Straight answers about winter service

No. Once enrolled, your property remains under our care for the entire winter. We monitor conditions and perform each service included in your agreement whenever weather and property conditions warrant it. You never need to call to activate service, confirm you are on the route, or request routine treatment. There is no on-call service. Contact us only for something outside your agreement — a new area to clear, a change of vehicles, or a property issue we should know about.

Your service agreement lists what is included and the conditions that trigger it. During an event, our operational status is posted publicly and updated as each stage begins, so you can see where the operation stands without calling. We publish status rather than individual arrival times, because route timing changes with conditions.

Plowing runs on a 2" trigger. The trigger is a guideline — with heavy slush, ice or a hard overnight freeze we may service under 2" when safety calls for it. Storms of 1–5" usually need one pass at the end. Storms of 5" or more may need passes during the event, with a final pass once snowfall stops.

Crews mobilize once snowfall stops, day or night, and work the active service list in route order. Standard service is route-based and does not carry a guaranteed arrival or completion time — storm intensity, accumulation and municipal plowing all affect timing. If you must be cleared by a specific hour, that is what the optional Priority Access upgrade is for: it is separately approved during enrollment and commits the contracted, storm-appropriate services for that stage of the storm to an agreed completion deadline, subject to capacity approval. An unexpected emergency or expedited request is different: it is never guaranteed, depends on crew availability, road and travel conditions and safe access, and is priced individually if we accept it.

Routes run in a set order. If the storm is still dropping snow, an early pass would simply be buried again. Seeing a neighbor serviced first is route design, not neglect. Live status is posted in our Storm Center.

Not always. We remove snow to the best of our ability, but compacted snow or ice can remain until it is treated. We do not promise bare or slip-free surfaces.

Town plows often pass after we do, and we cannot prevent push-back into your driveway or against your mailbox. We do not return for municipal push-back after a completed service unless your approved proposal specifically provides for it.

No. There is no on-call service. Once enrolled, your property remains under our care for the entire winter. We monitor conditions and perform each service included in your agreement whenever weather and property conditions warrant it. You never need to call to activate service, confirm you are on the route, or request routine treatment. Selected services are performed when conditions call for them—not necessarily during every visit. For example, salt, liquid pretreatment, or post-treatment included in your coverage is used when our experienced team determines conditions warrant it, and services not included in your agreement are not performed.

No. Once your property is enrolled we service it without you calling. Do keep vehicles and obstacles out of the plow area — if the driveway is blocked we clear only what we can reach, and the visit is still billed.

Please hold non-urgent questions until after the storm. Operators rely on their phones for routing and crew coordination during an event. For a true emergency — blocked medical access, a blocked exit — call us right away.

No. Treatment is condition-based — it is not applied before or after every storm. We look at temperature, precipitation type, timing, remaining moisture or ice and refreeze risk, then treat when it will actually help. Salt melts, sand adds traction, and sometimes both are used. Below roughly 15°F salt works slowly.

Brine is a salt solution applied before a storm so snow and ice do not bond as hard to the pavement, which makes plowing more effective. It is used for major storms, ice events and extreme cold — not before every snowfall. It is safe on asphalt and concrete and dries clear.

In very cold temperatures salt works slowly or not at all, and black ice may need more than one application. Daytime melt, roof runoff, shade and drainage all create ice we cannot prevent. Treatment improves conditions; it does not make a surface slip-free.

Yes, when walkway treatment is part of your agreement. Brine and salt/sand applications include the driveway plus one walkway of your choosing.

Normal use is safe on asphalt and concrete. Decorative pavers and stone can wear differently. Tell us about pavers, new asphalt or specific plantings and we will note it on your property file and use sand where it makes sense.

Only the areas you specify at sign-up. Those areas stay the same all season so service is consistent, and shoveling is normally done after the storm ends. Decks and patios are not standard.

Complete Coverage is one fixed seasonal price, built from your property's costs and seven to ten years of weather data, then billed in 10 equal biweekly installments from November through March. Custom Coverage is a standing full-season agreement billed for the approved services actually completed, invoiced after each completed service visit. Nora and this website do not price your property — your proposal shows the actual property-specific pricing.

We do not publish a general price range. You receive a written scope with property-specific pricing. Complete uses a fixed seasonal price; Custom is billed for the services completed under the approved agreement. Pricing depends on the property, the services selected and how it fits our routes. Priority Access is a separately requested and approved arrangement built around an agreed property completion deadline, and its price and deadline are stated in that proposal.

Yes. A route-reservation deposit is required for every seasonal customer before the property is placed on the active route list. It is equal to one standard plow pass for your property, using the plow-pass amount shown in your proposal, so the exact dollar amount is property-specific. An approved electronic automatic payment method on file is also required; you add it yourself, securely, in the Client Hub.

No. Anything outside your written scope is quoted and approved before we do it.

Proposals, invoices and payments are handled in your secure Client Hub. You can review and approve your proposal and pay invoices online. This website does not store account or payment information.

Yes — appropriately insured with liability coverage, and we are glad to provide a certificate of insurance on request.

Yes. We are residential specialists. We do not split crews between commercial lots and driveways, which is exactly why homes get serviced on time during a storm.

Tell us right away and we will come look at it. Minor turf scraping is normal in New England winters, and unmarked or hidden items near the plow area — edging, sprinkler heads, bins, hoops — cannot be guaranteed against damage. That is why we recommend markers. Significant damage clearly caused by our equipment is addressed in the spring.

You do. Markers installed by 603 Snow & Ice become your property and are not collected at the end of the season. Some loss or damage over a winter is normal, and replacements can be installed when ground conditions allow.