OT: One More Off Topic Off Season Thread

[Stoneman89]

But how many passes do you get from a guy lying on the floor during a game?

 

[BIeucheeseWithWings]

wow such incredible. how was this possible before robots? I fricking love AI!!

 

[Fourier]

Anyone have any experience with heated driveways? I am about to retire and I'd like to travel more in the winter. Plus I am getting too old to deal with snow like we have had this year. Hiring a company to look after the snow out here is not so easy and is expensive. About $2500 per year for my driveway from the reliable guys. Less for companies that do a terrible job!!!! I have to redo my driveway anyway and thought about putting in a heating system. Supposedly when done properly they can handle 5cm per hour which is more than we would get 95% of the time. I probably would not use it unless there was going to be 5-10cm at least but this year it would have saved my old back a lot of hassle.

I could get a snowblower finally but that is not so useful if I a away for a week.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Anyone have any experience with heated driveways? I am about to retire and I'd like to travel more in the winter. Plus I am getting too old to deal with snow like we have had this year. Hiring a company to look after the snow out here is not so easy and is expensive. About $2500 per year for my driveway from the reliable guys. Less for companies that do a terrible job!!!! I have to redo my driveway anyway and thought about putting in a heating system. Supposedly when done properly they can handle 5cm per hour which is more than we would get 95% of the time. I probably would not use it unless there was going to be 5-10cm at least but this year it would have saved my old back a lot of hassle.

I could get a snowblower finally but that is not so useful if I a away for a week.

I take it the days or teenagers shoveling to make a few bucks are long gone? What would the energy cost be to keep it on over winter? Do they have snow sensors to turn the heat on or is it done manually or on a timer?

 

[Stoneman89]

Anyone have any experience with heated driveways? I am about to retire and I'd like to travel more in the winter. Plus I am getting too old to deal with snow like we have had this year. Hiring a company to look after the snow out here is not so easy and is expensive. About $2500 per year for my driveway from the reliable guys. Less for companies that do a terrible job!!!! I have to redo my driveway anyway and thought about putting in a heating system. Supposedly when done properly they can handle 5cm per hour which is more than we would get 95% of the time. I probably would not use it unless there was going to be 5-10cm at least but this year it would have saved my old back a lot of hassle.

I could get a snowblower finally but that is not so useful if I a away for a week.

I have an individual proprietor do my sidewalk and driveway for $150/month. I suggest you look for a smaller outfit, and try to get it through references.

 

[Fourier]

I have an individual proprietor do my sidewalk and driveway for $150/month. I suggest you look for a smaller outfit, and try to get it through references.

I own a house in Edmonton. We have such a deal as well. It's not really possible out here though. First off we typically have way more snow, almost twice as much in some years which impacts the cost since they tend to price by the worst case scenario. And our snow often much more of the heavy variety coming off of Lake Huron. My guy in Edmonton uses a high powered blower for 90%+ of his job. It takes him about 10 minutes to do my yard. That would be nearly useless out here much of the time.

Several of my neighbors have gone the small contractor route. The cost is a little less, certainly not $150 per month. But when the big snows come these guys typically can't keep up. We have had over 25 cm in the last 24 hours and probably will have over 60cm in a week. Edmonton has not had a day with 20cm+ snow since 2002. It can be days before they get to your place. And if you are unlucky and it warms up a little by that time you have a massive mess on your hands.

 

[Fourier]

I take it the days or teenagers shoveling to make a few bucks are long gone? What would the energy cost be to keep it on over winter? Do they have snow sensors to turn the heat on or is it done manually or on a timer?

I had my neighbor's kid do it when we were away about 15 years ago. That lasted less than a year because he often did not do it because of this reason or that. But otherwise kids in my neighborhood don't even help out their parents.

The energy cost is hard to estimate since it depends on quite a few things. I might not even turn it on if I was home and we were only going to get a couple of cm's. My concern would be when we were away or if a big dump was expected. In those situations a sensor would be best but they also have wifi controlled systems that could be turned on remotely.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I had my neighbor's kid do it when we were away about 15 years ago. That lasted less than a year because he often did not do it because of this reason or that. But otherwise kids in my neighborhood don't even help out their parents.

The energy cost is hard to estimate since it depends on quite a few things. I might not even turn it on if I was home and we were only going to get a couple of cm's. My concern would be when we were away or if a big dump was expected. In those situations a sensor would be best but they also have wifi controlled systems that could be turned on remotely.

That's unfortunate.

Another question is how often do you have power outages during those big dumps of snow?

 

[Fourier]

That's unfortunate.

Another question is how often do you have power outages during those big dumps of snow?

Actually we have never had an outage during a snow storm. Part of this is our utilities are all underground. We have had ice storms knock out power transformers but maybe only one in the 36 years I have been here.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Actually we have never had an outage during a snow storm. Part of this is our utilities are all underground. We have had ice storms knock out power transformers but maybe only one in the 36 years I have been here.

That's definitely a good thing otherwise it might not work when you need it most.

 

[McDNicks17]

Gotta love Lake Huron.

Just a few road closures in my area today.

 

[Fourier]

Gotta love Lake Huron.

Just a few road closures in my area today.

View attachment 978612

This is getting ridiculous. I've shoveled my driveway at least 10 times in the last 48 hours.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

This is getting ridiculous. I've shoveled my driveway at least 10 times in the last 48 hours.

New retirement project, open up a driveway shoveling company!

 

[Fourier]

New retirement project, open up a driveway shoveling company!

Did I do something to insult you????

If I never see snow again that would be fine by me!!!

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Did I do something to insult you????

If I never see snow again that would be fine by me!!!

Not at all, I just figured that way you could make $ and have someone available to shovel for you for wages only!

 

[Stoneman89]

This is getting ridiculous. I've shoveled my driveway at least 10 times in the last 48 hours.

You can now return all that exercise equipment you purchased earlier.

 

[Fourier]

Not at all, I just figured that way you could make $ and have someone available to shovel for you for wages only!

Sorry Bryan! I was just kidding. I never took your post negatively. Just the thought of having anything to do with snow is soul crushing right now!!!

In all seriousness, we could use more reliable companies out here. One of the few that gets great ratings requires you to use their landscaping services all year. The others are often full with repeat customers. It's damn near as hard as getting a doctor!!! So actually starting such a company is not a bad idea. But the problem would be getting reliable help. Chances are I'd end up having to work fulltime myself and I am done with that.

I never would have thought about a heated driveway until I saw some videos on how they work. After doing some research they seem to be a legitimate option.

You can now return all that exercise equipment you purchased earlier.

It's also a good thing I have a great physiotherapist! She is an absolute miracle worker and my bad back is going to need a bit of a miracle if this keeps up.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Sorry Bryan! I was just kidding. I never took your post negatively. Just the thought of having anything to do with snow is soul crushing right now!!!

In all seriousness, we could use more reliable companies out here. One of the few that gets great ratings requires you to use their landscaping services all year. The others are often full with repeat customers. It's damn near as hard as getting a doctor!!! So actually starting such a company is not a bad idea. But the problem would be getting reliable help. Chances are I'd end up having to work fulltime myself and I am done with that.

I never would have thought about a heated driveway until I saw some videos on how they work. After doing some research they seem to be a legitimate option.

All good! If you have my luck, after installing the heated driveway there would be hardly any snow for the next few years! I bet it would be a good business for some young go getters if they so decided to put their youthful energy to work!

 

[Fourier]

All good! If you have my luck, after installing the heated driveway there would be hardly any snow for the next few years! I bet it would be a good business for some young go getters if they so decided to put their youthful energy to work!

At age 85 my dad finally hired someone to do his snow. He paid by the month form November to April. The guy did a fantastic job. We have him taking care of our place in Edmonton to this day. In the months where there was not much snow he'd complain about having paid for almost nothing. But I use to tell him to think of it like an insurance policy. Honestly, this is how I see it as well. If we are away and it does not snow, that's a win. But it will be easier on us to know that if it does we are covered. Both my parents were blind so snow made it tough to get around. If the guy they hired got a break, so did they. When I put it that way he would usually feel better.

As a kid my brother and I use to shovel sidewalks for some spending money. We also had a couple of older neighbors that we would take care of for free. If I had a teenager, I'd even be happy to buy him or her a snowblower and have them take care of as many houses on the block as that can. I think they could make some decent money and help out some seniors at the same time. But unfortunately, this is not the way it works out here.

 

[bellagiobob]