A finished driveway running through open pasture.

Sidewalks · Asheville

Sidewalk and Entrance Snow Removal

Name: M&S Land Management
Address: Asheville, NC, US
Telephone: (828) 540-6856

From the car to the door.

A cleared lot does little good if the walk to the door is still ice. Sidewalk and entrance clearing covers walks, front entrances, steps, ramps and business frontage, done by hand where a machine will not fit and treated so it holds up overnight. M&S Land Management handles it for businesses, churches, HOAs and homes around Asheville, on its own or with plowing.

Free on-site estimates
Owner-run by McKinley
Residential and commercial

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Sidewalks · Asheville

Walks, steps and entrances

Walks and entrances

Walks and entrances get the most foot traffic and the least room for equipment. Shovels and a push broom do most of the work, with the skid steer moving bulk snow where a walk is wide enough. The entrance comes first, then the walks in the order people use them: from accessible parking, from the main lot and from the street. Snow is thrown away from doors and drains, not into the path of the next person.

Once a walk is clear, it gets treated. Melt that runs across a walk from a roof drip or a nearby pile will freeze overnight, so those spots are noted and checked. A wet doormat and a slick lobby floor follow an icy walk, which is one more reason to treat, not just shovel. Refreeze visits are covered on salting and ice management.

Steps and ramps

Steps and ramps are where most falls happen, and they are the hardest part to keep clear. Each tread is cleared by hand, and the treatment is chosen for the material, since poured concrete, pavers, natural stone and wood all handle salt differently. Handrails are cleared too, because a person on icy steps grabs the rail first. Ramps get the same care as the entrance, since a wheelchair or a walker has no grip on ice.

On mountain properties, steps often climb from a parking pad to a house set above it, sometimes with no roof over them and facing north. Those steps hold ice longer than anything else on the property. They go on the refreeze list at the walk-through and get checked on every return visit, along with the landing at the top and the path to the door.

Business frontage and downtown blocks

Storefronts in a downtown-style setting have a short stretch of walk, a door right on it and very little room for snow. The job is to clear the frontage early, before opening, put the snow where it does not block parking, crosswalks or storm drains, and treat the walk. Shops, restaurants and offices on the same block can be set up on one route, which makes it simpler to keep the whole block passable.

Downtown sidewalks often run along a slope, and Asheville has plenty of streets with a real grade. A walk that drops toward an intersection collects melt at the bottom and freezes there first. Those low spots get extra attention, along with the curb ramp at the corner of the property and any loading door the business uses in the morning.

Churches, offices and HOAs

Churches need walks and steps clear before services, and sometimes again before an evening service. Offices need the route from the lot to the door clear before staff arrive. HOAs and condo communities need mailbox areas, common walks and building entrances done, often along with the private road. Each of these is set in the contract with its own timing, so the walks are not waiting on the plow route to finish.

Walk clearing is usually part of a commercial snow contract, listed as its own line so there is no question about who handles it. When the walks and the lot are on the same agreement, the plow keeps snow off the walks and the hand work keeps snow off the lot, instead of two outfits pushing it back and forth.

Homes and rentals

At a house the walk is usually short, but the route matters: from the parking pad or turnaround, up the steps, to the door. Older owners and anyone who has had a fall want that route cleared and treated before they step outside. Short-term rental guests may be arriving in the dark at a place they have never seen, carrying bags, often up steps cut into a slope with a drop beside them.

Home walks and steps are often added to steep driveway snow plowing, so the drive, the pad and the steps are done in one visit. Tell McKinley about anything new, such as fresh concrete, pavers or a stone path, so the right treatment goes on it and the wrong one stays off. Shaded steps and walks go on the refreeze list.

A cleared building lot showing exposed red clay after site preparation.

Main snow page

Snow Removal and Ice Control

Plowing, salting, hauling and walk clearing for homes, private roads and businesses around Asheville.

See the page Talk to McKinley

(828) 540-6856

Call or text the address and what needs clearing: a lot, a drive, walks or all three. McKinley sets the route and the terms with you before the first snow.

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What it includes

What that covers

Sidewalks. Cleared in the order people use them, then treated.
Entrances. Doors and landings cleared first and kept treated.
Steps and handrails. Each tread by hand, material matched to the surface.
Ramps. Accessible ramps and the route from accessible parking.
Business frontage. Storefront walks cleared before opening.
Common areas. Mailbox kiosks and shared walks in HOAs and condos.

Call (828) 540-6856 Free Estimate

More snow and ice work

Main snow page

Snow Removal and Ice Control

Plowing, salting, hauling and walk clearing for homes, private roads and businesses around Asheville.

See the page Snow service

Commercial Snow Contracts

Seasonal, per-push and per-event snow and ice contracts, walked and mapped before the first storm.

See the page Snow service

Salting and Ice Management

Pre-treating, salting and refreeze visits for ice storms, freezing rain and shaded mountain grades.

See the page Snow service

Snow Hauling

Snow piles loaded out with the skid steer and dump truck when a tight mountain lot has nowhere to push.

See the page Snow service

Snow Plowing

Lots, private roads, mountain community roads and long drives, plowed in an order set before the season.

See the page

Walk clearing around Asheville

Walks and entrances are one part of the wider snow removal and ice control service. Storefront, church and office walks come up most around Asheville, Hendersonville and Brevard, each with its own streets and grades. See snow removal in Hendersonville for local detail on streets, lots and downtown blocks there.

How a snow customer gets set up

Set up before the first storm.

You call

Call or text with the address, how steep the drive or road is and what needs clearing: lot, drive, walks or all of it.

McKinley walks it

He walks the property before the season, notes the grades, the shaded stretches and where the snow can go.

Terms in writing

Seasonal, per push or per event, the trigger, salt and walks are written down before anyone needs them.

Cleared when it falls

When the storm comes, the property is worked in the agreed order and treated where ice will form.

On the ground

The machines and the crew.

These are photographs from McKinley's actual jobs: the same equipment and the same crew that run the snow routes. See more recent work.

A tracked skid steer with a mulching head clearing woodland.

A finished gravel driveway curving uphill to a residence.

A gravel driveway turnaround built in a wooded lot.

Questions about snow work

Questions people ask

Not seeing yours? Call (828) 540-6856 and ask McKinley, or read the guides.

Answers & guides

All guides

Do you clear sidewalks for businesses?

Yes. Storefront walks, office entrances, church walks and steps, and HOA common walks are cleared by hand and treated. The order, the timing and the surfaces are set in the agreement, so the walks are done before people arrive rather than whenever the plow route finishes. Walks can be the whole job or added to plowing and salting.

What do you put on steps?

It depends on the steps. Poured concrete, pavers, natural stone and wood all react to salt differently, and fresh concrete should not get rock salt at all. The material for each surface is agreed before the season. Grit is used where melting products would do harm, and shaded steps go on the refreeze list.

Can sidewalk clearing be added to plowing?

Yes, and it usually works better that way. With both on one agreement, snow from the lot is kept off the walks and snow from the walks is kept off the lot. At a home, the drive, the turnaround or pad and the steps to the door are done in the same visit.

How early are walks cleared?

That is set in the agreement for each property. Churches usually want walks done before services, offices before staff arrive, and retail before opening. The timing goes in the contract along with the route order. A storm that runs through the morning may need a second pass, and the contract says how that is handled.

Do you clear accessible ramps and parking routes?

Yes. The accessible ramp and the route from accessible parking to the door come first, along with the main entrance. A wheelchair or a walker has no grip on ice or slush, so those routes are cleared fully and treated, and they are checked again on refreeze visits.

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