Table of Contents
- What size skip do I need?
- Do I need a permit?
- How do I get a permit?
- What can you put in a Skip?
- Soil, Concrete or Bricks?
- Heavy load? Alternatives to Skips
More questions? Contact us!
What size skip do I need?
There is nothing worse than having a skip that is too small to fit all of your rubbish in, as you end up having to order another skip, doubling your cost!
Maxi Skip
A maxi skip ranges from 8 cubic yards to 12 cubic yards and can hold 80 to 120 bin bags.
These skips are great for lots of light waste such as domestic and warehouse clearances.Due to weight restrictions these skips cannot hold more than 6 tones of soil or concrete.
Midi Skip
A Midi skip is by far the most commonly used skip and as such is the most widely available skip. If your not sure which skip size to get then choice a Midi Skip.
These skips range from 4 to 6 cubic yards, holding 40 – 60 bin bags respectively. These skips are great for garden waste, builders waste and commercial jobs.
Mini Skip
A mini skip is the smallest skip that can be hired, measuring between 2-3 cubic yards.
The mini skips can hold between 20-30 bin bags and are most commonly used for small domestic clear outs and for small garden waste.
Do I need a permit?
If you want to place a skip anywhere but your own property you are mostly like to need a permit from your local council.
Otherwise you could be fine. A permit is needed due to health and safety regulations and it allow the skip owner to place a skip on roads.
It is the supplier of the Skip’s responsibility to obtain a permit and to ensure all the regulations are in place, however the site owner should always verify whether the supplier needs a permit before the delivery. The permits could last for 1 up to 14 days while for additional time extra applications are need. Also only one skip is allowed at any given time in the permitted site.
How do I get a permit?
It is the supplier of the Skip’s responsibility to obtain a permit.
What can you put in a Skip?
Below is a list of items that you are not allowed to put in your skip.
- Fridges/Freezers
- Tyres
- Paint Cans
- TV’s/Monitors
- Asbestos
- Clinical/Medical Waste
- Florescent Tubes
- Solvents
- Liquids
- Oil
- Batteries/li>
- Plasterboard (max 10% of load)
- Hazardous/Toxic Material
If for any reason you need to get rid of any waste that is mentioned in the list above, you’ll need to contact your local council who can give you advice on where to get rid of the waste or can arrange for it to be collected.
If you are still not sure about what items can go in the skip you can ask the skip delivery driver for extra advice when the skip is being delivered and they can answer any questions or queries you have.
Soil, Concrete or Bricks?
If you are just putting soil, concrete or bricks in the skip or mixing those together than a skip no larger than 6 cubic yards can be hired. This is because the skip will simple be too heavy to be lifted back onto the lorry when being picked up.Heavy load? Alternatives to Skips
Grab hire are often more efficient at removing large amount of heavy waste. This is because if you want to remove heavy waste such as soil and concrete, large skips are not an option. As skip trucks cannot left large amounts of heavy material at once. Therefore if you want to remove heavy waste you’ll need to hire many small skips which are not efficient. To work with grab hire all you have to do is to leave your waste in a pile at an accessible point and let the grab truck work itself. Unlike the skips, grab trucks don’t need a road permit. The lorry’s crew will operate the loading for you and on average the loading takes about 30 minutes. Grabbing truck is far more flexible than a skip as it could reach places where a skip cannot. For example you could dump your pile of waste behind a wall or on uneven ground and the grab arm could take remove your waste for you. A single load on a grab lorry is around two builder skips, that’s around 50 bin bags! Most of the grab hire trucks have a on board weighting system so the operators could always maximise the capacity making the most efficient out of your money. Grab hire are suitable for most situation, whether you are hiring for domestic, trade and commercial.
Grab hire suffer from a few negatives though. It cannot load from the front nor the back of the vehicle as the grab arm isn’t long enough. There shouldn’t be any cables or tree on the overhead of the waste since it may damage the grab arm. The grab arm have limited length so the waste have to be with in 5 metres from the side of the lorry. Lastly the grab truck may have difficulty getting to the site if there are low arches on the way. Keep in mind many of these down sets are shared with skip hire too.
Under the right circumstance grab hire could be significantly cheaper than skip hire. You can always ask our operator for advice to save you some money and get a bang for a buck.