Tackling DIY projects is a time-consuming business, and the excess waste they produce can be a hassle to dispose of.
Whether you’re clearing out or renovating your home or business premises, you’ll need to figure out how to get rid of all the rubbish safely.
If you’re done with furnishings or other items that are still in usable condition, it’s best to either sell them or donate them to charity wherever possible.
This will reduce the amount of waste you’re actually responsible for disposing of.
But what if you still end up with more rubbish than you can fit in your bin?
Luckily, there are several ways to remove the rubbish so it can be recycled.
Take your rubbish to a waste recycling centre
If you have access to a vehicle and someone to drive there and back, you can load up your bags of rubbish and drop them off at the local waste disposal centre.
You can find your nearest waste centres on your local council’s website.
As long as you’re a resident, you can dispose of your waste in the appropriate containers for free, and make as many trips as you want.
However, if you drive a larger vehicle and/or want to dispose of commercial waste, you may have to pay for a permit and book a limited number of visits in advance.
Some recycling centres might also charge for taking certain types of waste, such as rubble and soil.
You’ll have to be prepared to put potentially dirty rubbish bags in your car, set aside time and fuel money for going to the tip, and clean your car afterwards.
Book a bulky household rubbish removal with the council
Every council is obliged to provide a subsidised collection service for bulky items that won’t fit in a household bin for regular collection.
This applies to residents only, so businesses can’t use the service to get rid of trade waste.
You’ll need to contact the council to book the service and leave the waste outside for them to pick up on the designated day.
It’s often limited to appliances, furniture, and bric-a-brac, including things like mattresses and carpets.
Some councils offer this service for free, but many charge a small fee to cover transport costs, and you may find yourself waiting a while to book a collection as response times can be quite slow.
Get fitters or retailers to take away old items they’re replacing
If you’ve hired someone to carry out home renovations, such as fitting a new kitchen or bathroom, they might be able to take the waste away with them if you ask.
It’s a good idea to ask the fitter in advance if they’ll include waste disposal as part of the deal before you sign the contract.
Some contractors may agree to do this for free, while others might add a small charge to the overall bill to cover it.
Similarly, if you’re ordering new bulky furniture such as a kitchen appliance, bed, or wardrobe, the retailer you buy it from might offer to take away the old one when they deliver the new item.
Check for this before placing an order, as it’s usually an add-on service for an extra fee that must be arranged at the time of ordering.
Hire a house clearance company
If you can’t get to the tip and the other options above aren’t available to you, then there’s the choice of hiring a professional removal service.
A specialist house clearance agency will go through your things to determine their resale value before giving you a quote to take it off your hands.
If there’s more rubbish than useable junk, the clearance company might decline to take it.
In this case, it’d be better to look for a man-with-van service to come and collect the waste from your property.
Just keep an eye out for rogue traders – make sure any service you book is legally allowed to dispose of waste and their fees are reasonable.
Hire a skip for the best of both worlds
For bulky and/or heavy waste, or large amounts of lighter waste, it’s much easier to just hire a skip from a reliable skip hire company.
You have the freedom to determine what you throw away, and the convenience of having it removed for you afterwards.
Skip Hire Chorley delivers the appropriate size skip to your property so you can fill it in your own time as your project progresses, and takes it away when you’re done.
You’ll pay a fixed upfront fee to have the skip onsite for a set period of time, adding waste as and when it’s produced.
If you have a neighbour who’s also doing some DIY, you could split the cost by sharing a skip.
Bear in mind that you may need to get a permit for putting the skip on a public road, and that there are some restrictions on which materials can go in a skip.
If you don’t have anywhere to place a skip, you could book a ‘wait and load’ skip service instead, where you’ll have around half an hour to load up the waste you’ve already gathered and they’ll take it away immediately after.
