Commercial gritting in Caterham

Car parks, entrances and walkways across Caterham, with snow routes agreed in order before winter arrives.

We do commercial gritting in Caterham for office and shop car parks, entrances, ramps, paths and walkways, and for the town’s blocks of flats, managed estates, care homes, surgeries, schools and churches. Frost gets treated the evening before or early in the morning. When it snows, we clear the agreed routes by hand and salt what’s underneath.

Caterham sits high for this part of Surrey. Its lowest ground is about 110 metres above sea level and the tops pass 230, so snow turns up here more readily and stays longer than it does down in the Weald. As a gritting company working out of Horley, we walk each site with you in the autumn and agree a written plan with the routes listed in the order we’d tackle them.

Commercial gritting in Caterham when the snow settles

Snow turns gritting into clearing. Salt can’t get through a deep layer, so each route is cleared by hand and on foot first, and because that takes longer than salting, the order on the plan matters. A typical Caterham plan runs: main entrance and any ramp, then fire exits, then the walkway from the disabled bays, then bin store paths and the rest.

In a long cold spell we keep coming back. Fresh snow buries the cleared routes, footfall packs whatever’s left into ice, and below about minus five salt barely works, so on those mornings clearing does most of the job. Every return visit goes into the record just like the first.

Managed estates, care homes and a winter gritting contract

Caterham has more than 2,500 flats across its two parishes, and on the old barracks and hospital land the shared paths, car parks and bin stores fall to a residents’ board or managing agent. A winter gritting contract for one season keeps the service charge steady. Care homes, the Valley GP practice and the two hospitals need level paths and ramps treated before staff and patients arrive. Occupiers must take reasonable care that visitors are reasonably safe, and a dated record of each visit helps show you did.

Commercial gritting in Caterham: your questions

Anything else, just ring. You’ll speak to the people who do the work.

One building is on the high ground and another in the Valley. Are both treated the same morning?

Not always. We read the forecast site by site, and higher ground often needs a visit when a sheltered spot lower down doesn’t. Each keeps its own record.

Can you treat our church path before a funeral in a cold spell?

Yes. Ring with the date and time and we’ll treat the path to the porch, any steps and the car park walkway beforehand. Churchyard paths are often uneven, so we check them on the day.

We’re a primary school. Can the gates be done before drop off?

Yes. Gates, main paths and the entrance are treated the evening before or early in the morning, so they’re ready when parents and children arrive. In snow those routes sit at the top of the plan.