Hiring a skip is one of the easiest ways to deal with getting rid of a lot of waste. Whether you’re revamping your home or garden or you’re a contractor on a project, skips make the job simpler.

However, it’s important to note that planning for your skip hire is key to ensuring things run smoothly. A little forethought goes a long way and could save you time and money in the long run.

Here are ATS Skip Hire’s top tips on how to prepare for hiring a skip.

Planning Your Skip Hire

Right, you know you need a skip. But what type? It might surprise you to know that we provide eight different skip sizes!

2 Yard Skip

The 2 yard skip holds around 15 black bags worth of waste and is suitable for small household jobs, like clearing the garden or getting rid of general household rubbish.

The 2 yard skip is 3ft high, 6.3ft long and 4.7ft wide.

3 Yard Skip

This size can accommodate most home and garden projects, holding 25-35 black bin bags worth of waste. Perfect for bulkier items like heavy hardcore and sofas, the 3 yard skip is 3ft high, 8.7ft long and 4.7ft wide.

4 Yard Skip

A 4 yard skip holds 35-45 black bin bags of stuff you’re getting rid of. We see these hired for bigger clearances – think sheds and lofts that are long overdue a sort out – as well as hardcore, rubble and soil from garden and building projects.

This skip measures 3.7ft in height, 8.4ft in length and 5.5ft in width.

6 Yard Skip

This skip is the largest you can hire for heavy waste, meaning things like hardcore, bricks and soil. The 6 yard skip can take up to 55 black bags worth of the stuff and measures 3.7ft by 10.4ft by 6ft.

8 Yard Skip

8 yard skips hold up to 75 black bin bags of waste and are perfect for mixed builders and general household waste. They are 4ft high, 12ft long and 6ft wide.

10 Yard Skip

The 10 yard skip is suitable for large house clearances, bulky items and green waste. It can accommodate up to 95 black bags full and is 5ft by 12ft by 6ft.

12 Yard Skip

Our largest skip, the 12 yard skip, holds up to a whopping 115 black bags full of waste. They work well for timber, wood and bulky items as well as green waste.

The 12 yard skip comes in at 5.7ft in height, 13.4ft in length and 6ft in width.

Getting The Right Fit

Once you know which type of skip will suit your project, the next step is to check if it will fit on your driveway or other space you plan on using. Ideally, the skip will sit on private land, but if that’s not possible, you’ll need to obtain a permit to use a public road, for more information click here

To get the right fit, measure your driveway meticulously. Ensure that there won’t be any overhang on the pavement, and note any manholes in the area where you want the skip to go.

Remember, the ground where the skip will be sited must be level.

What About Damage?

When thinking about how to prepare for hiring a skip, you might wonder about potential driveway damage.

Skips don’t tend to affect the ground beneath them at all as they are placed with expert care by professionals. However, if you have block paving or want to remove any risk whatsoever, the skip can be placed on top of wooden boards (available at an additional cost).

Skip Hire Access

Your skip hire company needs to know about any access restrictions to your property at this stage of planning. And that doesn’t stop at your house; can you tell us about any considerations along the route?

It’s helpful to know…

  • If you have a shared driveway
  • If you live in a Cul de Sac
  • If you live on a one way road
  • If you live on a narrow roads
  • If you often have cars double-parked (parked cars on both sides of the road)
  • If your road is busy (and peak times, if applicable)
  • If your road is uneven or un-tarmacked
  • If there are any bridges or tunnels nearby

How to prepare for hiring a skip? Planning! Good to go? Let’s take a look at what happens when your skip arrives.

On The Day Of Your Skip Hire

It’s skip hire day! What needs doing?

Keep It Clear

The space it will be placed needs to be completely free from debris, rubbish, bins and cars, (obviously).

Look Up!

Clear access is not only needed at ground level; overhanging branches and cables can make it impossible to lower the skip into your space.

Ensure you have cut any trees back, and make the skip company aware of cables when you book. Sending photos of the scene will help skip hire companies like us know what combination of skip and vehicle to send.

Spread The Word

It’s best to let your neighbours know what’s happening. Unloading and siting the skip is quick, but neighbours’ driveways may be blocked for a short time. If your own driveway is narrow, it can also be helpful to have any cars parked outside moved, too.

Stay Home

The skip hire company will need you to sign paperwork upon skip delivery, so don’t go out! We need someone at home when we arrive. No human, no delivery!

Using Your Skip

Phew. The skip is now safely on your drive, garden or road. But we haven’t stopped thinking about how to prepare for hiring a skip just yet.

Before you start chucking things in, there are a few rules you need to be aware of. (Pay attention; this bit of info may dictate the size or type of skip you book in the first place!).

What Can Go In My Skip?

To make the most of your skip hire, here’s a list of things you can fill your skip with.

  • General waste (but no batteries)
  • Builders waste (rubble, hardcore, wood, tiles… the list goes on!)
  • Garden waste (soil, grass, wood, leaves and tree roots).

For more information of what can and can’t put in a skip read here.

Loading Your Skip

Here’s how to be responsible when filling a skip.

  • Make sure you load effectively, putting the heaviest, bulkiest items at the bottom.
  • Don’t overfill or balance items on top of the pile. We cannot take overfilled skips, and you  may end up with waste left behind. Is your skip nearly full? Call us and we can discuss the best way to proceed.
  • Distribute the weight evenly across the skip to prevent it from becoming unbalanced.

Skip Collection

Yep, the collection is included when we’re discussing how to prepare for hiring a skip.

Knowing exactly how long you have the skip for is important information. ATS Skip Hire provides our clients with skips throughout the Essex area, so we have a carefully planned drop-off and collection schedule.

You can hire a skip for as long or as short a time as you need, but here at ATS, our costs typically cover either a 14-day or 29-day period. That means that a skip hired for 3 days will cost the same as a 14-day hire.

Top tip: Only need your skip for one day? Enter the next day’s date for collection. We’re so efficient with our collections that if you opt for same-day collection, you might only get a couple of hours!

And finally. It’s extremely helpful to consider the space around the skip for collection in the same way as you did with drop-off. Clear parked cars in front of the property, remove debris and ensure access is clear.

Please be aware though that your “off-hire” date and the actual date of collection may vary.

The “off-hire” date is to let us know when you skip is available for us to collect, we aim to be as efficient as possible with logistics, so where possible the nearest collection to a delivery is done. This may mean your skip isn’t collected on the “off-hire” date and may be a while before it’s actually picked up (especially for further distances from our site).

Skip Hire Made Simple

Skips make quick work of getting rid of waste. With the right prep, your skip hire will get your project underway with zero hassle!

Looking for a professional, efficient and friendly skip hire company that covers the Colchester and Essex areas? Get in touch to find out how we can help.