living in sullivan county,n.y ????

Question

inherited lovely family property,spent summers with grandparents all my life.want to move there,but im from north carolina-confused about snowplowing.long,dirt driveway-can we hire someone,what is typical cost-or do we get a truck and plow it out ourselves-how do you handle it?very rural home,long dirt road off main-road,leads to house.thanx for ur help.

Answer 1

Adam,
I live in the Dutchess County , NY. This isn't too far from Sullivan. Winters can be bad especially in very rural areas. As far as plowing goes my husband does it himself. Our driveway, however, is blacktopped. If you can, you might want to at least get it graveled with something that is called "Item 4 " . It is a special type of gravel you can lay that almost turns into cement after its been tamped down. I believe it is used as a base for a blacktopped driveway. This should be done before winter. It will be very difficult to shovel or snow blow a dirt or gravel driveway. You won't be able to clear it right down to the gravel ordirt. Also, you will have major puddles and mud in the spring. If you could afford it, get it blacktopped as soon as possible.
Anyway, my husband just usually uses a a trustworthy shovel. When our sons were younger we all would get out together. You'll need some heavy duty gloves a ski type jacket and comfortable head gear ( wool ski cap). If your driveway is about 100' or so yo can do it with a shovel or a good snow blower. We usually take our time once the storm has passed and do it on and off during the span of a couple of hours. If you're not making this your permanent residence or are not up to doing it yourself you can hire a person who does plowing. Many handymen are available during winter months for reasonable rates. But really consider getting some type of gravel down.

Check out these links--

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/rm_driveways_walkways/article/0,1797,HGTV_3691_1368720,00.html

http://www.dbm007.com/driveways/index.htm

http://www.trustseal.eu/