Written by Chris Smith · Illustrative case study
The situation
The office manager of a small accounting firm at a house on the northern Gold Coast rang on a Wednesday. They'd downsized to a smaller floor and had to hand back the old tenancy by Friday. Left behind were kitchenette appliances and signage, desks, workstations and partitions and office chairs and meeting tables.
Why the customer needed help
They'd rung a couple of other outfits and got vague answers about price. I told them I'd come and look, give them a figure on the spot, and they could decide from there.
What was at the property
By my count there were kitchenette appliances and signage, desks, workstations and partitions and office chairs and meeting tables, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from landlords preparing a vacant tenancy.
The initial assessment
I did my usual lap. I check what's heavy, what's sharp, what's reusable and what might be hiding something underneath. A redback in the bottom of a pile isn't unusual on the Coast, so gloves and a torch come out before anyone reaches in.
How the job was planned
The plan was simple: protect the route, clear a path, then work from the far end back towards the truck so we never had to climb over what was left.
Preparation
We put drop sheets down through the hallway and taped corner guards on the door frames. It takes ten minutes and saves arguments about scuff marks.
Step 1
Step one was clearing a working space. We shifted the easy, loose items straight onto the truck so we had room to manoeuvre around the awkward ones.
Step 2
Step two was the loose material. Bags, boxes and odds and ends went into the truck in layers, packed tight into the gaps around the furniture so we weren't carting air to the tip.
Step 3
Step three was the clean-up. Once the last item was out, we swept the floor, raked the ground where needed and walked the customer through the space to make sure nothing they wanted had gone.
Removal, sorting and loading
We loaded by destination rather than by size. Metal on one side for the scrap yard, green waste kept clean, cardboard flattened and bundled, and general rubbish packed into whatever space was left.
From the truck it went to a licensed transfer station, where recyclables were dropped off separately, and anything usable went to a local op shop before the tip run.
Challenges we ran into
We had a strict window: the building only allowed access through the loading dock for two hours, and the lift had to be booked.
How we handled them
We pre-staged everything on trolleys at the dock door, so when our window opened we were loading within minutes.
Completion and final result
When the last load was strapped down, the space was empty and swept. The customer walked through with me, signed off, and paid the price we'd agreed at the start, not a dollar more.
What I learned
I came away reminded that a fixed price agreed up front takes all the stress out of the day, for them and for us. Nobody's watching the clock or arguing at the end.