How and how not to hire a skip

Clearing a house, whether you're renovating, remodelling or completely redecorating the interior means you will be faced with a high volume of waste. If your tenants have left unexpectedly and left a home brimming with rubbish and furniture or if you're just clearing out to make room for new items, you will need to focus on how to get rid of the waste in a safe and controlled manner.

Sometimes skip hire is the best solution. These large containers come in a variety of sizes to meet your particular requirements from the very small options, which are about the size of two washing machines to the maximum sizes models, which can accommodate a very high volume of waste with ease.

Before you choose skip hire for your particular projects, it's advisable to identify what you can throw in it and what you can't. There are very strict guidelines you need to follow and some items you may want to eradicate from the property, may not be able to be thrown into the container.

Firstly, look at the items you can throw into the container. This can help you identify if this is the right way to go for your house clearance solution. If you are doing some major renovations and are going to be knocking down walls and pulling tiles off the bathroom and kitchen walls, then you will be pleased to know that bricks and rubble can be thrown into the skip. You can also throw out all the wood and metal, so wooden beams, floorboards and decking can all be thrown away with ease.

If you are taking delivery of new furniture at the same time, you will be thrilled to know all your plastic and packaging can be thrown into the skip. This can be welcome news as new furniture and appliances always come with too much packaging, often leaving you running back and forth to the recycling and waste centre to drop it off because it won't fit in your bins. Cardboard boxes, plastic packaging and any other plastics, even plastic garden chairs can go straight into the container without hesitation.

You can also toss any furniture into the skip that you don't want to keep. This includes everything from beds to sofas and dining tables to side tables, wall units, shelving and more. You can also throw out any domestic waste. This is exceptionally useful if you are clearing a home that has been abandoned by your tenants, you have no idea what you will find in the cupboards or fridge.

Remember you need to ensure the load is even when throwing things into the container. Don't just throw and go wild. Try and pack it to keep the load as simple as possible and also reduce the risk of pieces sticking up or sticking out the sides. The company will not be able to remove the skip until this has been rectified.

The next thing is to look at what you cannot throw out. Batteries and electrical equipment cannot be thrown into the skip, this includes fridges, ovens, lighting, dishwashers and any other electrical equipment you may want to get rid of.

You also cannot throw any liquids or gas bottles into the skip, including petrol and paint. Tyres, plasterboard and fluorescent tubes must also not be placed into the skip hire.

Always bear in mind when deciding what to put into the skip and what to remove yourself, that the company will go through the container and try and recycle as much as they can, therefore take that into consideration to help you identify the do's and don'ts of skip hire.