Poll: Rude to snowblow early in the AM?

[IronWing]

Shovels also make noise. Shuuk....wooff....shuuk....wooff....shuuk....wooff....shuuk....wooff....shuuk....wooff....chu-chu-chu-chu-chu....shuuk....wooff....shuuk....wooff....shuuk....wooff....

 

[notposting]

http://www.pasty.com/snow/index.html -- 2013-2014 Snowfall - 230" with 45" on the ground

^ from here: http://www.pasty.com/discus/messages/9211/9290.html

They had pictures last year of the snow in May, the track teams trying to run in snowshoes, etc etc.

 

[sjwaste]

Wrong audience for the question. IMHO, it's just accepted as something that happens here - either the evening after a storm ends, or in the morning before work/school. I'm not sure that I've ever heard a snowblower at 4am, but a lot of us in the neighborhood are out between 5-7am to make sure we can get to work, school, etc. Coastal Maine can't be much different than where you are in NH.

I wouldn't be mad about anyone snowblowing at any hour, to be honest. If you live in snow country, it's just the way it is. If you feel bad about it, maybe run the thing next door and clear what the plow left at the foot of your neighbors' driveway - nobody's gonna be pissed at you after that.

 

[sjwaste]

just curious, but if you know ahead of time that snow will be coming, why wouldn't you park your car in such a spot that you've got the littlest amount of snow to remove as possible?

back when I actually had a driveway and I knew snow was coming, I'd street park overnight (or park on the edge of the driveway) so that I only had to worry about digging out my own spot.

Around here cities have parking bans when there is a storm coming. No street parking in the cities, otherwise the plow can't fully clear. We get enough snow each year where you can't just leave some on the side of the road.

And when it does snow, regardless of where you parked, you gotta clear the whole thing as soon as you can. You might get more snow, or you might get enough sun or a warm enough day to compact it and give you ice on the bottom. The longer it sits, the more work it will be, even with a snowblower.

Beyond that, even if you park at the end of the driveway, you still need to be able to get out of the house. It's unsafe to not clear it. Same reason I run a path around my house when I'm done with the driveway - just a single pass and back, ends up being 48" wide - in case we need to get out of the back.

 

[slag]

I think your friend's neighbor is a dick. If he was running his weedwhacker at 4 AM I'd be pissed, but a snowblower? The guy has got to get to work. My wife's a nurse, and she leaves at 4:30. If she has to go in and I have to run the blower early to clear the drive so she can, if my neighbors don't like it they can suck it.

I agree 100% with the same reasoning. Its not like you are mowing the lawn at midnight so it looks good. You have to remove the snow so people can get around, its a necessity. The city will have their trucks plowing throughout the night making noise, what harm is an hour worth of snow blowing for the same type of reasons.

 

[slag]

call the cops on them, illegal to dump snow from your driveway onto the road.

If the city plows the snow from the road onto your driveway and makes a huge mound of it, blocking you in, is it illegal to put it back where it came from?

 

[Markbnj]

You are confusing work with your chores, bro

I think you should look up the definition of "chores," bro. Clearing a path out of your drive after a significant storm isn't a "routine household task" in most parts of the country. Mowing the lawn is a routine household task. If the neighbor was doing that at 4 AM I'd agree with you. Storms come when they come, and people have to move when they have to move.

 

[rudeguy]

I think you should look up the definition of "chores," bro. Clearing a path out of your drive after a significant storm isn't a "routine household task" in most parts of the country. Mowing the lawn is a routine household task. If the neighbor was doing that at 4 AM I'd agree with you. Storms come when they come, and people have to move when they have to move.

LOL!

Alky posting in a snowblower thread. That is classic.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Get the neighbor earplugs as a gift. More people = more noise. Deal with it.

 

[sdifox]

If the city plows the snow from the road onto your driveway and makes a huge mound of it, blocking you in, is it illegal to put it back where it came from?

yeap.

I hate that ice wall they make. That is why I have a snowblower. Tackling that with a shovel is back breaking.


PS dumping onto the street just make it compacted and when the plow comes again, it will still end up on your drive way, except this time it's chunks of solid ice. Then they fuse together.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Snow blowing before 6AM on weekdays and before 8AM on weekends is pretty inconsiderate if it's not necessary, imo.

If it's too much to drive over, you gotta do what you gotta do. Otherwise, quickly shovel enough for a path on the sidewalk and to your front door for deliveries or whatever (or don't, to discourage solicitors), and finish the rest when you get home. So what if it's a lot of snow? You have a snow blower.

 

[Uppsala9496]

I have no issues with people using a snow blower at 02:00, 03:00, 04:00 etc. If you need to get out of your driveway to get into work, then do what you have to.
If you don't like the noise then either move to a warmer climate or move into the country where you can't see your neighbors.
No one wants to be up that early clearing snow.

And it's not like it is a regular occurrence. How many times a winter does someone really have to do that? A dozen tops?

 

[88keys]

I see it like this. When you live around other people, you're going to have to learn to deal with the noise from other people such as lawn mowers, snow blowers, dogs barking, motorcycles, etc etc etc etc. Sometimes people with busy schedules have to do shit when they have the time and not when it's convenient for their neighbors. Some places will fine people for not having their sidewalks cleared or having grass thats too tall.
You shouldn't go out of your way to be an asshole, but you some gotta do what you gotta do when it needs to done. Noise is a part of urban and suburban life, if you don't like it move out to the boonies and enjoy having no internet, or cell service. The choice is yours.

 

[sdifox]

You live in a city that walls up your driveway with ice? A snowblower will handle that?

when the plow goes through, they leave a x" tall wall at the end of your drive way. x depends on snowfall. That is mostly ice and if not taken care of quickly, it solidifies and then it is impossible to get rid of.


So, basically the thing next to the road, but blocking your driveway.

I managed to bent my exhaust once backing over one of those things.

 

[yhelothar]

The gardener comes by our house with the weed whacker and the leaf blower at 7am. It always wakes me up. But I adapted by getting a set of earplugs. Problem fucking solved.

 

[Anubis]

sucks that your house if so poorly insulated that the sound will wake you up
the person next door could be using a jackhammer at 2 am and i would not even notice

 

[xanis]

You're not murdering your neighbor's dog, you're operating a small gas-powered appliance. I'm guessing that anyone who gets mad enough to start a screaming match in the front yard with you over that would take issue with just about anything you'd do, so carry on and do what you have to. That said, if it's viable to do it later in the day and you do it at 4am just because, then yes, you're a dick.

 

[AViking]

Seriously? Stockholm gets like - what - 6" of snow a year? I got that last night and it was only a light snowfall. An average winter around here is about 120" inches of snow. Plus, driveways in Europe are tiny.

A douche neighbor is someone who's laying in bed bitching about someone who is outside working.

I would love to only have to shovel a little and then leave for work. But guess what? Then I would have to get up at 3am and then you'd be bitching about me outside making shoveling noises.

Stockholm gets very little. However I have lived in the midwest and what happened? Every morning they plowed the streets, had giant vacuums that came afterwards, and I had to shovel maybe 18 inches of snow on a really bad day. If you have a big driveway it makes way more sense to get a little snowplow attachment on a quad and just plow it out and then you only have to shovel that little bit around your car. At least that's what we did. If you have them building an icewall in your driveway a snowblower and shovel aren't doing shit. You're going to need your own little plow anyways.

I sleep with earplugs. I wouldn't hear anything either way. I still think busting out the blower at 4am though is a giant dick move.

 

[Nintendesert]

Why shovel at all? Put your vehicle in 4wd and drive right over that shit.

 

[skimple]

You are confusing work with your chores, bro

Nope. Got to go to work - got to get out of the house - got to clear the driveway.

 

[sourceninja]

my house is positioned perfectly for drift snow. As an example we got 5 inches of snow last night. I had 22 inches of snow in front of my garage.....

 

[fleshconsumed]

Lots of inconsiderate people in this thread thinking the world should revolve around them. You can't ignore the snow. It gets super heavy when temperatures rise and it also gets compacted by the tires and then turns into ice in the sun. The longer you wait the harder it is to remove it, especially the last 4 feet at the end of the driveway where the snow plows dump the snow. I have an 18" electric blower that I used this morning around 6am to clean the driveway. Originally I wanted to get up at 5am, but I overslept a little. It took me about 20 minutes to blow the snow. It would have taken 40 minutes to shovel it and it would have been twice as hard to do so. It was still snowing when I left, so chances are I'm going to have to clean the driveway again when I get home from work. I'm not thrilled about having to get up before 6am on a weekday morning, and I wouldn't do it unless there was a good reason for it. If somebody can't get it through their head, well, too bad for them.

Now, if you asked me about mowing the grass in the wee hours on a weekend morning, then I would totally agree with you. Mowing the grass before 8am on a weekend is inconsiderate.

 

[rudeguy]

my house is positioned perfectly for drift snow. As an example we got 5 inches of snow last night. I had 22 inches of snow in front of my garage.....

I hope you used a trash bag and your bare hands to scoop it up. Shoveling could wake up the neighbor!



But in all seriousness...how could a snow blower wake you up? Snow insulates very well. I can't honestly say I have ever heard one from in my house and though "Wow that's loud!" The only possible answer is the people complaining about it have such sheltered lives that this is the only thing pressing for them.

I wish someone would yell at me for it. I would pee on their door handle. With them watching!

(BTW, I pay someone to do mine. Now way in shit I'm going out at 6am to shovel )

 

[Markbnj]

And it's not like it is a regular occurrence. How many times a winter does someone really have to do that? A dozen tops?

I think that would be like, Minnesota style. In a more normal climate, maybe four or five times in a bad year. And remember, storms don't arrive at the same time. If it happens to stop snowing at 4 PM on a Saturday I guess the neighbor would have nothing to complain about, unless he was just getting ready to start an evening of chamber music.

 

[Thegonagle]

If the city plows the snow from the road onto your driveway and makes a huge mound of it, blocking you in, is it illegal to put it back where it came from?

Yes. Not only illegal, but dickish.