The size of skip you’ll need to hire from your local skip hire company usually depends on the project you or your builders/contractors have undertaken or the amount of rubbish or waste that you have to dispose of, sometimes if it is a large project like a home extension, loft conversion, garage conversion or cellar conversion it may be more cost effective to have a smaller skip for a few days or even a few weeks or even months but collected and emptied periodically by the skip hire company, you’ll need to speak to your local skip hire or waste management company to see if this arrangement is cost effective for you and your project first.
Many skip hire, recycling and waste management companies do this to save on fuel and vehicle wear and tear especially if your location is between them and the waste disposal site as they can drop off a skip that they have just emptied and collect your full skip saving both fuel and time. Lots of skip hire, recycling and waste management companies are now adopting this more efficient collection and drop off method especially since rising fuel prices forced many haulage companies out of business recently.
So what size skip should you order?
Skips come is all shapes and sizes and for many people skip sizes can be a little more difficult to work out because the sizing of skips hasn’t changed for many decades and skips are sized by volume and not height and width so it can be more difficult to work out visually. Even though the UK officially went decimal in 1971 companies and businesses that use skips on a regular basis such as builders, roofers, home improvement companies and other tradesmen still order skips in yards with popular skip sizes being 4 yards and 6 yards skips where 4 yard for example equates the cubic capacity or the internal volume of the skip (what the skip can hold) rather than the height and the width or the skip.
Companies, tradesmen and businesses who use skips on a regular basis for their work or trade simply know what size they need for the job or the project that they are on simply because they have used them for years but what if you are just a regular person looking to clear out your garden or clear some overgrown trees and shrubs? Or what if you just want to clear out your loft or garage of all that rubbish you’ve collected over the years? How do you know what size of skip you are going to need for the job?
Never overfill a skip as many skip hire companies may refuse collect it.
It is very important that you make certain you avoid falling foul of any local legislation, or breach any safety requirements when filling up your skip with household or garden waste. Over filling your skip could get you in a lot of trouble or incur extra fees from the waste management company who may be legally required to empty some of the waste out before they collect it and then charge you for their time.
Every skip must be filled no higher than level to the top of the skip. Overfilling may cause the skip vehicle to exceed its legal weight limit and may leave the driver liable for prosecution, an overflowing skip also poses a serious safety issue to other vehicles on the road as well as pedestrians walking along the roadside.
Don’t let this article put you off hiring a skip
Skip hire is still the most cost effective and practical way of waste and rubbish disposal for businesses, tradesmen and homeowners, with a skip hire company you know that the waste is being disposed of safely and legally because skip hire companies legally require a waste carries licence.
Many people these days are tempted by offers on social media sites such as Facebook by a “Man with van” offering “cheap rubbish removal”. Using these Rogue Traders simply adds to the current fly tipping epidemic as these people do not have waste carriers licences and have no way of legally disposing of your waste at official recycling or waste management sites for the price they have quoted you so your waste ends up being fly tipped.
If you are looking to hire a skip then Clear My Waste is a great place to find genuine Skip Hire companies.
