates on your sidewalks and in your driveway. But that’s a relatively easy task – get out the old shovel or snow blower and have at it.

But a simple task as shoveling one’s sidewalk is not always as easy as its cracked up to be. Snow is very heavy, and if you go at the process of its removal too enthusiastically with a shovel you can get a back-ache or blisters on your hands. And at least a handful of people a year lose a finger to a snow blower blade because they reach in with their hand to clear a jam, rather than using a long-handled broom handle.

Sidewalks are flat – there’s no way to get around shoveling them after a heavy snowfall. But what about your roof? Most houses in areas that get a lot of snow have inclined roofs so that the snow just slides off. However, there are occasions when snow accumulate on your roof, and because snow is so heavy it simply must be removed before it does serious damage to that roof. Even if you know that your roof was built to withstand all that weight – there’s another reason why it should be removed. Melting snow can cause icedams in your gutters…so that as more snow melts the water has nowhere to go except into your ceilings.

Don’t Climb On Your Roof

Even if you’re able to get out onto your roof during the middle of winter – it would be best if you didn’t do it. Climbing around a dry roof is hard enough – trying to walk up and down a sloping roof covered with snow – which might be obscuring the ice below it – is the height of folly…and falling.

The solution is a roof rake, which you operate from the ground.

Safety first

Whatever roof rake you use – do not use it near power lines. Let me repeat that – do not use it anywhere near power lines. Even if you’re a dozen feet away from a power line, if you lose control of the rake for any reason, it’s length is such that it could quite easily tilt over those dozen feet, hit the power line, and give the operator quite an unpleasant shock, to say the least.

Various Models

There are quite a few snow rakes on the market. The Minnesnowta Roof Razor is one design that is built and sold out of the state of Minnesota – and what native Minnesotans don’t know about protecting their homes from snow isn’t worth knowing.

The RoofRake enables the operator to reach up over 26 feet, which should be more than enough to get most of the snow off one’s roof.

Like the other designs, the Philips Snowcutter cuts through ice and snow, but protects the roof shingles by not allowing the rake to actually touch the roof itself. Philips claims that their snowcutter can clear a roof in half the time it takes a roof rake.

So check out the web, check out your local stores, and then get yourself a tool well-suited to ensuring that your roof and house suffer no damage during the next winter storm.

Though pretty funny, seems to me like a good alternative to other costly solutions… Here’s a web site that sells the tool in the US and in Canada, www.roofrake.com   I even saw one for sale on  amazon.com!

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