Dependable Winter Service
Premium Residential Snow Plowing in the Lake Minnetonka Area
Professional Driveway Clearing and Sidewalk Shoveling for Lake Minnetonka Homes
Our Service Guarantee
Your driveway is cleared within 10 hours after snowfall stops. Not "as soon as possible." Not "we'll get to you." Ten hours after snowfall stops.
We can put that in writing because we run quality over quantity. We do not oversell routes to the point where the last customer on the list gets service at noon. If we take your property, we have the equipment and the crew to be there.
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We Will Not Tear Up Your Driveway
Our residential crews and trucks run rubber-edge plows. Steel cuts. Rubber doesn't.
If you have a paver driveway, stamped or decorative concrete, a fresh pour, or asphalt that was sealed this year, a steel blade will find every joint, lip and edge on the property. By April you have chipped pavers, scarred concrete and a sealcoat that looks two winters older than it is. Most homeowners never connect the damage to the plow. They just assume that is what Minnesota does to a driveway.
It isn't. It's the blade.
We build these driveways in the summer, so we are not going to wreck them in the winter. Rubber cutting edges on residential equipment, drive edges staked before the ground freezes so we know where your pavers end under a foot of snow, and hand and blower work on stone, brick and anywhere a truck does not belong.
On commercial lots we run live-edge Metal Pless plows. The cutting edge flexes to follow the actual contour of the pavement instead of riding across it, which means a cleaner scrape to bare surface and far less damage to curbs, drain grates, expansion joints and pavers.
Service Levels
Trigger depth is the single biggest driver of what snow service costs, and most contractors will not tell you what theirs is until you are already talking price. Residential service runs on a 2 inch trigger. Commercial accounts choose from the tiers below.
Two inch. The residential standard, and the most common choice on commercial lots.
Zero tolerance. Our crews are on your property before the snow starts, waiting for it to fly, and they clear continuously while it comes down. Not a fast response after the fact. On site, the whole time.
That is what medical facilities, senior living campuses, aviation and industrial properties with shift changes actually need, and it is what most contractors advertising "zero tolerance" quietly cannot deliver. Available on commercial accounts.
One inch. For associations and townhome communities with heavy foot traffic, schools, and offices where people arrive early.
Half inch. Available on commercial accounts where a property needs to stay closer to bare pavement between storms.
Standard trigger accounts are cleared within 10 hours after snowfall stops. Zero-tolerance accounts have crews staged on site before the snow starts, clearing continuously while it falls.
Complete Winter Safety
A plowed driveway is useless if the walkway to your front door is a sheet of ice. We offer full-service sidewalk and porch clearing to ensure your entire property is hazard-free for mail carriers, package deliveries, and your family.
Our Comprehensive Walkway Process:
- Sidewalk & Porch Shoveling: Meticulous hand-clearing and snowblowing of all primary walkways and entryways.
- De-Icing: Walkway and entry de-icing following MPCA Smart Salting best practices.
- Garage Door Detailing: Hand-shoveling the final foot of snow away from your garage door to prevent freezing shut.
- Mailbox & Hydrant Clearing: Keeping mailboxes clear for USPS delivery and hydrants visible.
The Science of Minnesota Winter Property Protection
Leaving snow on your driveway for "nature to melt" is one of the most destructive things you can do to your concrete. When heavy Minnesota snow sits on dark asphalt or concrete, the latent heat from the ground melts the bottom layer of the snowpack.
When the sun sets and temperatures plummet, this trapped moisture instantly refreezes into a treacherous, invisible layer of black ice. This freeze-thaw expansion is what causes expensive driveway spalling and concrete pitting. We clear snow from the surface before it has the chance to melt and refreeze, vastly extending the lifespan of your hardscapes and preventing massive slip-and-fall liabilities.
Why Choose Freshwater This Winter?
We cap our residential routes. Our tight route density across the Lake Minnetonka area is how we can put the 10-hour standard in writing.
- We monitor every storm through Yeti, our snow management platform, which includes integrated weather tracking.
- Rubber-edge plows so your pavers and fresh concrete survive the winter.
- Residential service runs on a 2 inch trigger
- Routes fill and then we're closed.
- Seasonal flat-rate peace-of-mind packages
- Fully insured for residential snow removal
Winter Preparedness
Salting & De-Icing
Prevent hazardous black ice and slippery walkways with our professional, concrete-safe de-icing service.
Learn More →Commercial Removal
Large-scale, zero-tolerance plowing and hauling for business lots, retail centers, and HOAs.
Learn More →Fall Cleanups
Ensure your lawn is completely leaf-free to prevent snow mold before the first winter frost hits.
Learn More →Snow Service Areas
Providing extremely reliable plowing for neighborhoods in:
Residential Plowing FAQ
You are cleared within 10 hours after snowfall stops. Zero-tolerance commercial accounts have crews staged on site before the snow starts, clearing continuously while it falls.
Residential service runs on a 2 inch trigger. Commercial accounts choose their own — 2 inch, 1 inch, half inch, or zero tolerance with crews staged on site before the snow starts.
Residential crews run rubber-edge plows, and we stake drive edges before the ground freezes. Rubber cutting edges protect paver driveways, stamped concrete and fresh asphalt that a steel edge can chip.
Backup crew is lined up before every storm, and we carry redundancy in every equipment class, so one machine going down doesn't stop a route. We also keep 100 tons of salt stored at our own shop.
No. We hold 100 tons at our shop rather than buying per event.
Residential service is sold as a seasonal flat rate, per push, or a prepaid bundle of plow visits and salt applications. Prepaid bundles convert to per-push and per-application rates once they're used up.
Get on the Winter Route
Routes fill and then we're closed. Tell us about your property and what needs clearing, and we'll get you a spot. Once you're on the route, you'll get a text when crews head out.