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One inch or more of new snow since our last visit. The crew measures it on your walk with a snow stick, and we check it against the nearest National Weather Service report. Under an inch isn’t a visit on the standard pass. To have those handled too, add dusting runs for $249; they also cover freezing rain, with ice melt on your stairs and walks.

When 1 to 8 inches falls overnight and stops by 4 a.m., your sidewalk, front walk, stairs and apron are cleared by 7:00 a.m., and you get a photo with a time stamp. If snow is still falling at 4 a.m. and an inch is down, you get a first pass by 7:00 a.m. and a final pass after it stops: by 10 a.m. if it stops before 7, otherwise within 4 hours. More than 8 inches overnight is cleared by 10:00 a.m., the city’s own deadline. Miss any of these and one-tenth of your pass comes back.

If snow stops after 7 a.m. but before 7 p.m., we clear it within 4 hours and never later than 10 p.m., the city’s deadline for daytime snow. Snow that stops after 7 p.m. counts as overnight snow and is done by 7 a.m.

We don’t wait for the last flake. In a storm that runs all day, you get up to two passes in 24 hours, and each pass counts as one of your 20 included visits. If a big winter starts eating into them, we’ll email you.

Onto your parkway or into your yard. Never into the street, a bike lane, a bus pad or a parking spot; the city doesn’t allow it. On the apron, we pile it beside the garage, not in the alley.

Snow that falls between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. has to be off the sidewalk by 10 a.m., and daytime snow by 10 p.m. The path must be at least 5 feet wide, corner ramps included, seven days a week, and fines run $50 to $500. We aim for 7 a.m. because most people are out the door before the city’s deadline. Evanston and Oak Park set their own rules; our 7 a.m. target is the same there.

No. Most of the work happens while you’re asleep. If the crew needs a gate open for the gangway or back walk, tell us when you sign up. Away in January? The photos keep coming.

Chicago asks corner owners to clear the sidewalk on every side of the lot and the corner ramps. On a standard 25-by-125 lot, that’s about 125 extra feet of sidewalk, five times the front. The corner add-on is $300 for the season.

Then some money comes back. If O’Hare records less than 20 inches from Dec. 1 to Mar. 31, we refund 20% of your pass in April. For scale, O’Hare’s long-run average for those four months is about 34 inches.

Your pass includes up to 20 visits, roughly double what a normal winter needs. If we’re getting close, we email you first. Visits after 20 cost one-fifteenth of your pass each, and you can say no.

Checking your block is free. When you’re ready, say “Route me” and hold your spot with a $49 deposit. It counts toward your pass, it’s refundable until your first visit, and it comes back on its own if your route doesn’t open by Dec. 15. The balance is charged on Dec. 1, after you’ve received your crew’s name, or in two halves on Dec. 1 and Jan. 4.

Yes. Before your first visit, you get everything back. After that, we refund what you paid minus one-eleventh of your pass for each completed visit. The pass doesn’t renew on its own; next winter, you’d say yes again.

Add car brush-off ($149 per car for the season) and we brush off one car parked in front of your home or on your apron, clear around the tires and push the snow onto the parkway. We don’t dig out a car the street plow has walled in. We also don’t do dibs. The lawn chair is between you and your neighbors.

Yes, as an add-on, mostly in Evanston and Oak Park: $150 for a one-car driveway, $250 for two cars. Crews use snow blowers and shovels, not plow trucks, so very long driveways get a quote by hand.

A local landscaping crew we contract for the season. Clear by 7 plans the routes and checks every photo. Each crew must carry general liability insurance that covers snow and ice work, and before your first visit we email you the crew’s name and a copy of its insurance certificate.

Illinois has a law about this, the Snow and Ice Removal Act (745 ILCS 75). It says residential owners, and people they hire, who clear the sidewalk next to a home generally aren’t liable for injuries from snowy or icy conditions unless the conduct was willful or wanton. It doesn’t cover every situation, and this isn’t legal advice. On our side, crews must carry insurance that covers snow work, and every visit is logged with a photo.

Every visit gets ice melt on stairs and walks. Our standard is a calcium chloride blend, which keeps working at temperatures where rock salt stops. A pet-friendlier blend costs nothing extra; just ask. If your concrete was poured in the last 12 months, tell us and we’ll use sand on it instead.

Fair question. This is our first winter, so we can’t point to years of storms. What we can do is put the rules in writing: the trigger, the deadlines, the price, the late credit and the refunds. You’ll read the season agreement before you pay anything, and the time stamp on every photo keeps us honest.

On Chicago’s North and Northwest Sides (60613, 60618, 60625, 60630, 60631, 60634, 60640, 60641, 60645, 60646, 60656 and 60659), in Evanston (60201, 60202) and in Oak Park (60301, 60302, 60304). Somewhere else in Chicago? Check your block anyway. A route opens where enough neighbors sign up close together, and we’ll tell you yes or no by Nov. 25.

Chicago puts the duty on owners and on tenants or occupants in charge of a property. Some leases hand snow to tenants; many don’t. If you own a two-flat or three-flat, the pass covers the whole frontage, the front stairs and the apron. Renters can buy a pass too. We just ask that your landlord knows.

No. Clear by 7 is a private company with no connection to the City of Chicago. The city studied using its own crews on sidewalks, and in October 2025 a City Council panel turned down a scaled-back pilot. For now the job stays with owners. If the city starts clearing your block, we’ll refund the unused share of your pass.

Roofs and ice dams, back porches above ground level, parking lots and private alleys, buildings with five or more units, hauling snow away, and chipping thick ice (we treat it with ice melt instead). Snow under an inch isn’t covered unless you add dusting runs.