For those of you who have elderly family members, you know the worry you experience when the snows hit. The mere thought of your elderly parent going out to shovel can make you nervous and apprehensive. According to a professor at McGill University, Montreal, the frigid, snowy cold winters “drastically increase their risk” of falling. Knowing this, it’s crucial that we tend to our elderly friends and relatives during this time. One of the best ways to ensure their well-being and decrease the risk of falls, heart attacks, strokes and fractures, is the installation of outdoor radiant heating. At East Coast Landscape and Design, our professionals are here to guide you, when it comes to answering any questions you may have regarding heated walkways and driveways for your Silver Spring, MD home or business.

 

Outdoor Radiant Heating Reduces Winter Risks

 

Since the study found that approximately 50 percent of all falls for elderly people occur outdoors, it only stands to reason that installing outdoor radiant heating system will reduce this risk. What is outdoor radiant heating? It’s snow melt technology which works to create a warm surface on your pavement, which in turn, melts all sleet, snow and ice the second it comes into contact with your walkway or driveway. This translates to no more accumulation in the area where you’ve installed the heating system.

 

This snow melt technology not only makes certain that you and yours experienced a reduced risk of trips and falls over the ice, but it also helps to keep the integrity of your pavement intact. Rock salt and other deicers can corrode your concrete surfaces, and while new asphalt is not as affected, any old, worn and cracked asphalt is. For those of you who have invested heavily in decorative concrete surfaces, deicers along with scrapers, shovels and snow blowers, can absolutely ruin any patterns, resulting in unsightly nicks and chips. However, with snow melt technology this risk is non-existent.

 

Not Just for Driveways

 

Outdoor radiant heating is not just for residential driveways anymore. Today, many commercial properties employ outdoor radiant heating to keep their delivery areas and walkways from from freezing rain, ice and snow. Not only that, but you’ll also see snow melt technology being used under patios and decks in order to facilitate those wintry night barbecues. Outdoor radiant heating is also handy for outdoor summer houses, around hot rubs and underneath concrete surfaces surrounding bird feeders to keep your feathered buddies warm as they nibble on cold days. Finally, for those of you with outdoor hot tubs who want to take a dip while enjoying the winter scene, then install outdoor radiant heating in the concrete surrounding your hot tub.

 

Once you’ve made up your mind to have outdoor radiant heating installed, you can then decide where to install it. For instance, you may have a large, long, expansive driveway, but in reality only use a small portion of it. With our outdoor heating solution, there’s no need to warm your entire driveway or walkway, just the square footage that you require for your use. This not only gives you the convenience and security of a clean and clear pavement area, but also cuts down on your installation costs. Our team of professional installers will help you decide the best way to install your heated driveway or walkway, for either your Silver Spring, MD home or commercial property. Indeed, we can assist homeowners, business owners, as well as clinics and assisted living centers on how to best implement this snow melt technology to their best advantage.

 

Why Not Stick With Old-Fashioned Methods?

 

Deicers such as rock salt and other chemical products are not only expensive and take up valuable garage space, but are hazardous to the health of your pets, the condition of your concrete and aged, cracked asphalt, as well as the environment. When the sodium chloride of rock salt comes in contact with your concrete, it begins to eat away at it. As previously mentioned, those of you who have invested in intricately stamped pattered concrete will not appreciate the damage and discoloration these deicers do. As for the environment, the runoff which occurs when the snow and ice melts, hits the local foliage as well as any nearby aquatic life.

 

Conclusion

As you can see, by having a heated driveway, walkway or patio installed on your Silver Spring, MD property, you’ll enjoy a trouble free winter, and save much money on temporary solutions, such as rock salt, shovels, and snow removal equipment rentals. The benefits of this technology are great, and it’s why we’re often called upon to assist in creating the best environment possible. As for customer satisfaction, know that we’ve been a proud member of both Best Pick Reports and Angie’s List for many years. Our licensed crew members are courteous, friendly and dedicated to giving you their best. If you have any further questions or concerns, please call us at 301-421-4141 and speak with one of our customer service staff members, and they’ll be more than happy to help.

Lets face it, the annual cost of snow removal is not cheap. Depending on your needs, you’re either spending on deicing chemicals, fuel for your snowblower, paying someone to shovel for you, or purchasing the latest snow shovel design or blower. Add to that, the energy and time expenditure involved as you put on that overcoat, boots, scarf, mittens and hat, just to go out and shovel. Think about it, if the accumulation is high, you’re venturing out in the frigid air several times a day in order to keep the area clear. As you well know, managing snow manually is no easy task. Fortunately for you, there is a convenient solution: The addition of an outdoor radiant heating system to your residential or commercial property. As experts in such installation, we at East Coast Landscape and Design excel when it comes to installing heated driveways and walkways for our clients in Rockville, MD.

 

The Advantages of Installing Outdoor Radiant Heating

 

Outdoor radiant heating is also referred to as snow melting systems. These systems are designed to save you both time and money during the winter season, as well as ensuring you don’t injure yourself by slipping on the ice, or getting ill from shoveling. In fact, when you engage in the services of outdoor radiant heating for drive and walkways, you’ll find that shoveling is a thing of the past. Snow melting technology makes certain that your sidewalks, driveways, steps and even patios and decks are free from snow and ice. Our professionals at East Coast Landscape and Design, are trained in the art of installing outdoor heating, and can install a heated driveway or walkway just for your Rockville, MD home or business, at your request.

 

This technology means that you’ll no longer have to be concerned about the negative effects rock salt, and other deicers have your vehicles finish, your pets health, or that of the environment. According to a study by biologist Ashley E. Rhodes of Kansas State University, deicing agents contribute decimation of animal life, such as amphibians, due to the increased salinity of the surrounding water. Even though you’re applying deicing agents to your driveway several miles away, the runoff caused from melting snow and ice often enters the surrounding environment, damaging both vegetation and animal life. Fresh water amphibians and fish are not equipped to deal with the high saline levels which result from rock salt runoff.

 

In fact, it’s not only the flora and fauna which experience a negative impact from deicers. According to an Wisconsin Salt Wise study for Dane County, for every $800 worth of rock salt spent, it eventually leads up to $3,300 of damage to the cities infrastructure. How does this pertain to you? Well, just as this rock salt damages a city’s infrastructure, it also chews and gnaws away at your concrete and aged asphalt as the sodium chloride in salt begins to corrode the concrete, and settling into the cracks of old and worn asphalt. As you can see, by installing snow melting technology on your property, you’ll not only be gaining convenience and efficiency, but it will reduce the amount of wear and tear on your paved surfaces as well as vegetation.

 

How Does it Work?

 

It’s quite simply, really. The moment you see snow begin to fall, flip on the switch which is located in your home. This causes the pavement to warm, and the snow to melt, which prevents any accumulation. There are two methods which accomplish this. The first method is to use an electric coil. Once you flip the switch, a current runs through the metal coils underneath the pavement, warming the surface. The second method, called hydronic, involves a mixture of anti-freeze and water. This mix is pumped though tubing which lies under the pavement, and proceeds to melt the snow and ice.

 

Say you only need a small area of your driveway heated. No problem. simply instruct our professional outdoor radiant heat installation team where you’d like the install placed, and that’s the only area which will be affected. This means you have complete control over the placement and costs, as costs decrease with the decrease of square footage required. Also, remember that once installed, there are no maintenance visits to pay for. Your outdoor heating is totally maintenance free.

 

Not Just for Walkways and Drives Anymore

 

Now that you have a better understanding of the purpose, process and procedure involved, know that outdoor radiant heating is not just for driveways or sidewalks. Today, more and more people are taking advantage of their yard space, and turning it into functional living spaces. Here, they enjoy outdoor cooking and entertaining. But, did you know that you can have this type of heating underneath your patio or deck? Yes you can. Once installed, you’ll be able to freely enjoy the comforts of outdoor grilling, even in winter. This is also quite handy for those of you with outdoor hot tubs as well. Indeed, outdoor radiant heating will help you to create the perfect hot tub sanctuary which you can enjoy all winter long.

 

Conclusion

At East Coast Landscape and Design, we’ll handle everything from planning to installation of your heated driveway or walkway, ensuring your Rockville, MD residential or commercial property will experience the perfection of snow and ice free pavement. As a proud member of both Angie’s List and Best Pick Reports, you know you can trust our licensed and verified professionals to install an outdoor radiant heating system which will serve you well for many, many years to come. Remember, we are here to help, so contact one of our friendly customer service staff members today, at at 301-421-4141 in order to request an estimate, or visit our website at http://mdlandscaper.com for more information on this and any of our landscaping and design services.

Potomac, Maryland is listed in Sperlings “Best Places” as a fabulous city to experience life, and raise your family. this picturesque community is brimming with good people, kind hearts and cold winters. Potomac averages around 19 inches of snow per year, during a period which lasts approximately 4 months, from the end of November to March. As a reviewer on Best Places remarked, “Winter, while it has some splendid “snow days,” goes on much too long”. While the winters are not markedly unpleasant, they seem long to many. This translates into 4 long months of shoveling and salting. As such, people are beginning to invest in new ways to keep their driveways and walkways free from snow and ice accumulation. The solution many are choosing is snow melt technology. East Coast Landscape and Design excel when it comes to helping you solve your snow removal issues. We employ trusted, licensed professionals to install heated driveways and walkways for many of the homes and businesses throughout Potomac, MD

 

Snow Melt Technology and You: What are the Benefits?

 

While winters won’t decrease in length any time soon, you can make their stay a bit more enjoyable by employing snow melt technology. Also referred to as outdoor radiant heating. Today, this technology is being used more widely than ever before, in both residential and commercial settings. Why? The answer is simple: Convenience and effectiveness. As far as snow removal goes, you can’t do better than outdoor radiant heating.

 

The process is simple. Once you notice the first sign of snowfall, you turn on the radiant heating system from an indoor control panel. This causes the heating system to warm the pavement. The second any ice or snow falls on the surface, it will melt. Therefore, you get zero accumulation. There are a couple ways to achieve this. You can either select from having an electric current run through metal rods, beneath your pavement, or you can have hydronic heating, where snow is melted by a warming mixture of water and antifreeze. Both these systems are embedded in the concrete, and installed underneath the pavement. As for cost, there is no set pricing, as you only have the system installed where you need it. This means that if you have a huge, long driveway, yet only require a small square footage of it heated, then that is all that you pay for.

 

Once the snow starts falling, no matter how often you shovel, it’s usually not enough. Soon after you clear a space from ice and snow, more accumulates. Indeed, it’s not uncommon for people to have to don the overcoat, boots, mittens, scarf and hat just to go out and shovel again, a few hours after they just finished.

While this is inconvenient, it can also be dangerous, especially for sedentary people. The mere act of shoveling increases the oxygen requirement of your heart, which means your heart must pump faster and harder to keep up. For a sedentary person to get up from a chair, and instantly begin to shovel heaps of snow, could increase their risk of exhaustion or even a heart attack.

 

Why Not Just Use Rock Salt?

 

Deicers such as rock salt and other chemicals may seem like the answer but they have issues as well. First of all, the coverage is not reliable. With these products, you only get a clear surface area where the deicer falls. These products also do not reach all the way to the pavement with accumulation, so their melting abilities are limited. Plus, you usually still have to shovel away the excess snow and ice anyway, especially if it’s a large snowfall.

 

Deicers such as rock salt and other chemical products are also dangerous to the environment, as the runoff increases the salinity of fresh water areas, and hurts vegetation. Not only that, these deicers are not kind your pets health or that of local wildlife. When it comes to your expensive paved driveways and walkways the effects of deicers can be devastating over time.

 

The sodium chloride of rock salt is known to erode and discolor concrete, and infiltrate the cracks in damaged, aged asphalt driveways and walkways. At East Coast Landscape and Design, we are well versed in the science of asphalt, concrete, masonry as well as experts when it comes to the electrical control design required in installing heated driveways and walkways for your Potomac, MD property. In other words, with our professional team backing you, you’ll get just what you want, where you want it.

 

Outdoor Radiant Heating, for Driveways, Walkways, and So Much More

 

Today, people are turning their unused outdoor yard space into fabulous living spaces; an extension of their home. Patios fitted with beautifully pattern stamped concrete, garden walls, stylish outdoor furniture and grills. While this living space sees much traffic during the spring and summer months, things begin to slow down once it gets chilly. However, with the addition of outdoor radiant heating to your patio, deck, balcony or area surrounding your hot tub, you’ll be able to use your outdoor living areas all year long! Feel like enjoying a freshly, barbecue pizza in the middle of January? Simply heat up your patio pavement, barbecue, and enjoy.

 

Conclusion

 

The benefits of installing East Coast Landscape and Design’s outdoor radiant heated driveways, walkways or patio areas to your Potomac, MD residential or commercial properties are great, indeed. Whether you want it installed on your entire driveway, walkway, patio, or only a portion, we can help make that a reality for you. We currently hold an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau web site, are a member of Angie’s List and certified by Best Pick Reports, and also hold the following certifications:

 

• Interlocking Certified Paver Installers
• Certified Landscape Technician
• Certified Pond Installer
• Maryland Home Improvement Commission License
• Better Business Bureau
• Landscape Contractors Association
• Recommended Landscape Contractor “Washington Checkbook”

 

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us301-421-4141, you’ll be able to hear first hand, from trained professionals just what our services can do for you. We[‘ll be more than happy to assist you with a estimate request, or walk you through the process of heated driveway, walkway and patio installation.

The Garant, 24 inch Sleigh Shovel, the Suncast 24 inch, combination snow shovel and pusher, and the Snow Joe, telescoping snow broom with ice scraper. Sound familiar? These are among the many models of snow shovels available to you on the market today. They are designed to make it so you can go outside, in the frigid cold, to scrape, salt, scrape again, shoveling away pounds and pounds of wet, heavy, thick snow with as much comfort as possible. While these snow shovel designs do make it simpler, if you’re older, of ill health or simply too busy, no manual shovel ever designed will be able to help. this leaves you with the option to pay someone to do it for you. Not only is that an added expense, but can you really trust them to be reliable? To avoid all of this unnecessary hassle, perhaps it’s time to consider outdoor radiant heating as a solution. At East Coast Landscape and Design, in Hyattsville, MD, our team of professional experts can install a heated driveway or walkway, so you can allow the pavement to do the shoveling for you.

 

Put Your Pavement in Charge of Your Snow Removal Problem

 

Shovel, salt, and shovel again. It’s an inconvenient routine that those who live in colder climates have to deal with 3 to 4 months out of the year. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. With outdoor radiant heating, you can sit inside, play a video game, watch a movie or simply go to bed early, knowing that when you wake up, your walkway and driveway will be free and clear of snow and ice. Because when you have snow melt technology installed, it’s the pavement that will do the work for you.

 

The concept is simple. At the first sign of snowfall, you go to your controls, flip a switch and your pavement begins to heat up, instantly melting any snowflake that hits it. As a homeowner, you have options open to you. The first is the electric radiant heating system. Here, the pavement is heated via a series of metal rods or cables which are embedded into the concrete.

 

The second method employs a mix of water and antifreeze chemicals, which run through the tubing, warming your concrete. Both methods are controlled from the interior of your home, both require no further maintenance after installation, and both systems allow you to place the heating system only where you want it. In other words, if you have an expansive driveway, but only require a section to be heated, then that’s the only place it will be installed.

 

Benefits of Outdoor Radiant Heat

 

First and foremost, this type of heating solution means that you’ll be exempt from having to spend your valuable time shoveling snow. Not only is shoveling snow dangerous for your heart health, according to a study in the British Medical Journal, hospitals and clinics see an increased number of broken bones and fractures as a result of this activity. Indeed, during one snowfall, you may have to shovel several times in one evening in order to stop it from accumulating. Shoveling is not only bad for your own health, it can be a nightmare when it comes to your pavement if you find yourself due to 4 months of scraping and chipping away ice.

 

As for deicers and other chemicals, these are known to damage not only our environment and wildlife, but also eat away at our concrete pavement, causing discoloration and cracking. While these chemicals can’t harm new asphalt, if your pavement is comprised of old, aged and worn asphalt, this can be a problem, as the deicers make their way down the cracks and holes. In all truth, that pavement whether concrete or asphalt was expensive to install, so putting it at risk for damage and deterioration due to shoveling and deicers does not make much sense.

 

East Coast Landscape and Design: A Best Pick Reports, Certified Company

 

East Coast Landscape and Design is a Best Pick Reports certified company. This means that we’ve earned the respect and well wishes of our clients. You can trust our expertly trained craftsmen to install either a heated driveway, walkway or both for your Hyattsville, MD residential or commercial property. We hold verified licenses, verified general liability insurance and workmen’s comp. See what our past clients have to say:

 

Review by Chevy Chase, MD Homeowner 09/29/2015

“They were making a front walk and a driveway, and they did a wonderful job. It was excellent. They were friendly, and they gave us different catalogs and ideas. They pointed us to places to go to look at stones and so forth and so on. What they started, they finished. I would say they get an A.”

 

Review by Bethesda, MD Homeowner 09/22/2015

“It was a combination of value and quality of work. They put in some replacement slate stone steps, from the street to our front porch. We had used them before and my wife found them. I would give them an A.”

 

Review by Silver Spring, MD Homeowner 11/14/2017

“We were very satisfied. They were very professional, on-time, friendly, and dependable. We were very satisfied. They did landscaping, paver, and then they also steered us to a gentleman who did a deck remodel and a pergola. East Coast deserves an A.”

 

Conclusion

 

Experience increased curb appeal during the winter months, along with peace of mind and an absence of back breaking shoveling and expensive salting with our outdoor radiant heating systems. Here at East Coast Landscape and Design, we’ve had over 35 years of experience assisting our customers in attaining their perfect landscaping designs, and when it comes to installing heated driveways and walkways for our clients in Hyattsville, MD, we’ve got you covered. We’re here to help, so call us today at 301-421-4141 to request an estimate, and one of our friendly, knowledgeable staff members will assist you.