Cottage Driveway Plowing Cost: Count the Storms

What does it cost to plow a cottage driveway? A GTA plowing guide puts a single driveway plowing at $30 to $70, and a seasonal contract at $200 to $600 for the winter. Those are GTA prices. Environment Canada's 1981 to 2010 normals count the days with 5 cm or more of snowfall. Toronto Pearson's yearly figure is 6.6. Thornbury's, on the bay, is 19.6. The plow comes out about three times as often here. Count the storms before you compare quotes.

Our own seasonal cottage snow removal plan starts at $499 for a standard driveway. It is part of our cottage care in Collingwood and the towns around it. This post gives you a number to check against any quote, ours included.

Friday, 7 p.m., at the bottom of the laneway

The snow started Wednesday afternoon and kept coming off the bay through Thursday. Nobody called a plow. Why would they? The cottage was empty.

Friday, 7 p.m. You turn off the county road with a car full of groceries and the kids asleep in the back. The laneway is a white wall. Can you shovel it? Not tonight. You call the plow you used last year. Voicemail. You call another, and that one is booked until Sunday.

Now replay it with a seasonal contract in place. A contract is a standing order, so the plow came after Wednesday's storm without anyone having to ask. Friday at 7 p.m. you drive straight up to the door.

A standing order is what the seasonal price buys. Not cheaper snow. A standing order that nobody places from the city.

The GTA price lists, and the snow behind them

The first guide is written for GTA houses. The second prices snow removal by the hour in Toronto. How much snow falls where those prices are set?

The Thornbury snowfall rows are a long average, not last winter. For the rest of a Thornbury winter, see our page on cottage care in Thornbury. A day with 5 cm or more is a fair stand-in for a day the laneway needs a plow. Take that as our reading. Your contract sets its own trigger.

Count the storms, then compare per-visit and seasonal

Take any per-visit price and multiply it by the plow days your laneway sees. That is your per-visit season, and it goes beside the seasonal quote.

Try it with the GTA guide's per-visit range and Thornbury's 19.6, then hold the result against the guide's seasonal range. That is 19.6 plow days, each billed at $30 to $70, against a $200 to $600 GTA seasonal contract. The guide itself calls per-visit ideal where snow falls less often. Is the bay that place?

The storms don't spread evenly, either. Of Thornbury's 19.6, the December average is 5.7 and January's is 5.5. November's is 2.0. In our view, a plan that starts in mid-December starts late.

Is per-storm cheaper if you only come up four weekends a winter? Sometimes, yes. If the laneway only has to open before your own visits, you pay for the storms that land before them, and that is a fair way to buy it.

The exception is the empty weeks. Does anyone else need to get in while you're away? Your vacancy clause might say so. For the clause itself, read how often to check a cottage in winter for insurance. On our ChaletGuard page, the Wawanesa row reads: check every 3 days or 24/7 monitored alarm. A check every 3 days needs an open laneway every 3 days. Read your clause and ask your broker. We are not insurance advisors.

An alarm has the same problem. A cottage monitoring system can wake you at night, and we call you within 15 minutes. But someone still has to reach the door. In a Georgian Bay winter, pipes can freeze in under 6 hours without heat. A buried laneway turns a fast call into a slow one.

Five things that move a laneway quote

• Length and layout. The GTA guide says longer or more complex driveways cost more. So does a laneway the plow finds hard to get into. Measure yours before you call.
• The depth cap. Seasonal contracts cover visits up to set snow depth limits. Ask what the cap is. Thornbury's biggest single day in the 1981 to 2010 normals is 32 centimetres. What does that day cost on your contract?
• Per-inch pricing. The GTA guide says per-inch pricing might start at $60 to $100 for the first 4 to 6 inches, then charge for each inch after. Count the days with 10 cm or more. Thornbury averages 6.3 of them each year, against 1.8 at Pearson. In our reading, those heavy days are where a per-inch bill grows.
• Walkways and salt. Plowing is the laneway. The GTA guide adds $20 to $40 for each salt application. Are the steps, the deck and the path to the propane tank on the quote?
• Proof. Ask whether each clearing is logged with a dated photo. From the city, that photo is how you know the plow came.

Should you buy a snowblower instead?

The GTA guide prices snow blowers at $400 to $1,200, before storage and upkeep. That's a good buy if you live at the cottage full time. Can you run it from the city on a Tuesday? No.

A snowblower clears the laneway on the days you're there. The empty weeks are when access matters for checks and alarms. Keep the machine for the steps, and don't count on it to open the laneway in January.

Where the driveway sits in our plans

Our monthly plans are on the cottage care pricing page. Watch + Care is $349 a month. It includes snow clearing on walkways, deck and steps, with a visit every two weeks. It doesn't list the driveway. Full Service is $599 a month and lists full driveway snow removal. Our seasonal snow plan, from $499, sits beside them for owners who only need the laneway and walkways cleared.

Now count what you would juggle without a plan: a plow contractor, someone for the steps, a salt run, a roof crew in a heavy year. Four calls. Four invoices. You place every one from the city. Or one number and one invoice.

One thing nobody can sell you is a guaranteed hour in a big storm. When every laneway on the shore needs clearing at once, the plows work a route. If a quote promises 7 a.m. after a 32 centimetre night, ask how.

Count your storms and read the depth cap. Then book a snow removal plan before December, when Thornbury's snow days start to stack up. Every plan gets a quick site quote first, because laneway length and slope set the final number. If you are on the edge of the map, call and ask: (705) 996-6072.