Skip hire is a crucial part of many home renovation projects. Whether you're clearing out and decluttering, undertaking some construction work on an extension or making serious alterations to the layout of your home, you'll need somewhere to put all the detritus before the project is over! So what are the three main things you should consider before you hire a skip to get your project rolling?

#1: Make sure you understand the relevant laws and bylaws in your local area.

Waste disposal is often highly regulated, and the rules surrounding how skips can be hired and used vary not just from state to state but also sometimes between cities, districts and councils. Before you arrange a skip hire service, make sure you've looked up the regulations for where you are. You'll know what to expect from your skip hire company, and what will and won't be possible for them to do. Local guidelines will stipulate what kind of skip you can hire, where it can be parked while you have it, how long you can leave it there for, what you can put into it and how full it can be before it has to be removed. Skip hire companies are of course a great source of this information, but it's worth checking your area's government website as well. In some places, you may need to apply for a skip permit before your hire arrives, so the sooner you do this the better.

#2: Get a good idea of how much rubbish you're expecting to generate.

You've probably seen overflowing skips parked outside homes that have big projects ongoing — but the reason they seem to hang around for ages is that when they're too full, the companies can't reclaim them. Of course, the people who hired them in the first place are then charged for the extra time until they can empty it out to a safe level. It's important to know in advance how big a skip you're likely to need because you'll be hit with hefty fees if you try to save money by going smaller and end up throwing too much into it. Weight may also be an issue, so make sure you read carefully through the guidelines.

#3: Think about where your skip will be kept, and if you'll be able to cover it at night.

if you have a garage or private drive large enough, it can be worth seeing if you can find a company able to drop a skip off there rather than keeping it in an area accessible to the public. This will help you avoid having your volume calculations thrown off by neighbours sneaking their own rubbish into your skip space! If not, it's sometimes possible to hire a coverable skip along with a cover to put over it when not in use. Not all companies offer this, but if you can find one you could save yourself a lot of time and effort.

For more information on what to consider for a skip bin hire, contact a company near you.