I find the surfaces to be really annoying. The OP made some good points; I have a couple to add.
1) Cantrips should have very limited effects. I'm fine with a cantrip creating a surface, but that should be the only thing that it does. Throwing a bolt of frost at someone for damage should be a separate thing from creating a sheet of ice beneath their feet. When you get into higher-level spells, maybe it makes sense to have a single action do both, but not with cantrips. This is especially annoying when you've got a wizard that needs a way to deal some damage, but doesn't want to create a surface as a result. If you're going to create surfaces as a character, it needs to be intentional.
2) Surfaces shouldn't last forever. Fires should burn out. Ice should melt. Acid should eat through things until it's neutralized. It's frustrating to finish a battle and be stuck behind a wall of fire and not be able to wait it out or dismiss it or anything. I understand wanting to use surfaces as a tactical element in combat, but I want walking around outside of combat to be easy (outside of instances where a surface is placed specifically to be a challenge, of course, but then it had better have some explanation for persisting).
