Disposing of paints, sealers etc.

jcuurthht

Hello. I am selling my late mother's property while I am living in Germany.

I hired a firm to clear the house, and the only thing they could not take was the paints shown in the picture below.

Normally you could take these to a Sort-It center in South Gloucestershire, however given I am attempting to sell the property while living abroad, this isn't an option for me.

What other options are available to me to dispose of these items or give them away?

FreeBear

Some council recycling centres have a paint disposal point.

Failing that, get some sawdust or kitty litter. Mix the paint in with it and let it dry (leave the lids off the tins). When reasonably dry, bag it and pop it in the regular household waste bin.

PollyWollyDoodle

If they’re any good- I.e not dried up - you could offer them free on Facebook if there’s a local selling group, or Freecycle. I assume that even though you’re abroad, you’ve got someone who can access the house to hand them over? Could that person take them to the tip for you, most council recycling places have somewhere you can leave paint.

Otherwise, I just wouldn’t bother – it’s quite normal to find the odd tin of paint in the garage when you move into a house, and I don’t think that amount is excessive for your buyers to dispose of.

jcuurthht

Yeah I think I'll just leave them there. I can't imagine a buyer is going to back out our request a price reduction because of a few tins of paint

casper_gutman

I quite appreciated a couple of cans of paint which were in the garage when we bought our house - they were the colours we needed to touch up the paintwork in the rooms we weren't ready to redecorate immediately.

Rdwill

If the product is 'water based' it can go in your general waste, to put other stuff in is a bit irresponsible.

If you have a friendly neighbour then they could take it to the 'sort it' center or local HWRC, householders are allowed to use the service, but traders are excluded / have to pay. Normally we have a battle to keep the traders out, so it looks like you happened on some scrupulous ones  .

Personally, I would go with casper and leave it behind.

FreeBear

Rdwill said: If the product is 'water based' it can go in your general waste

Still needs to be dried out - You can't go putting liquids in a rubbish bin.

Bendy_House

If these paints are relevant to the house, then chances are the new owner will be grateful for them. But no harm in passing on this info to the buyer via your respective solicitors, and if you attach that pic they'll know it's decent stuff, left in a tidy corner.

pinkteapot

Rdwill said:

If the product is 'water based' it can go in your general waste.

No, it can't (I work in waste management - we can't put liquids into landfill). You can dry it out as others have said (small amounts can be painted onto cardboard etc then binned), or if you have large quantities please take it to your local tip and they'll get rid of it in the proper way for chemicals. 

MalMonroe

You could just leave them. The new owners can either use or Freegle/Freecycle them. In my experience, half used tins of paint/sealer, etc. (of any age) are surprisingly popular and sought after. 

When you consider some of the messes that some new home owners are left to clear up, a few tins of paint like that are nothing to worry about. I wouldn't throw it away - think of the environment . . . 

Rdwill

Looks like I'll stand corrected on that one 

I'd still leave it for the next occupier though.