Shed and contents removal

fleurioz

I have been quoted £800 to remove an old shed and it contents ( mattress, Hoover, push  chair, bricks, bike and general rubbish), which was left by the previous owner. Does this cost sound ok?

GDB2222

It depends where the shed is located, how big it is, how full, etc. 

I can tell you that I was quoted £150 by a couple of waste contractors for a job. Instead, I hired a van by the hour and my son and I did it ourselves. The van hire was £35, and it took us over three hours. What appeared quite a small amount of stuff in the garage completely filled the van. Emptying the van into different containers at the recycling centre took quite a lot of time. It saved £115, which worked out at around £15 to £20 an hour for the time we spent. 

The only conclusion I can draw is that the quotes I had were fairly reasonable. They appeared rather high, but when we came to do the job, it was quite time consuming and there was a lot more stuff to move than it looked like. If your shed is in the back garden and everything has to be carried quite a distance, that would add to the cost.

Norman_Castle

If you can wait sheds and bikes are often requested on freecycle. Depending on what else is there you might get rid of most of it for free.

chrisw

The skip hire companies are still operating. Hire a skip for around £100 and throw it in yourself.

TELLIT01

chrisw said:

The skip hire companies are still operating. Hire a skip for around £100 and throw it in yourself.

That's what I would do too.  There are many organisations throughout the country who will take the bike.  Even if it's beyond repair they can use parts from it.

ic

I'll second the comments about there being more than at first glance.  When I moved in to my house, I filled an 8 cubic foot skip + had to do three runs to the tip in the van to clear what had been left behind.  It was far more effort and cost than I'd expected!

ka7e

Check with your local council, many areas have closed their public recycling centres and tips. The onus is on you to check that the firm has a waste disposal licence with the local council and that they are a reputable carrier. £800 seems a lot to have your waste end up being fly-tipped.

[Deleted User]

ka7e said:

Check with your local council, many areas have closed their public recycling centres and tips. The onus is on you to check that the firm has a waste disposal licence with the local council and that they are a reputable carrier. £800 seems a lot to have your waste end up being fly-tipped.

Yes, that was my immediate concern too. Where is this firm going to dispose of the waste material at the moment? 

olgadapolga

ic said:

I'll second the comments about there being more than at first glance.  When I moved in to my house, I filled an 8 cubic foot skip + had to do three runs to the tip in the van to clear what had been left behind.  It was far more effort and cost than I'd expected!

You're not kidding. We hired a large skip so that we could clear the garden of our new home. We'd filled it within four days and have only scratched the surface! We have another, larger skip being delivered tomorrow but I think that we will fill that and still have rubbish left over. The 8 cubic yard one we have just filled cost £250 to hire. More expensive than trips to the tip but much easier (we've also taken 18 trailer loads of rubbish to the tip over the last eight months as well!).

kazwookie

Get the stuff out of your shed, put it at the front of your property with a sign 'free' and see how much of it goes, then skip / freecycle the rest of it.

Also put photos of it all on your local FB page with free on it.

[Deleted User]

kazwookie said:

Get the stuff out of your shed, put it at the front of your property with a sign 'free' and see how much of it goes

During lockdown?