My garden project is over budget and I'm running out of funds

Billie93

Hi all, really need some advice!!

I have currently got some gardeners working at my house to replace an old fence. We knew that behind the fence was quite a lot of rubbish that would need to be moved, but when the old fence was ripped up, it revealed decades of old rubbish, bracken and soil that has accumulated behind it.

I was initially given a quote for £1600, including skip hire, to get the rubbish cleared and new fencing installed. The gardener has filled the (massive) skip that arrived yesterday and it's not even close to being all gone. I will need at least one more, probably two skips to clear everything, which alongside labour costs, will blow the £1600 I had earmarked to do the work... Before the fence panels are even ordered.

Really not sure what to do now, I have a small amount of money left to pay for another skip potentially, but after that I'm going to be down to zero in savings. Part of me wants to just throw the money at it to get it done, the other part wants to settle up with the gardeners and just get used to the rubbish heap at the end of the garden until I've saved enough money to get it cleared.

I suppose my question is also... What do you do when you go over budget, or run into an issue, and can't afford to continue? 

TELLIT01

If the rubbish etc is at the far end of the garden, you could ask them to clear as little as they need to in order to erect the fence on the same line as the old one, then clear the rubbish when funds permit and get the fence taken down and re-erected in its final position.

SameOldRoundabout

Can you take it to the tip? Scour FB for a man with a van? (Making sure you check their license and avoid a fine for fly tipping! I’d probably ask them to put the rubbish inside the garden and continue with the fence, to buy more time and save having to pay them more when you don’t have the funds. 

EmmyLou30

The land which the rubbish is on, who does that belong to? Where has the rubbish come from? You want to be sure it won’t re-accumulate after you’ve paid to remove it all! 

juraj.kecso

Why would you pay for rubbish that is not even on your land to be cleared. Just shift away enough for the fence to be erected.

FreeBear

If you have space at the front of the property, a grab hire lorry can often be cheaper than a skip. Or if there is access to the "other side of the fence", a grab lorry may be able to scoop the stuff from where it is sitting. But to be honest, if the rubbish is not on your land, it isn't your problem to deal with.

FaceHead

Agree that if it's not your rubbish and not on your land, why are you worrying about it?

If it is your rubbish and/or it is on your land, check out what the rules are for taking a van to the tip where you live, and what the 'rubbish' is. If you can take it to the tip (sounds like a big van is needed) you can hire one for a day for say £50 and run it down the tip. Much cheaper than a skip. 

Davesnave

EmmyLou30 said:

The land which the rubbish is on, who does that belong to? Where has the rubbish come from? You want to be sure it won’t re-accumulate after you’ve paid to remove it all! 

Nobody can properly answer this question without knowing if the rubbish is on the OP's land and whether they would have any control of more arriving. Obviously, rubbish piling up behind a fence is going to shorten its life considerably.