Finally decided to start on that renovation or long-overdue clear out? Thinking about hiring a skip to make the waste removal process easier? Before you do, read this guide to making skip hire cheaper to make sure you don’t make these simple but costly mistakes. We want you to get as much value from skip hire as possible, so you don’t end up paying more than you should due to lack of research.
1) Hire the right size skip
If you choose a skip that’s too small, you might have to pay for another one to fit the rest of your rubbish into. Or, if you choose a skip that’s too big, you’ll be paying for the removal of empty air.
As a general guide, skip hire in Bolton offers three standard domestic skip sizes. That’s 2 cubic yards for the smallest jobs, 4 cubic yards for larger ones, and 8 cubic yards for big clear-outs or home renovations.
If your project isn’t too big but you aren’t sure whether a 2-yard skip is going to cut it, always size up. Even if there’s still space left in the skip when you’re done, you can take the opportunity to do some more clearing out.
2) Avoid permits if possible
Placing a skip on a public road outside your property requires permission from the local council, or else you could be fined. As an example, for this kind of skip hire in Wigan you would have to pay and apply for a skip licence from Wigan Council.
Most skip hire companies do this on behalf of the customer, then add the permit cost to the total skip hire bill. Depending on the area, this can add an average of £30 to your expenses, which isn’t ideal if your project has a limited budget.
The best thing to do is avoid the need for a permit by placing the skip on your own property. This can only be done if you have an open driveway, front yard, or other privately owned area with easy access for the skip truck to drop and pick up the skip.
3) Be organised and book in advance
Plan when you’re going to be doing the work and how long you’ll need the skip for ahead of time. Then you can book the skip for your selected dates a few weeks in advance, ensuring that a skip is available when you need it and you don’t end up with limited pricing options at the last minute.
Organising home refurbishments or DIY projects around our busy daily lives can be difficult, so it’s best to take time off work to ensure you’ll be free to fill the skip while you have it. You don’t want to run out of time and send a skip back half-full, then have to hire another one to finish things up.
Planning the steps of your project and making sure you have everything prepared for when the skip arrives can also save you money. If the job isn’t finished by the end of the hire period, you’ll have to request an extension, which will cost more and may not even be available if there’s high demand.
4) Donate or sell whatever you can
Though it’s tempting to just throw away everything in the skip while it’s there, you should only do this if you have extra space to fill. To make more room in your skip for the things that really need to go in it, you should separate items that can be reused or recycled with your regular bin collections.
If you have toys, books, clothes, or furniture that are still in decent shape, there’s no need to get rid of them in the skip. There’s always a market for vintage items, so it’s worth trying to sell things online or at a car boot sale even if they’re old or low value.
Alternatively, you can give things away to family or friends if they want them, and donate anything else to charity. Someone else can make good use of them, while you make good use of the free space in your skip. This way, you won’t have to pay more for another skip if there’s too much junk to fit into the first one.
5) Share with neighbours or family
Skips may seem like an expensive venture if you’re only working on a small project. It can be frustrating when you don’t have enough waste to fill a skip by yourself but there’s just too much to fit in your regular bins.
However, you can easily save money by splitting the cost with someone you trust. Is a neighbour renovating their garden while you’re clearing out your garage? Why not hire a skip together and fill half of it each? This will also reduce the cost of a skip permit if you need to place it on the road outside your houses.
You can also ask family or friends if they have any junk they need to get rid of if they’re willing to chip in for the cost of skip hire. They’ll have to transport it to your place if they don’t live nearby, but they can do this at any time, more easily than going to a recycling centre and queueing during their limited opening hours.
6) Break down the bulk
Many people hire skips to get rid of old furniture that’s too large and cumbersome to get into a domestic vehicle and take to the tip. However, these items can quickly fill up the skip, leaving little room for anything else you need to dispose of.
The more you can safely fit in the skip, the more value you’re getting out of it. So, to make more space available, you should break down any bulky items. Breaking them into smaller pieces and making the pile as compact as possible allows you to squeeze more items into the skip.
Things like wooden bed frames and kitchen cabinets should be easy to break up, and the pieces are easily stackable. If some bulky items are difficult to demolish, lay the largest pieces at the bottom as flat as you can.
7) Don’t overfill your skip
Skips do have weight limits to ensure they can be safely lifted and transported. They also come with a fill line around the inside edge indicating the maximum level you can fill the skip up to. If the skip is too heavy, or the top is overflowing, they may not be able to remove your waste.
These are standard legal limits for skips, so they’ll be the same for skip hire in Horwich as they are in any part of Bolton or the rest of the country. You can check with your skip hire provider if you’re not sure how much you can put in your skip. As long as you don’t go above the edges or fill the skip with extremely heavy objects, you should be fine.
Under no circumstances should you use ‘greedy boards’ – where wooden boards are placed around the outside to raise the edges of the skip. This is not safe, and you’ll be charged extra by the hire company for removing the extra waste. Otherwise, they might ask you to remove the overloaded items before taking your skip, and then you’ll have to find another way to dispose of them at your own expense.
8) Load your waste responsibly
Just as you shouldn’t overfill a skip, you should be careful about how you stack the rubbish inside the skip. Use the space wisely by flattening items and creating level layers. This ensures that the waste is stable and unlikely to shift around inside the skip.
It’s best to put the largest and heaviest items in first, then pack smaller items in around and on top of them. Never just toss things in to land anywhere, as this is extremely inefficient and reduces the cost-effectiveness of the skip hire.
If you don’t pay attention to how and where you place items in the skip, this could result in items falling or sticking out and causing injury to passing people, animals, or vehicles. Do you want to end up paying for damages? You can prevent this happening by loading waste in properly.
9) Watch out for restricted items
Whether you’re booking skip hire in Leyland or anywhere else across the country, you’ll find that there’s a list of prohibited items which won’t be allowed in the skip. These hazardous items potentially put people in danger due to the risk of chemical leaks, fires, and explosions.
You might think nothing of putting old paint tins, tyres, or even electrical appliances in the skip, but these are among the restricted items. If you purposely try to hide hazardous items amongst the waste, you’ll be caught out when the contents of your skip gets sorted for recycling. You’ll then be charged a fine, and may also have to pay damages for any injuries to workers.
For this reason, you should also keep an eye on your skip when you’re not loading it yourself, as strangers or sneaky neighbours could try to slip things into the skip that shouldn’t be there. If these are found later on, you’ll be held responsible even if you didn’t know about them.
10) Protect your driveway or land
If you’re avoiding permit costs by keeping a skip on your private property, you should take extra precautions to make sure that neither the skip delivery truck or the skip itself damages your property. Prepare a clear area in advance for the skip to be set down on stable ground.
To prevent the skip from sinking into softer ground or cracking paving slabs, you should lay down wooden boards for the skip to sit on top of. You can ask the skip hire company if they’re able to provide wooden battens when they deliver the skip.
The last thing you want is damage to walls, fences, gates, or the ground which you’ll then have to spend more money on repairing. It’s equally important to remove all obstacles and select a space with no access restrictions or overhanging foliage or wires.
Ready for cheap skip hire in Bolton?
Now you know our ten top tips for reducing the cost of skip hire, you can put them into action for skip hire in Chorley and the wider Bolton area. Skips are one of the most convenient and affordable options for disposing of waste from household projects, so don’t miss out on these potential savings.
Use our tricks and avoid the pitfalls we’ve explained above, and you’ll not only stay in budget but be able to focus your efforts and money on other things. Stay safe and make the most of your skip hire!